Greater Ohio congratulates the City of Piqua, Ohio on receiving national recognition for developing complete streets. According to the National Complete Streets Coalition, a program of national non-profit Smart Growth America (SGA), the complete streets policy that Piqua passed last year ranked 9th in the country, out of more than 80 cities, states, and regions that passed similar policies in 2013. SGA says this makes Piqua “a national leader in making streets safer and more convenient for everyone who uses them.” Complete streets policies “encourage planners and engineers to design and build streets that are safe and convenient for everyone, regardless of age, ability, income or ethnicity, and no matter how they travel,” according to SGA.
SGA’s rankings are “intended to celebrate the communities that have done exceptional work in crafting comprehensive policy language over the past year.” The evaluators determine scores based on 10 technical elements of an ideal Complete Streets policy. The communities with the top-scoring policies of 2013 are:
1. Littleton, MA
2. Peru, IN
3. Fort Lauderdale, FL
4. Auburn, ME (tie)
4. Lewiston, ME (tie)
6. Baltimore County, MD
7. Portsmouth, NH
8. Muscatine, IA
9. Piqua, OH
10. Oakland, CA
11. Hayward, CA (tie)
11. Livermore, CA (tie)
11. Massachusetts Department of Transportation (tie)
14. Cedar Falls, IA (tie)
14. Waterloo, IA (tie)
More information about the winning policies and evaluation criteria, and what Piqua scored, is available here.
Nationwide, a total of 610 jurisdictions in 48 states have Complete Streets policies in place.