"The good news," says Smart Growth America President and CEO Geoffrey Anderson, "is that across the nation last night, we saw widespread support for investing in our existing communities. When voters see the real benefits of putting their tax dollars into a project, they're very much inclined to support it, no matter what kind of town they're from."
The approval of ballot measures in communities including Arlington, VA; Longmont, CO; and Everett, WA, "highlighted voters' strong support for neighborhood reinvestment and community building." Notable failures were in Alameda and Los Angeles, CA, were voters narrowly rejected sales tax for transportation measures, and Memphis where, "voters strongly rejected a one cent per gallon gas tax to fund transit operations."
"Where ballot initiatives passed, residents found common ground strengthening their towns and cities at a local level," Anderson says. "In an era where money is tight for governments and households, every dollar is being scrutinized, so it's remarkable how many of these initiatives passed. And of those that didn't, several nonetheless had the support of a majority of voters."
