Published by the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation under a cooperative agreement with EPA, the Brownfields Resource Guide for Rural and Small Communities is a guide that provides a range of resources for brownfields efforts.
New study evaluates the relationship between school location, travel choices and the environment
Over the next few decades, communities making decisions about the construction and renovation of thousands of schools will be challenged to meet multiple goals — educational, fiscal, and environmental.
This study is the first to empirically examine the relationship between school location, the built environment around schools, how kids get to school, and air emission impacts of those travel choices.
Using the sprawl measurement methodology and results from Measuring Sprawl and its Impact, this is the first national study to find that people who live in counties marked by sprawl-style development are more likely to weigh more, be obese, and suffer from high blood pressure.
A report by the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
This rigorous, peer-reviewed study is the first to develop a consistent method for defining and measuring the development pattern referred to as “sprawl” and its impact on residents’ lives. The study amassed an unprecedented database of measures of residential density, a mix of jobs, shops, and housing, the street network, and the presence or absence of strong centers of activity. Metropolitan areas across the country were scored and ranked, and various lifestyle and transportation factors were related to local sprawl levels.
This Smart Growth Network report, “provides case studies of towns, cities, and states that have linked smart growth with affordable housing. Among the policies and approaches featured are: reuse of vacant properties and land, flexible land use policies, regional fair-share housing agreements, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, increased affordability through reduced transportation costs, the federal HOPE VI program to construct mixed-income housing, and community land trusts. The approaches discussed represent a range of options for public, private, and nonprofit sector members to consider as they pursue smart growth and work toward affordable housing goals in their communities.”
For this study, the EPA, “modeled the transportation and environmental impacts of locating the same development on two sites—one infill, and one suburban edge/greenfield—and compared the results. This analysis was conducted in three regions: San Diego, California; Montgomery County, Maryland; and West Palm Beach, Florida.”