Data shows cities lose millions in potential property taxes when highways displace homes and businesses.

For the first time, Smart Growth America’s Divided by Design report quantifies the financial losses brought on by freeway construction and the demolition of homes.
As María Paula Mijares Torres explains in Bloomberg CityLab, “The report uses data from the US census, the Federal Highway Administration and local highway archives to analyze the land physically occupied by a small number of highways and the surrounding buffer zones in DC and Atlanta and compare it to the current tax rate of that area.” The report estimates that D.C. loses at least $7.6 million in annual property taxes on at least $1.4 billion in never-built housing.
“These numbers don’t take into account the commercial property taxes that could have been generated by the thousands of businesses that were destroyed for these freeways, according to Megan Wright, an economic development associate at Smart Growth America who worked on the report.”
Currently, the U.S. Department of Transportation uses ‘value of travel time savings’ to estimate the economic benefit of new highways, but doesn’t address the negative impacts. And while the federal government has expressed a commitment to tearing down and redeveloping highways, “Smart Growth America’s researchers called the $4 billion reconnecting communities initiative a ‘pittance’ compared to the rest of the infrastructure law, which gives localities wide discretion to build and expand highways.”
FULL STORY: Urban Highways Cost Billions in Lost Home Value, Property Taxes

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.

Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.

From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street
How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.
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