Our path forward from the 2024 elections

As the dust from this election cycle settles, it is more apparent than ever that communities are facing increasingly severe and compounding challenges. Economic inequities and the financial pressures tied to the needs of daily life are squeezing communities of every shape, size, and geographic location—and housing and transportation costs are clear contributors to these burdens.

Advancing Racial Equity Climate Change Economic development Land Use and Development Rural Development Transportation

A path forward in Florida: Resilience to flooding and economic growth

As part of our Climate & Land Use Technical Assistance Program, we worked with Florida-based community organization, Incubate Neighborhood Center (INC), to raise awareness about the ways that climate change is impacting their community’s infrastructure, insurance rates, and economic opportunity. In this video, business owners, government officials, and regional resilience partners talk about how flooding … Continued

Climate Change Technical assistance

Request for qualifications: Climate and Land Use Research, Communications & Advisory Support

Smart Growth America (SGA) is seeking a contractor to support the organization’s Climate and Land Use work including ongoing technical assistance and research projects. The contractor will contribute to key climate adaptation projects on a regular, part-time schedule over a 3-5 month period, writing communications materials, managing aspects of a new technical assistance program, and/or … Continued

Climate Change Land Use and Development

Growing our Climate & Land Use Technical Assistance Cohort

Smart Growth America (SGA) is excited to announce a second round of climate and land use technical assistance (TA) opportunities for community-based organizations across the U.S. This new round builds on our successful partnerships from 2023, offering expanded support for communities advocating for equitable and climate-resilient land use, housing, and infrastructure policies. A couple of our existing partners include Incubate Neighbood Center (Fort Pierce, Florida) and Freedom Org (Edgecombe County, North Carolina), who came together in Washington, DC with the broader cohort to celebrate nine months of working collaboratively.

Climate Change Land Use and Development Technical assistance

How smart growth can protect against flooding in vulnerable communities

As climate change brings more frequent flooding and storms to large swaths of the U.S., under-resourced communities tend to bear the brunt of their effects. This inequity is, in large part, due to a long history of discriminatory land use policies and practices that segregated and disinvested in Black and Brown communities, leaving them oftentimes … Continued

Climate Change Resilience

How parking influences travel behavior

The vast amount of underused parking spread across our communities has not only led to wasted space, stifled development, and higher costs—a topic discussed in a previous post in this series—but it has also encouraged more driving, even in otherwise walkable places with plenty of options for getting around. Cities, towns, and even individual business owners can seize this as an opportunity to encourage a much more balanced and efficient transportation landscape.

Climate Change Land Use and Development Transportation

Reinvesting in Florida: Fighting floods with community-based solutions

As part of our Climate & Land Use Technical Assistance Program, Smart Growth America partnered with a local Florida-based organization, Incubate Neighborhood Center (INC), to raise awareness about the impacts that intensifying storms and flooding have on housing affordability, infrastructure, and economic development in their community. Focused on the Fort Pierce area in St. Lucie … Continued

Climate Change Technical assistance