Sustainability

Support CSG and WABA's efforts this spring

by David Alpert   •   March 18, 2011 10:20 am

It's great to support smart growth, transit, bicycling and more in the parts of the region that already have walkable neighborhoods, good transit, and high rates of walking and biking, but it's equally vital to work together with people in areas that don't already enjoy these great advantages.

Image from CSG.

Two great nonprofits are working to raise money to do just that. Please consider donating this spring to the Coalition for Smarter Growth and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association's east of the river outreach. As an added bonus, I'll match the first 20 pledges of $5/month to CSG, and a similar amount to WABA.

The Coalition for Smarter Growth has always worked for regional unity around land use and mobility. They spend a lot of time in Prince George's County, helping to encourage leaders to better utilize their existing Metro station areas and help the county on the road to strong economic growth.

In Virginia, they work with leaders in areas like southern Fairfax and eastern Loudoun to design their growing communities to be less car-dependent and thus less reliant on costly and inefficient infrastructure, creating the kinds of walkable towns that have allowed neighboring areas like Arlington to enjoy strong growth without adding traffic.

CSG also has fought for Metro funding, runs great walking tours, and much more. To keep all this going, they're looking for 100 people to pledge just $5 per month (about the price of a round trip on Metro) for a year. I'll match the first 20 people who do. Can you be one of them?

When Shane Farthing became head of WABA, he promised to reach out beyond their traditional constituency, and now WABA is launching a formal program to reach out to residents of Ward 8.

This part of the city has few good bicycle facilities, meaning few people bike, but some do and WABA wants to help them to become better ambassadors for cycling in their communities. They're trying to raise $45,000 to fund this program, and I hope we can help.

Please give $40 or $75—or less if you're on a tighter budget, more if you can—to get WABA's effort going. I'll match up to $1,000 for donations that come from GGW.

Can you help get CSG and WABA to their goals? These two are a few of the best ways to encourage greater communities and mobility for all of Greater Washington.

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.