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Ed Wilson To Lead 10,000 Friends
 We are pleased to announce the appointment of Edward W. Wilson as Acting President and CEO of 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania while bidding a fond farewell to Judy Schwank. Wilson formerly served as Vice President of 10,000 Friends. He joined the organization in 2006 with nearly 25 years of experience in applied research, evaluation and strategic planning for public, non-profit and philanthropic organizations. For more than 12 years he worked as a consultant to philanthropic and public interest organizations throughout the country, providing services in program evaluation and strategic planning. Prior to that he served as a Program Officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts and an Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has a Ph.D. in Social Systems Sciences from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. ...More |
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2010 Commonwealth Awards Now Accepting Entries
 Attention smart growth advocates and urban design professionals! 10,000 Friends is now accepting entries for the 2010 Commonwealth Awards program. The 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania
Commonwealth Awards is a juried state-wide program to recognize
businesses, nonprofits, elected officials, and citizens contributing to
the economic and environmental health of the Commonwealth.
The awards pay tribute to
visionaries - developers, builders, designers, community leaders, local
officials, financiers, and others - who have invested in building a
better future for Pennsylvania. These leaders put smart growth to work
by envisioning, promoting, designing and building communities that
improve life for residents, employers, employees, and visitors.
We have
added a new design and leadership category in 2010. The PNC Bank
Opportunity for All - Affordable Housing/Community and Economic
Development Awards will highlight affordable and special needs housing
projects and community and economic initiatives that positively impact
lower income communities. In addition to the project awards, The PNC
Leading the Way Awards will acknowledge outstanding leadership by
specific individuals or teams in promoting and developing affordable
housing in the commonwealth. The Commonwealth Awards honor both
design projects and individuals in two separate divisions. The design
projects are evaluated by a jury of accomplished leaders in planning,
design, and community development. Eligible projects must be located in
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the project must have been built
or under construction since January 1, 2005. The individuals are evaluated by the
10,000 Friends Board of Directors. Entries must be postmarked no later
than February 26, 2010. The 2010 winners will be announced at a program
on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at the Hilton Harrisburg in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania. For more information, visit the Commonwealth Awards website. |
Conference to Examine Federal Recovery Act
For the first time in more than two and a half years, Pennsylvania saw
its unemployment rate drop in November. Several months of jobs data
confirm that we are beginning to see the signs of an economic recovery
taking shape in the commonwealth after the worst economic downturn
since the Great Depression.
Join the Pennsylvania Budget and
Policy Center, the Keystone Research Center, PennFuture and 10,000
Friends as we examine the role that the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has played in slowing down the job losses in
Pennsylvania and setting us on a course toward economic recovery.
Information-packed workshops will examine the following topics: Smart Growth, Transportation and Infrastructure; Transparency and Accountability; Community Impact and Regional Equity; Local Government and Housing; Energy and the Environment; and Education and the Workforce.
The event will be held in Harrisburg on January 15. The conference is free for registered participants. Follow this link for more information and to register.
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PA Walks and Bikes Joins Safe Routes State Network
 The Safe Routes to School National Partnership recently announced an expansion of the State Network Project to 19 states including Pennsylvania. The project, which was first launched in 2007, brings together state leaders to remove barriers to waking and bicycling to and from school. Pennsylvania Walks and Bikes, the state's leading voice for human powered transportation, will be acting as the lead organization in the state.
At the heart of the State Network effort is policy change - specifically working
to remove policy barriers to walking and bicycling to schools by implementing
complete streets, changing statewide school siting and other policies, and by
implementing legislation that would result in funding or policy changes. The 2010-2011 phase of the State Network Project also will focus on serving low-income communities and reducing crime.
10,000 Friends staff member Josh Karns recently joined the board of directors of PA Walks and Bikes. "The goals of Safe Routes to School program have much in common with the mission of 10,000 Friends. The implementation of the complete streets policies that we are pursuing will go beyond advancing the health and safety of our students. It will help to enhance the human-scaled transportation network for all residents."
To get involved, contact Pennsylvania Walks and Bikes.
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Report: Funding Public Transportation Creates Jobs
 A new report shows that in the first ten months of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), investments in public
transportation have created twice as many jobs per dollar as
investments in highways. The new report shows that by mimicking funding
levels for transportation set out in ARRA, the Jobs for Main Street Act
(H.R. 2847), passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December,
missed an opportunity to create additional jobs where they are needed
most.
The data compiled by the states shows that every billion dollars
spent on public transportation produced 16,419 job-months, compared to
8,781 job-months for every billion spent on highway infrastructure. Public transportation projects create more jobs than road projects
because they spend less money on land and more on labor, and because
projects are often more complex, whether laying rack or manufacturing
vehicles.
The report also uses the data from ARRA to refute the idea that
public transportation projects are not as "shovel-ready" or able to be
launched as quickly as highway projects. Nationally, public
transportation and highway infrastructure projects are spending money
at about the same rate. But because public transportation projects
spend more of those dollars on more labor, equivalent spend rates
produce more and faster jobs from public transportation.
For more details,read the entire report.
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More Smart Growth News From 10,000 Friends
 As part of out ongoing effort to bring you the most relevant smart growth news from around Pennsylvania and beyond, 10,000 Friends now offers the "News" section of our web site available as an RSS feed. By adding this feed to a service such as Google Reader, you can receive current news highlights from 10,000 Friends as we add them to our website. We believe this tool will help you to stay informed of the many important issues facing Pennsylvania's communities every day.  10,000 Friends has also joined the growing network of Twitter where we are connecting with Pennsylvania's political leaders, partner nonprofit organizations, and activists interested in our issues. If you are also a Twitter user, you can follow us @10000friends for the latest land use and infrastructure news from Pennsylvania and beyond.  Are you on Facebook? Now, 10,000 Friends is too! Become a fan of our page for the opportunity to interact with 10,000 Friends staff and to network with other Pennsylvanians who are interested in smart growth issues. Finally, be sure to check in on the Transportation For Pennsylvania coalition blog to get all the latest transportation news from across Pennsylvania. |
Stay Connected
10,000
Friends of Pennsylvania works as an alliance of organizations and
individuals committed to promoting land use policies and actions that
will enable Pennsylvania to strengthen its diverse urban, suburban and
rural communities. Through a diverse coalition focused on a positive
agenda, we seek proactive solutions and options for local, regional and
state leaders.
We update our site regularly with articles, opportunities and links, so please bookmark the home page of 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania and stop by often.
Our e-newsletters are designed to keep you in the loop on all of our activities. Click Join Our Mailing List! in the top right column to choose the e-newsletters you'd like to receive.
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