Energy, smart growth, climate change and the 2008 candidates (Part 1)

After watching some of the debates over the last few weeks, and partially inspired by a similar post from Rob Goodspeed on the Planetizen Interchange, I pieced together this very abridged summary of where some of the current candidates stand on some of the environmental, transportation, energy and urban issues that our coalition cares about. … Continued

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Smart Growth Veteran Geoffrey Anderson Selected to Serve as President and CEO of Smart Growth America

After an extensive nationwide search, the SGA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Geoffrey Anderson as President and CEO of Smart Growth America. Anderson, who has headed the smart growth program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 2000, will succeed founding executive director and CEO Don Chen, who is leaving … Continued

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Driven to the Brink: How the Gas Price Spike Popped the Housing Bubble and Devalued the Suburbs

This white paper by CEOs for Cities argues that, “the collapse of America’s housing bubble—and its reverberations in financial markets—has obscured a tectonic shift in housing demand. Although housing prices are in decline almost everywhere, price declines are generally far more severe in far-flung suburbs and in metropolitan areas with weak close-in neighborhoods. The reason for this shift is rooted in the dramatic increase in gas prices over the past five years. Housing in cities and neighborhoods that require lengthy commutes and provide few transportation alternatives to the private vehicle are falling in value more precipitously than in more central, compact and accessible places.”

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2007 Accomplishments

With the Urban Land Institute, we released Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, which shows how meeting the demand for conveniently located housing with transportation choices will be key to addressing climate change.

The National Vacant Properties Campaign held its first national conference: Reclaiming Vacant Properties was an overwhelming success. Nearly 700 people rallied together in Pittsburgh to share wisdom and learn how to help their own communities hit hard by vacancy and abandonment.

Along with the Brookings Institution and other partners, we launched the Restoring Prosperity Initiative to bring hope and investment to our older industrial and weak market cities.

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A tale of two cities: Transportation and corporate recruitment

As long as local and state leaders in Georgia fail to grasp that Atlanta can’t pave its way out of traffic congestion, Atlanta could be in danger of becoming a case study in what may happen to a city’s business climate when an economic model based largely on growth and continual outward expansion hits the … Continued

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