Never too early to mark your calendars for next year's Mpact Transit + Community conference in Portland! 📅 We're excited to return our roots and be back in the city where we were founded in 1995. Stoke your passion. Share innovation and best practices. Stay tuned for more to come at: https://lnkd.in/gKFaERDK

On the latest Mpact Podcast episode, we talk affordable commercial spaces in transit-oriented communities with Ryan Kelley, Community Development Manager with Hennepin County in Minnesota. Check it out at https://lnkd.in/gFzVHj3u. He dives into the effects of the pandemic and e-commerce on brick & mortar storefronts: "Through the projects that we put funding into, both through our TOC program that has funded similar projects to what we were doing in the community investment initiative, I think most all those developments filled or have leases for when they're built, businesses to occupy those spaces. And I think this is true, in any development, for a long time, and while it still plays out today, there was the push to have storefront retail on the 1st level and mixed use development. That kind of simplified an ideal, the principle, the ideas about the activity on that street level that defaults to retail and that can be great, but it also can sit empty and then it's not active and then the project goes bankrupt. "In any area, not just when we're talking about affordable commercial, what happens and what's played out here, because I know these projects have been born out of community, the relationship and the intentionality to have a business in that space has been so much more so much greater. And it wasn't just build to spec. There's the punch line. They weren't just building these spaces to spec. They knew that they wanted commercial in this project because they'd heard, they being developer or community group that was pushing for this project, that there was a need for space for these businesses. "And then there was the lengthier hard work to connect with businesses to see who needed space, wanted space, and would go in here and now they have it. And so they're full. And so I just, I say that because for them, they need brick and mortar. They want it. And maybe that's not their only sales model. Maybe they're doing e commerce as well, but they still are desiring or it's effective and beneficial to have a storefront as well. So I think a bigger question is trying to just fill the dearth of expansive spaces, existing vacant spaces that, chase the chains for. All of these projects, they're local small businesses coming out of the community that they're in."

If you were at #MpactPhilly, you likely met someone from Pottstown, PA, thanks to the Pottstown Delegation! This year, they brought 71 people to Mpact Transit + Community. Much gratitude to National Steering Committee Member and Mpact Partner, Howard Brown of the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation for helping get so many folks to the conference in Philadelphia, as well as in Phoenix (2023) and Miami (2022).   Is your region gearing up for a transit expansion or building a stakeholder network to support transit, land use plans plus community and economic development? Consider sending a delegation to the 2025 Mpact Transit + Community conference in Portland. Delegations use the conference as a launching pad toward stronger collaborative work on the ground back at home. Learn more at: https://lnkd.in/gsmsjPXY. #MpactPhilly #pottstownfoundation #pahwf 

On the latest Mpact Podcast episode, Ryan Kelley dives into TOD and affordable commercial spaces. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gFzVHj3u He shares his approach on the work: “I often am leading from what's our neighborhood like? And what's that mean for how we can access our daily activities? And how do we want to move around a place? And what are our choices?" - Ryan Kelley, Community Development Manager at Hennepin County in Minnesota What questions and principles guide your work?

Congrats on wins for transit in several communities around the country! Nashville, TN - https://lnkd.in/e5HgHuG9 Denver, CO - https://lnkd.in/dGEGsJ3V Columbus, OH - https://lnkd.in/dP8caaxa And more! See a recap on this post from Yonah Freemark: https://lnkd.in/d8kZHjNY

Transit Oriented Community Development is the future. The KCATA was proud to partner with NorthPoint Development on ArriveKC. We will continue to innovate and support Transit Oriented Community Development across the 7 counties we serve.

“Through the TOC Grant Program, VTA is empowering communities to take an active role in shaping their future,” said VTA General Manager and CEO Carolyn Gonot More than a dozen community-based organizations and local agencies throughout Santa Clara County received VTA funding through a cutting-edge program to enhance transit-oriented communities. Details: https://bit.ly/4e2FrvS Congratulations to the following recipients: City of San Jose | City of Santa Clara | Carry The Vision| Prosperity Lab | School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza | Palo Alto Forward | Palo Alto Transportation Management Association | Transform | Gilroy Arts Alliance | MACLA | San Martin Neighborhood Association | Arts Mountain View | Cinequest Inc. | Friends of Levitt Pavilion San Jose

IYKYK Last week at #MpactPhilly, we had Positive Movement Drumline kick us off at the Welcome Reception, complete with Elmo. 😌❤️ Check out their amazing story: https://lnkd.in/ehQC4hBV

“But, it is our individual decisions to embrace more buses, trains, housing, and jobs all near one another that will change our reality.” We can't agree more with Bill McCamley's statement in this opinion piece: https://lnkd.in/gAgmpRaM

Exciting News! Please share with your network and potential applicants. Today, the Bureau issued a notice of funding announcement for the Regional Infrastructure Accelerator program for up to $10 million in no-match grants. https://lnkd.in/ekhg7qvj Check out Grants.gov: https://lnkd.in/ejsgWYbU American Planning Association National Association of Counties AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) National Association of Regional Councils American Public Transportation Association Association Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO) National League of Cities National Governors Association Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) National Conference of State Legislatures United States Conference of Mayors COMTO National Office Mpact Federal Transit Administration Federal Highway Administration U.S. Department of Transportation Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) Build America Center Accelerator for America AIAI - The Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure Commercial Law Development Program Partnerships Bulletin Joint Office of Energy and Transportation Northeast Corridor Commission Association of American Railroads National Association of Development Organizations (NADO)