Author: Smart Growth America

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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Take action! Help defend funding for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities

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The Senate and the House of Representatives have each proposed budgets for the 2012 federal fiscal year, and each proposal includes different levels of funding for the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

This week, the two houses are scheduled to reconcile their budgets and will decide funding for the Partnership and its programs for next year. That means this week is a crucial time to voice support for the Partnership.

Tell your Senators and Representative that to support the Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Call your members of Congress today.

The Partnership is an innovative and effective collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development. Through the Partnership these agencies coordinate federal policies, programs and resources to achieve multiple goals at the same time. This makes policy more efficient, makes best use of taxpayer dollars and helps build strong, durable economies in communities across the country.

The Partnership depends on the support of advocates like you. When you speak out, Congress listens!

Voice your support: Tell your Senators and Representative to continue funding the Partnership in Fiscal Year 2012.

Let’s work together to protect programs that put taxpayer dollars to good work and strengthen America’s local economies: call your members of Congress today.

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Senate passes minibus bill with strong funding for Partnership for Sustainable Communities programs

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Washington, DC – The Senate passed an amended fiscal 2012 “minibus” appropriations package today, which included spending bills for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The bill includes $90 million in funding for the Sustainable Communities Initiative at HUD and $550 million for the TIGER program DOT.

These programs are part of the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an innovative and effective collaboration between HUD, DOT and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Partnership works to coordinate federal housing, transportation, water, and other infrastructure investments to make neighborhoods more economically resilient, allow people to live closer to jobs, save households time and money, and reduce pollution.

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LOCUS steering committee members honored at ULI Terwillinger Center Awards Gala

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The Urban Land Institute’s Terwillinger Center for Workforce Housing held its annual awards gala in September to recognize communities, real estate developers and policymakers in promoting workforce housing affordability. The Jonathan Rose Companies, led by LOCUS steering committee member Jonathan Rose, received the Jack Kemp Workforce Housing Model of Excellence award for their Tapestry development in East Harlem, New York. The award is given in honor of former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp in recognition of four developers who have used innovative financing and design strategies to build developments and offers units at both market rate and below-market rate for residents.

LOCUS Steering Committee member Eric Larson also attended the event to present the Robert C. Larson Workforce Housing Public Policy Award, which recognizes the commitment of a state or local government that is dedicated to the production, rehabilitation and preservation of workforce housing. New this year, the award is named in memory of Larson’s father, Bob Larson, a leading real estate developer and investor chair of the Resolution Trust Corporation and former ULI chairman. This year’s award recipient is the city of San Jose.

“My father believed that a keen sense of community would emerge when dedicated, smart people do the right thing. And public policy, with strong leadership, is key to the lasting quality of a community,” Larson said. “We are thrilled that San Jose is the first recipient of this award bearing my father’s name.”

LOCUS

New Survey: New Jerseyans Support Statewide Planning and Water Quality Protection

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New Jerseyans’ decades-long support for coordinated statewide planning to guide growth and development and protect farmland and open space remains undiminished, according to a poll released today by smart growth, environmental and transportation advocates.

The poll, conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute, found that residents are as concerned about protecting drinking water as they are about the economy. Ninety one percent identify protecting the state’s drinking water supply as very important, compared to 88 percent who say that attracting new business is a top concern.

New Jerseyans are enthusiastic about sustainable communities – places where a variety of transportation options already exist and neighborhoods are within walking distance of shopping and other services. Two-thirds of residents believe the state needs more sustainable communities and nearly three in four say they would definitely (46 percent) or probably (27 percent) like to live in such a place.

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