Active Towns Competitors

Smart Growth America envisions a country where no matter where you live, or who you are, you can enjoy living in a place that is healthy, prosperous, and resilient. We empower communities through technical assistance, advocacy, and thought leadership to realize our vision of livable places, healthy people, and shared prosperity.

At Rails to Trails Conservancy (RTC), we believe that communities are healthier and happier when trail networks are central to their design. Since 1986, RTC has worked to bring the power of trails to more communities across the country, serving as the national voice for the rail-trail movement. With more than one million grassroots supporters, 23,000 miles of rail-trails on the ground nationwide and more than 8,000 miles of rail-trails ready to be built, our focus is on linking these corridors—creating trail networks that connect people and places, bringing transformative benefits to communities all across the country. Our flagship initiatives—TrailLink.com, TrailNation™ and the Great American Rail-Trail™—bring that strategy to life, connecting millions of people by trail. For three decades, RTC has served as the national voice for trails, setting the precedent that rail-trails are need-to-have community assets and establishing policies and practices that ensure these trails are built. Learn how: railstotrails.org.

PeopleForBikes is uniting millions of individuals, thousands of businesses and hundreds of communities to make bike riding better for everyone. To learn more about PeopleForBikes and join, visit PeopleForBikes.org. Our playbook includes three simple strategies: Through our PlacesForBikes program we help communities quickly build better places to ride of all types. Our Community Grants Program provides financial support for some of these projects. Our Bike Network Analysis tool helps cities and towns identify and correct weak spots in their bike networks. Our first City Ratings program (going public in May) and our acclaimed PlacesForBikes Conference clearly show city leaders where their communities stand on bicycling, and help them improve quickly. We work with federal, state and local leaders to advance bike project funding and pro-bike laws. We develop Congressional champions. We monitor all 50 state legislatures and support the work of state and local advocacy groups. Our business members and individual backers speak up for bike riding in communities nationwide. As a result, government agencies have invested nearly $20 billion to build thousands of miles of new U.S. lanes, paths and trails in the last 20 years. We explain how people and places benefit from safe, accessible, convenient and fun bike rides. We research, measure and quantify the many positive outcomes of bicycling. We share best practices and success stories. When PeopleForBikes is successful, you enjoy good bike riding experiences and great things follow. People become healthier and happier, communities become better places to live, mobility improves, jobs are created and sustained, and businesses thrive. Everyone wins!