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Bowne AE&T Group Bowne AE&T Group, which provides architecture, engineering and technology services to government, municipalities and private industry, have been advocates of Smart Growth and Vision Long Island. We thank them for their continued support.
Become a Supporter of Smart Growth Vision Long Island prides itself on having a broad range of supporters. Become one today. A donation as small as $50 buys outreach materials to help a community build support for their vision. $500 sponsors an entire newsletter. $5,000 makes you a lead sponsor of our Smart Growth Summit, buying 10 tickets and a key branding opportunity for your organization.
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Please join us for the 2008 Smart Growth Summit. This event represents the culmination of six successful Summits and promises to be the greatest yet. Its format includes improved networking opportunities and a variety of informative workshops on the best practices in Smart Growth and land use planning. The 2008 Smart Growth Summit will focus on the policies, challenges and Smart Growth projects that need to be implemented. It brings together the broadest Long Island leaders from community, civic, professional and governmental sectors to educate and formulate strategies to move these policies and projects forward. We need you to be a part of these solutions. The Summit addresses a range of topics including transportation, clean energy & green building, sewers & infrastructure, codes & regulations, commercial corridor redevelopment, community planning & public process, regional planning, housing & gentrification, downtown revitalization, and projects of regional significance. The Summit also updates the regional Blueprint for Smart Growth, which was developed from our previous summits. The Blueprint continues to be a platform towards advancing a Smart Growth agenda for Long Island and your participation in the event helps to shape it. Many sponsorship packages are available. Download registration forms and information about past events and other activities on our website, www.visionlongisland.org. We also encourage you to contact our office at 631-261-0242. Thank you for your time and attention. We look forward to your participation!
A downloadable registration form is available here. |
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Dare to Calculate How Walkable Your Neighborhood Is?
However, what the website does challenge is our perception of “walkability.” For example, Plainview, a community that Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi labeled as “hopeless” during his Cool Downtowns conference, actually scored fairly high on the website due to the multitude of amenities and services spread throughout the neighborhood. The website doesn’t consider weather, topography, crime, bodies of water, street design, or the presence of sidewalks, traffic signals or crosswalks. According to the website, it “measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle—not how pretty the area is for walking.” Despite how difficult it may be to walk to a destination in suburbia, Walk Score shows that it is possible and even offers resources and suggestions to make it easier. For those looking to move right now or in the future, this website can be a great resource. Admittedly, for those of us staying put, it can just be downright depressing. Read the complete article here. Crain’s New York Business of Green Report on PlaNYC
In defense of Bloomberg’s battle, he’s made some accomplishments that hopefully will stick around. The Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability is now permanent and future mayors are required to update the City’s plan every four years. In addition, the Legislature passed two of the mayor’s “green” bills, the city is planting more new trees, opening more school yards to the public, and the Taxi and Limousine Commission agreed to improve fuel efficiency standards in the city’s black cars and yellow cabs. Ashok Gupta, the Air and Energy Program Director at the National Resources Defense Program, claims that all of these small accomplishments “make the city more livable.” Yet the largest hurdles and the most important ones remain. Reducing traffic and pollution must be solved, with or without congestion pricing and despite the MTA’s financial woes. Furthermore, private building owners need to come on board, especially considering that “70% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions are caused by buildings’ energy consumption.” Clearly, there is a lot left to be accomplished and there will be plenty of leftovers for whoever comes to the table next. |
Earlier in August, the New York Times featured an article by Max Roosevelt on a website called 
Matthew Sollars’ article in Crain’s New York Business Magazine paints the mayor’s green PlaNYC a darker shade of gray, saying that PlaNYC “remains largely unfulfilled and the plan’s most crucial components face big roadblocks.” The slow progress threatens to deflate its energy and popularity. In addition to the death of congestion pricing, the largest challenge posed by Sollars will be reviving PlaNYC after Bloomberg leaves office.|
Save the Forge River Gala
Opposition to North Hempstead’s Accessory Apartment Amendment
"The change is an effort,” Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman said in the article, “to provide affordable housing to young people and seniors.” Some in need of affordable housing lambasted the change, saying that “the amendment was not the answer to the affordable housing issue,” but did not provide any other alternatives. Kaiman and other officials claim that the amendment will have a “minimal impact” on the Town, in contrast to the fears voiced by some residents. To further mitigate concerns, the Board vowed that it would not grant apartments under the change approval before a public meeting on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. at Clinton G. Martin Park in New Hyde Park. According to a press release from the Town, the meeting is an opportunity to “provide additional information concerning the Town’s accessory housing ordinance, past, present and future, as well as offer residents with the opportunity to present comments and concerns. |
The environmental advocacy group, Save the Forge River, recently held their 3rd Annual “Save the Forge River Fundraiser.” The gala was held on August 14th at the Rock Hill Country Club to honor those who have supported the remediation of the Forge River and to raise funds for further remediation. This year, the group awarded Congressman Tim Bishop as the “2008 River Saver” for his political and hands-on volunteer efforts for the Forge River. Congressman Bishop led the opposition to a plan that would have dumped more than twenty million cubic yards of contaminated dredge waste in the Long Island Sound. He also served as the voice of the Forge River at the federal level and made it possible for the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a reconnaissance study of the Forge River this year. 
In addition to the advocacy of Congressman Bishop, the Forge River was lucky to have other “Friends of the River,” who were also granted awards that evening. Senator Kenneth La Valle was given a “Friends of the River” award for raising $200,000 in funding to address storm water issues. The Mastic Fire Department was also given this award for their volunteer efforts during the Spring Clean-Up where they provided plenty of helping hands and enforced safety measures. Rick Clay, who organized and managed the Spring Clean-Up, was also given a “Friends of the River” award. He has been an active member of Save the Forge River since its inception and continues to be a committed activist for the Forge River. 
Help Find the Carbon Footprint Average for Long Island!
Calculate your carbon footprint on the Nature Conservancy's website. Please take the individual test, not the household one, and send the results to: Charlotte Coté, Producer at WLIW21 New York Public Television via telephone at (516) 367-2100 x8485, FAX (516) 692-7629, or email at cotec@wliw.org. These results will be in the strictest of confidence. In addition, please send this along to friends and family who live on Long Island to get more results. Again the individual results will be only viewed by Ms. Coté and not Vision, so please do not send them to us! |
WLIW 21 is producing an hour-long special in September entitled, "Going Green Long Island." In order to acquire an average individual carbon foot print for Long Island, they need as many individuals as they can to compare it to the national average.
Long Island Somos el Futoro, "Investing in Long Island's Future" Event to be held August 29th-30th
For general information and registration, please call 212-233-8955. LIPC Leadership Conference Comes to Brentwood September 13th
Change LI! Change NY! Change America! For more information or to register for this great event, please call 516.541.1006 ext.16 or email maurice@lipc.org. Town of Huntington to Release Comprehensive Plan Update; Public Hearing To Take Place September 23rd
As part of their public outreach efforts, the Town will post the plan on their website, put copies of the plan in libraries throughout Huntington and in Huntington Town Hall at 100 Main Street. In addition, the Town Board is planning a public hearing on the Comprehensive Plan on Tuesday, September 23rd at 7pm at the Town Hall. For an excerpt from the draft plan, visit LIBN's BizBlog. However, the best way to see the complete plan is to attend the public hearing and visit your local libraries. If an organization has questions on the draft Plan and would like to discuss it with Town planners prior to the public hearing, they are invited to contact Anthony J. Aloisio, Huntington’s Director of Planning and Environment at 631-351-3196. The article also states that small groups are welcome to arrange appointments to visit planning professionals in Town Hall. Please take advantage of this transparent public process. |
From Friday, August 29th to Saturday, August 30th, New York State Assemblyman Philip Ramos, the Long Island Elected Officials Association and the Long Island Hispanic Coalition invite Long Islanders to attend the 2008 Long Island Somos el Futoro, or "Investing in Long Island's Future" conference at the Sheraton Long Island Hotel at 110 Motor Parkway in Hauppague. The Long Island Somos el Futuro conference is an annual legislative gathering focused on addressing the needs and challenges of the growing Hispanic community on Long Island. A principal goal of this conference is to increase the participation of Hispanics in the public policy-making progress and develop local and state legislative initiatives that address issues of concern for Hispanic Long Islanders. It will convene some of the most distinguished civic, community, business, and labor leaders from across New York State to discuss issues pertinent to Hispanic social, economic, and political empowerment.
On Saturday, September 13th, the Long Island Progressive Coalition will hold their 2008 Leadership Conference at the Academy of Saint Joseph at 1725 Brentwood Road in Brentwood. From 9:30-5pm, this free event will bring Long Islanders together to work for collective change while building bridges across racial lines, generations, and within communities. The conference offers hands-on training in practical, successful organizing skills with inspiring workshops and networking opportunities.
According to a Long Island BizBlog article by David Reich-Hale, the Town of Huntington is about to release Comprehensive Plan Update: Horizons 2020. This is a draft version of a document that will guide future development in the Town. This includes Huntington Station, East Northport and Dix Hills. The draft report, completed last fall, focused on seven key planning areas: Environmental Resources and Open Space, Community Character, Community Facilities, Land Use, Economic Development, Transportation, and Housing within the Town.|
Riverhead Railroad Festival
The museum was established in 1990 and is dedicated to the restoration and preservation of railroad history on LI, which was the impetus for the growth of Long Island and holds the key for its future. For more information on the festival visit ExploreLI.com or the Railroad Museum's website. Last Weekend for NYC Summer Streets!
Check out a delightful video from Streetfilms on Summer Streets 2008 and for more information visit the official website on NYC.gov. |
As big fans of mass transit and transportation alternatives, we couldn’t help but share details on the 2008 Riverhead Railroad Festival. Held at the Railroad Museum of Long Island in Riverhead, the festival includes a display of 3 steam locomotives, 2 LIRR diesel locomotives, the first LIRR all-aluminum double-decker passenger car, cars used in the LIRR steam-to-diesel conversion ceremony in 1955, and 2 retired M-1 cars in addition to the museum’s regular exhibit. Kids get to ride in the 1964-65 World's Fair mini-train! 
Just in case you missed the last two glorious days of car-free streets in New York City, here is your last chance this summer to catch it! Summer Streets is an innovative experiment organized by the New York City Department of Transportation. The NYC DOT opened 7 miles of city streets to pedestrians and bike traffic only. From 7 AM to 1 PM, roads are car-free from 72nd Street to the Brooklyn Bridge and Park Avenue, which is usually chock full of cars, as the main route through Manhattan. Inspired by Bogota's 
The latest traffic calming method is cheap and easier to install than speed bumps or roundabouts. Just lift and peel! (source unknown)
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SMART GROWTH NEWS Newsletter Editor: Michelle Dutchen, Communications Director We strive to provide continued quality publications such as this each week. If you are interested in becoming a newsletter or news blast sponsor, please call the office at 631-261-0242 for rates and opportunities. If you have any news or events that you would like to add to our newsletter, submit them to info@visionlongisland.org for consideration.
For more information about Vision Long Island, visit http://www.visionlongisland.org or contact us at: |
