2016 year in review

2016

COVER PAGE

YEAR IN REVIEW Coalition for Smarter Growth DC • MD • VA

“Over the years, the Coalition has been perhaps the most positive force for balanced growth throughout Metropolitan Washington.�

-- Lee Schoenecker

Thank you to these photographers for the use of their wonderful images in this report.

PG 4 left photo by Kenneth M. Wyner Photography, right photo by Jay Corbalis. PG 5 rendering via Fairfax County. PG 6 by Chris Langford Photography. PG 13 Purple Line map by Peter Dovak. PG 14 by MRP. PG 15 top left by EDENS, top right by Ted Eytan/Flickr, bottom of page rendering by Saul Urban. PG 16 top photo by Rich Renomeron/Flickr. PG 18 photo by J. Sibiga Photography/Flickr. PG 20 top left by Jim Larrison/Flickr, top right by Joe Flood/Flickr, bottom left by Matt Popovich/Flickr, bottom right by Trevor Wrayton, VDOT/Flickr. Flickr images used under a Creative Commons license. All other images by Aimee Custis for CSG. Design by Claire Jaffe.

Friends, As the Coalition for Smarter Growth approaches our 20 year anniversary in 2017, it’s an incredible opportunity to look back and look ahead. In two decades, we’ve changed how the Washington metropolitan region thinks about where and how to grow. While that’s a watershed accomplishment, there’s still so much to do.

We’re at a critical moment -- as an organization, as a movement, and as a region.

I’m very proud of our small, six-person staff and all we are able to achieve advocating for walkable, transit-oriented communities, transit, and affordable housing. Not only have we regularly been ranked in the Washington Business Journal’s Power 100 as one of the most influential change agents in the region, in 2016 we were once again selected as one of the region’s best small charities by the Catalogue for Philanthropy. However, with many foundations focusing on areas other than land use and transportation, support from individuals and progressive firms is more important to us than ever.

As a movement, it’s breathtaking to see a powerful younger generation of advocates and activists find a place at the table speaking up for transit and land use, and make smart growth their own.

We need these individuals’ passion, energy, and savvy -- and just as much, we need the older generations’ experience, dedication, and support. Together, we can do so much.

The region needs us more than ever. We must help win the funding to rebuild and renew Metro, make the case again and again for development that is compact, walkable, and transit-oriented, campaign for more housing so everyone can afford to live in places with good transportation choices, and show how smart growth is a key tool for fighting climate change.

The Coalition for Smarter Growth is up for the challenge.

I hope you are too.

Here’s to the next 20 years.

Stewart Schwartz Executive Director

Coalition for Smarter Growth | Annual Report 2016

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Highlights

More Affordability

Walkable White Flint

Housing costs continue to grow. We’re working on policies to help.

Our #pikepeds campaign is making a splash in Montgomery

To flourish, our region needs to be a place where people of all incomes can afford to live. The Coalition for Smarter Growth advocates for more housing for everyone, and for public policies and programs to help families at lower incomes.

The emerging Pike District around Montgomery County’s White Flint Metro station will be a great place. But today, conditions for people walking and biking leave something to be desired.

In July, we won a major victory, convincing DC to change its Inclusionary Zoning requirements to help more lower-income people.

With that win under our belt, we shifted focus to affordable housing for the long term. In September, we brought together DC’s top experts and policymakers for a day-long roundtable at the Urban Institute, on making sure units produced with public subsidies remain affordable for the long term.

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Highlights

In September, we partnered with Friends of White Flint to launch #pikepeds, a campaign for eight changes we can make today in the Pike District.

Volunteers posted dozens of cheeky signs in the neighborhood, and we’re well on our way to collecting over 1000 signatures asking local officials to help.

From crosswalks to missing sidewalks to pedestrian refuges, there’s so much we can do to making walking and biking better, today!

Metro

Route 1 Transformation

Metro is the backbone of our region. There is no transit-oriented development without transit.

Commercial corridors hold the key to a more sustainable future for our suburbs.

All year, we’ve worked on large and small ways to get Metro back on track.

From constructively engaging with the business community and the new General Manager on issues including long-term funding, to our advocacy and communication around SafeTrack closures, to our MetroGreater crowdsourcing campaign with Greater Greater Washington, to our 2-part livestreamed forum series at Georgetown University that attracted over 300 people - it’s all hands on deck when it comes to fighting for a restored Metro system.

Having won a new transit plan for Fairfax’s Richmond Highway (Route 1) corridor, we are now focused on the corridor’s first comprehensive transit-oriented land use plan in a generation.

We built a coalition of 14 conservation, affordable housing, smart growth, transit, and bicycle-pedestrian groups, and have weighed in not only for walkable urbanism, but for clear affordable housing strategies, modern stormwater management, parks, and stream restoration. The planning continues, and we’ll continue to fight to get the details right.

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A powerful movement

24,019 1,821 60

People like you who are part of our supporter email network Emails and letters sent to local officials to spur positive change in our region Press mentions about smart growth, transit, and development Our small organization has an outsized influence on regional transportation, land use, and housing decisions. Our people -- volunteers, supporters, donors, and staff -- make it possible to make real progress in a large region.

Prince Livable Communities Leadership Award Recognizing excellence in leadership is important in any movement. Ours is no different. That’s why each May, we award the Frederick and Diana Prince Livable Communities Leadership Award to someone in the Washington area who has made a particularly significant contribution to smart growth in our region. We’re also proud to honor a local activist who demonstrates the ideals of service and dedication to their community with the Sanders-Henn Community Hero Award.

This year, at our tenth annual award reception, we were honored to recognize the outstanding contributions of three incredible women: Fairfax County Supervisors Cathy Hudgins and Penny Gross, and DC ANC6B Commissioner Kirsten Oldenburg (pictured, opposite page).

Coalition for Smarter Growth | Annual Report 2016

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Smart growth in action

1,566

people signed up for

21

events.

Our Walking Tours & Forums Series provides a close look at walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods and the policies and designs necessary for success.

“We love the Coalition for Smarter Growth’s walking tours because they give us the opportunity to learn about and explore places around the region and connect with people just like us.”

-- Judith Fogel and Ken Notis

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Walking tours & forums

Diversity in action Our bilingual Faces of Transit forum deepened the dialogue in Montgomery This March, we hosted a forum for local residents, bus riders, and policy experts, in both Spanish and English.

We organized the event together with our friends at CASA. Participants identified strategies for affordable housing preservation, small business investment, and jobs as part of the Purple Line light rail project.

Over 75 people including almost a dozen local elected officials attended the event at the Silver Spring Civic Center.

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Affordable housing We’re working for solutions to make the DC region more affordable

Inclusionary Zoning We want DC’s building boom to work for everyone After more than a year of outreach, coalition-building, education, and advocacy, the DC Zoning Commission unanimously supported our recommendation to refocus Inclusionary Zoning to help the lower-income families most in-need find an affordable place to live.

Long term affordability A big step in our next policy campaign Making sure affordable homes built with public funds stay affordable in the long run is our next affordable housing push in DC. On September 7, we held the first-ever one day regional conference on the issue. Together with Urban Institute, Enterprise Community Partners, and DC Fiscal Policy Institute, we exposed DC leaders including Councilmembers Anita Bonds, Brianne Nadeau, and Elissa Silverman to successful policies from Boston, NYC, and beyond.

Ramsey Homes 52 new modern, affordable homes in Alexandria We stood up for rebuilding Ramsey Homes’ 15 antiquated apartments into 52 new affordable units within walking distance of Metro, jobs, and services in Alexandria’s historic Parker Gray neighborhood. Joining others, we convinced the Alexandria City Council to move the project forward, winning an important victory for new housing and development in the city.

Coalition for Smarter Growth | Annual Report 2016

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Our region, connected Without regional transit, we would need miles of additional highway lanes, at huge cost to our neighborhoods and environment.

1,000 Metro

SafeTrack. Late-night service cuts. Dedicated funding. MetroGreater. All year, from behind-the-scenes meetings to business community partnerships to our Metro forums series, we’ve been working tirelessly for a restored Metro and next generation transit in our region.

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Regional transit

Connect Greater Washington Did you know? Metro actually has excess capacity in many parts of the system, with trains running near-empty in the “reverse commute” direction. We worked with WMATA on its Connect Greater Washington report, detailing how transit-oriented development at all Metro stations, particularly those on the east side, would increase and balance out ridership – saving taxpayers money and moving Metro from a subsidy to an operating surplus.

The Purple Line will take

Purple Line

1,700

We won a huge victory in our campaign convincing Governor Hogan to support the Purple Line. Yet, long-time opponents secured a federal court ruling that delays the project. At our print deadline for this report, we were awaiting the outcome of the appeal filed by the State of Maryland. We’ll keep pushing for this project which is so critical for revitalizing older communities, connecting people to jobs, and providing an alternative to sitting in traffic.

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Transit + development Growing smart means building great transitaccessible, mixed-use places

Fighting for transit-oriented development People really want to live and work near Metro and good bus service. Demand surpasses supply, pushing up prices. Companies like Marriott are abandoning office parks for Metro station locations. Yet, nearly every plan and project, no matter how well designed, faces opposition.

We review master plans and projects, suggest improvements, and stand up for TOD. Route 1 in Fairfax; Old Town North in Alexandria; Lyttonsville, Bethesda, and White Flint in Montgomery; the Prince George’s Hospital in Prince George’s; and Petworth, NoMa, Adams Morgan, and Florida and Rhode Island Avenues in DC are just some of the TOD we’ve worked on this year.

GreenPlace In October, we launched GreenPlace, a program to help people understand how living in transit-oriented homes will reduce driving and greenhouse gas emissions, and foster healthier, more active living.

By modeling vehicle miles traveled (VMT), parking reductions, and transportation demand management, GreenPlace certified projects have much lower VMT and emissions, and greater opportunity to walk.

In our pilot phase, we certified five projects in DC under GreenPlace. Learn about them at smartergrowth.net/greenplace.

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Re-envisioning the suburbs

Virginia successes A safer King Street: When Alexandria announced bicycle and pedestrian improvements to make King Street safer near TC Williams High School, we cheered. And when opponents cried out against the delay they claimed it would cause for cars, we partnered with the Alexandria BPAC for a solution that worked for everyone... and that’s what you’ll find on the street today!

Richmond Highway corridor: We lead a coalition of 14 conservation, affordable housing, smart growth, transit, and bicycle-pedestrian groups, and have weighed in during the comprehensive plan update for walkable urbanism, clear affordable housing strategies, modern stormwater management, parks, and stream restoration.

Buses, bikes, and pedestrians: We campaigned and won a plan for Route 7 bus rapid transit (BRT) from Tysons to Alexandria, with dedicated lanes to the maximum extent possible. We mobilized our Falls Church supporters to win regional funding for Capital Bikeshare, and weighed in on Route 1, Tysons, and Reston for streets that are pedestrian and bicycle friendly.

Progress in Maryland Bus rapid transit: We worked hard to win Montgomery County’s 2013 passage of an 81mile BRT plan. This year we focused on moving the Route 29, Veirs Mill Road, and Route 355 corridors forward. We were pleased to see funding awarded to advance all three.

Counting people, not just cars: This summer and fall, we won progressive reforms to the Montgomery County subdivision staging policy, which measures how new development impacts transportation infrastructure. Thanks to our work, the new policy doesn’t just measure vehicle delay, but the impacts on people walking and bicycling, too.

An urban road code for urban places: A year ago, we convinced the Prince George’s County Council to ask for new street design standards that are friendlier to people walking and bicycling for urban parts of the county. This fall, the new standards are becoming a reality for Metro and other urban parts of Prince George’s.

45

%

of regional transit trips are taken by bus Coalition for Smarter Growth | Annual Report 2016

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Fields, farms, and streams Protecting rural areas and our water quality is a core part of smart growth and a sustainable, competitive future

Blocking the Outer Beltway – again Some voices continue to push for the controversial Bi-County Parkway and upper Potomac Bridge proposals – road projects that would fuel more sprawl and traffic; harm Manassas Battlefield, Prince William’s Rural Crescent, Montgomery’s Agricultural Reserve, and our regional water supplies; all while undermining transit-oriented communities. We continue to block these projects, helping win a vote in Prince William to remove the Bi-County Parkway from the Comprehensive Plan, and convincing officials that the priority needs to be on fixes at the American Legion Bridge.

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Land and stream preservation

Smart growth means cleaner water and restored streams Did you know that the Coalition for Smarter Growth advocates for smart stormwater policies, provides stormwater education opportunities, and builds community partnerships on stormwater issues in Fairfax’s aging commercial corridors? We do!

When we transform strip malls covered in asphalt into mixed-use redevelopment, making sure to install modern stormwater management, we reduce runoff, while expanding buffers and restoring streams. That reduces flooding in our yards, restores life to our streams, and makes them safe again for our children.

A transit alternative to Montgomery’s M-83 highway In 1964, before the Clean Water Act had passed, Montgomery planners drew a future highway on maps to the east of MD 355. The road ran through wetlands and stream valleys. If built, the M-83 highway would create pressure for more auto-dependent development upcounty. What makes more sense - a new highway fueling more traffic, or a real bus rapid transit (BRT) network that can move so many more people in the same amount of space? In partnership with local residents, we’ve documented the negative impacts of the highway, and promoted BRT and local road fixes instead. So far, most of the Council remains opposed to the highway.

Coalition for Smarter Growth | Annual Report 2016

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What’s next?

Our top priorities for the coming year

Metro In 2017, we’ll keep up our campaign for improvements at Metro and the funding to restore it to a world-class system.

Transit over parking with commuter cash If your employer offers you free parking and you don’t drive to work, shouldn’t you be able to ‘cash out’ the value of that parking for a transit pass, or bicycling expenses? We’ll be working with allies and employers to make that a reality for people who walk, bike, and take transit to work in DC! Permanent affordability Affordable housing created by public investments should stay affordable for the long haul. In 2017, we’ll be working on making that policy idea a reality for all DC-assisted affordable housing investments. We’ll also keep fighting for more housing, and more affordable housing, in DC and suburban comprehensive plans, too.

GreenPlace Transit-oriented development reduces greenhouse gas emissions, reduces congestion on our roads, and helps people live healthier, more active lives. We’ll continue our new GreenPlace program, which calculates just how much new housing developments achieve these goals.

Transportation reform We’ll keep up our perennial challenge to highway agencies that still think we can road-build our way out of congestion. We’ll keep promoting the benefits of transit and walkable communities for reducing driving and providing better options.

Coalition for Smarter Growth | Annual Report 2016

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Financials and funders 2015

2014

2013

Foundations Individual Corporate Fee-for-service

$277,500

$272,500

$465,428

$166,549

$134,201

$123,982

$145,265

$83,297

$78,300

$2,750

$750

$1,988

Total

$592,064

$490,748

$669,698

*FY2016 numbers are not yet available at print deadline, as our fiscal year ends on December 31.

Foundations Support from regional and national foundations comprised 47% of our revenue in 2015.* We are deeply grateful to the following foundations for their commitment to our work: Prince Charitable Trusts • The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation • The Keith Campbell Foundation • Share Fund • Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation • TransitCenter • APTA • Capital One

Individual supporters With every year, support for walkable, sustainable, transit-oriented communities grows. Hundreds of individuals are now generously supporting our work. Individual donors provided 28% of our revenues in 2015*, and your support is more important than ever. Thank you to our generous individual donors!

Smart Growth Business Council Our business council is a place for smart growth activists and progressive firms to come together to discuss key issues in advancing walkable, inclusive neighborhoods in the Washington region. Corporate support comprised 25% of our revenue in 2015* and comes from architecture, planning, and development firms committed to sustainable, inclusive, walkable, and transit-oriented communities. 2016 members of the Smart Growth Business Council include: Federal Realty Investment Trust • Trammell Crow Company • Saul Urban • The JBG Companies • Vornado/Charles E. Smith • AECOM • Akridge • Bozzuto • Douglas Development • EYA • HR&A • David M Schwarz Architects Charitable Foundation

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Financials

Who we are Staff

Stewart Schwartz Executive Director

Cheryl Cort Policy Director

Aimee Custis Managing Director

Claire Jaffe Communications Manager

Pete Tomao Montgomery Advocacy Manager

Evan Riggs Fundraising Manager

Champions Council† David Alpert Greater Greater Washington Andrew Aurbach Communications consultant and media producer Jim Campbell Somerset Development Jane Dembner Columbia Association Ronald Eichner New Legacy Partners Steven E. Jones CPA, MSOD Karren Pope-Onwukwe Law Office of Karren Pope-Onwukwe, LLC Douglas Stewart Fairfax City Citizens for Smarter Growth Leslie Steen Wesley Housing Development Corporation Mariia Zimmerman MZ Strategies, LLC † Champions Council business affiliations are for reference only and do not imply endorsement.

Our parent organization: The Coalition for Smarter Growth is grateful to our fiscal agent, the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), a 501c3 nonprofit based in Warrenton, Virginia. PEC provides accounting, tax reporting, and human resources support, and segregates contributions made to CSG. Copies of PEC’s most recent audited financial statements and IRS Form 990, which incorporates the activities of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, are available online at pecva.org/donate. For more information, please contact us at (202) 675-0016.

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KEEP US WORKING FOR SMART GROWTH For walkable, inclusive communities and the transit and land use policies to support them We are proud to be a results-driven organization committed to promoting a sustainable vision of where and how the Washington DC region should grow. We’ve been recognized multiple times as one of the region’s best nonprofits by the prestigious Catalogue for Philanthropy. That means you can trust us to spend your dollars carefully to support our programs.

Your donation is important to us! You can donate online anytime at smartergrowth.net/donate. If you have questions or are interested in donating stocks, making a planned gift, setting up an employer matching program, or donating In Honor or In Memory of someone, please contact our development team at donations@smartergrowth.net or (202) 675-0016.

Coalition for Smarter Growth 316 F Street NE | Suite 200 Washington DC 20002 (202) 675-0016 | smartergrowth.net