Politics & Government
Royal Oak Wins Competitive Smart Growth Award
One of seven cities nationally to win award, Royal Oak gets a big-time payoff for work to make city more walkable and attractive.
Royal Oak is among seven U.S. communities that will receive technical assistance on sustainable land use from the national nonprofit group Smart Growth America.
Royal Oak was selected for the competitive grant program because of prior efforts to make the city a more walkable, attractive destination, city officials said in a news release.
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“Every day we are faced with difficult choices on how to keep our neighborhoods healthy, vital and beautiful, our local business climate strong and our sense of community intact,” City Commissioner Jeremy Mahrle said in the news release. “Fortunately, Smart Growth America has the tools and the experience, which means that we ... do not need to reinvent the wheel.”
Smart Growth will conduct an audit of the city’s current land use codes, provide a cost-benefit analysis of enacting sustainable code provisions and help officils identify zoning strategies to implement common-sense best practices from cities around the nation.
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“As a result of this, we will be better able to make informed decisions on how to keep Royal Oak the vibrant, accessible and thriving community it is today,” Mahrle said.
“Our program was more competitive this year than ever before, and Royal Oak stood out as a community doing great work,” Smith said. “We’re excited to be able to help you continue on to the next stage of this work.”
The workshops offered through Smart Growth America’s program focus on a range of issues, including transit-oriented development, complete streets, smart growth zoning, economic development and fiscal health, parking management and regional planning for small communities, among other topics.
Smart Growth America received over 68 applications for technical assistance from 34 states for its 2016 workshops.
Other cities receiving grants were Seattle, Anchorage, Huntsville, AL, Kansas City, MO, Longwood, FL, and North Little Rock, AR.
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