Author: Smart Growth America

Omnibus package includes full funding for EPA's Office of Sustainable Communities

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A contaminated empty lot is more than just an unsightly nuisance for its neighbors. It’s a financial burden on taxpayers, local businesses and nearby homeowners, not to mention a serious threat to land and water quality.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Sustainable Communities helps towns and cities address these kinds of problems and turn them into economic assets. Today Congress is scheduled to vote on the final FY 2012 Omnibus Spending package which includes full funding for the EPA’s Smart Growth Program in fiscal year 2012.

“Today’s vote will be a victory for towns across the country working toward economic prosperity,” said Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America. “The EPA’s Office provides towns with the tools they need to overcome some of the largest, most persistent challenges to creating a stronger local economy. We are thrilled that Congress decided to support this program.”

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Making the most of limited transportation dollars: WYDOT does it right

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State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) across the country face tightening budgets, and one DOT recently stepped up to make the most of the funds it has.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) has positioned itself responsibly for the future. On November 16, the agency announced it will stop approving highway expansion projects and will focus resources toward repair of the state’s existing road system. This announcement comes just months after the publication of Repair Priorities, a report by Smart Growth America and Taxpayers for Common Sense, which made recommendations along these lines.

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The perfect gift for smart growth supporters

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Looking for the perfect gift for the smart growth advocate in your life? Or want to express your pride of place with what you wear? Look no further!

Make a donation to Smart Growth America and receive a custom t-shirt from CityFabric.

Smart Growth America is working harder than ever to advocate for state, regional and national smart growth initiatives. From our Transit Campaign Planner for local advocates, to our work helping Ohio identify policy changes to better support brownfields redevelopment, to bringing economic development tools to towns like Muskegon, Michigan, Smart Growth America is fighting for all our rural, suburban and urban communities.

With a donation of $50 or more, Smart Growth America will thank you with a custom designed t-shirt from CityFabric. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, CityFabric aspires to build community and civic-pride by creating conversations about place through simple design and apparel.

Your donation will help support our work in the coming year so we can keep making great neighborhoods together.

Support Smart Growth America this holiday season and receive a custom designed thank you gift.

More and more Americans want to live in places where housing and transportation choices are near jobs, shops and schools – and Smart Growth America is helping make those places possible. Support Smart Growth America today: click here to make a donation.

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Speak out for EPA's Office of Sustainable Communities

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If new development threatened to pollute your drinking water, who would you look to for help? If your children had to walk past a contaminated empty lot on their way to school, how would you go about fixing it?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Sustainable Communities helps towns and cities address these kinds of problems. These issues pose a threat not only to our health but to our economy, and the Office of Sustainable Communities helps local leaders protect both.

But now the Office itself is in danger. Congress is debating funding for fiscal year 2012, and now is a crucial time to tell your Members of Congress that you support these important programs.

Please take a moment to voice your support: email your Members of Congress today.

The EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities does more than just protect air and water quality. The Office helps communities develop in ways that are fiscally sound and support their economy for decades to come. And as part of the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, the Office also helps make the most of taxpayer investments.

Tell Congress that you support the work of the EPA: send an email today.

Emailing your Members of Congress is easy and only takes a few minutes, but your letter could make all the difference. Please take a moment to email Congress today.

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Smart Growth America Visits Middle Tennessee to Learn about Quality Growth Best Practices

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Smart Growth America Visits Middle Tennessee from CRT on Vimeo.

Crossposted from Cumberland Region Tomorrow.

Cumberland Region Tomorrow (CRT) recently hosted a network of quality growth experts from across the country to learn about successful quality growth models and best practices in Middle Tennessee. Participants from San Francisco to Boston learned about CRT’s successful model of collaborative leadership that is creating positive quality growth outcomes in the region. On the ground tours in Nashville, Franklin, and Leiper’s Fork, combined with presentations by local and state leaders, demonstrated how successful community revitalization and conservation efforts are supporting Middle Tennessee’s place-based economies through tourism and agriculture, and music.

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Smart Growth America welcomes Bill Fulton, Mayor of Ventura, CA and urban planning expert, to staff

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Smart Growth America is proud to welcome Bill Fulton, Mayor of Ventura, CA and an expert in the field of urban planning, to its staff.

A longtime writer, researcher, and urban planning consultant, Mr. Fulton is one of the country’s leading experts on the smart growth policies and the relationship between smart growth and economic development. At Smart Growth America, Fulton will focus on Smart Growth America’s programs to assist state, regional, and local government agencies around the nation with smart growth policies and tools.

Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America said:

Bill’s practical experience implementing smart growth strategies will be a tremendous asset to Smart Growth America. Our organization is committed to helping local elected officials use smart growth strategies to create stable, sustainable economies and communities and Bill’s expertise will help us do just that. We are proud to welcome him to our team.

Fulton currently serves as a Principal and Shareholder of The Planning Center | DC&E, a California-based planning consulting firm. He will continue these roles in a limited capacity, focusing on Transfer of Development Rights programs nationwide and high-profile smart growth projects in California. In Ventura, he will step down as Mayor and member of the City Council in December. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at the School of Planning, Policy, & Development at the University of Southern California, where he teaches land use policy and smart growth.

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Upcoming webinar: Navigating Change: Running Effective Community and Coalition Meetings

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Building sustainable communities involves engaging people in meetings to set a vision, agree upon goals, manage projects, and build relationships that will carry forward. Often—even with people who agree with what we are hoping to create—these meetings aren’t as effective as we’d like: they go off topic, we get mired in a particular issue, or we get overwhelmed by the number of decisions we need to make. In many cases, these meetings are interrupted by or taken over by those who are uncomfortable with our work, or might not understand the benefits of creating healthier, more sustainable communities.

Navigating Change, presented by facilitator and community sustainability consultant Odin Zackman, will walk you through the basics of designing an effective community or coalition meeting, provide facilitation tips and techniques, and offer interventions that can help keep public meetings on track. We’ll also reserve time for questions and a “community meeting clinic” where your stories and challenges can serve as case studies for all participants.

In preparation for this webinar, please fill out a brief survey to share your expectations. This will help design a session that addresses the questions and challenges you face that tend to be common to many communities.

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Capital Region housing developers finding opportunity in infill housing: “We are not afraid anymore”

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Cross-posted from our coalition member Empire State Future.

Throughout New York State demand for downtown living continues to expand as baby boomers are ditching the cul-de-sac and generation X and Y are re-envisioning their American Dream. The change in consumer preference has already driven a million people to the “City that Never Sleeps”, New York City, since 1990, with another million New Yorkers expected by 2035. As people continue to find the value and livability of urban living in New York City and many of New York State’s 61 smaller cities, reuse of existing commercial and industrial structures as well as infill development on abandoned and vacant lots will play a role in serving the increasing demand for residential units.

As each state-commissioned Regional Economic Development Council releases their strategic plans, major calls for smart growth are materializing. This is advantageous for numerous developers who have already made the transition to building residential properties in existing downtowns and on or near main streets. Over the next few weeks ESF is going to highlight a few of these projects from across the state to show what New York’s cities will have to offer in the years to come.

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Congress does not include funding for HUD’s Sustainable Communities Initiative in FY 2012

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Washington, DC – The conference report for the FY 2012 minibus, which includes funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) eliminates funds for the Sustainable Communities Initiative. The program served as HUD’s contribution to the interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a collaborative effort between HUD, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Geoffrey Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America, released the following statement:

“The Partnership for Sustainable Communities is one of the federal government’s most effective tools, and HUD’s crucial role in that program will be almost certainly eliminated by these cuts. If you think building homes that people can afford near jobs and schools is a sound strategy for rebuilding our economy, if you think local governments can partner to deliver service more efficiently, if you want to help communities copy other localities that have saved hundreds of millions in federal infrastructure funding, this was the program for you.

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Partnership in jeopardy: call your members of Congress today!

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If you haven’t yet called your representatives in the House and Senate to express your support for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, today is a crucial day to pick up the phone. Funding for the Partnership is being decided now, and your call could be the one that helps keep these programs for the year to come.

Call today! Click here for information about calling your representatives.

With funding for the Partnership in serious jeopardy, voicing your concerns to your members of Congress is crucially important to the decision-making process, and it only takes a few minutes.

The Partnership for Sustainable Communities helps towns and cities across the country spur economic growth by investing in local jobs and local communities. This is an efficient, effective investment of taxpayer dollars and one that will keep our country strong for years to come. Help us fight to keep these programs alive!

Tell your representatives to support the Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Call your members of Congress today.

The Partnership depends on the support of advocates like you. When you speak out, Congress listens! Please take a few minutes to call your members of Congress today.

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