Hi everyone, I’m Katharine Burgess, Vice President of the Land Use and Development team at SGA. Our goal is to support neighborhoods to be more vibrant, resilient and connected while maintaining affordability—working toward liveable communities where everyone can thrive. Given today’s housing access crisis, and the rising costs of household energy and transportation, this work … Continued
In the face of the well-documented housing crisis, and amidst a changing landscape for office and commercial buildings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House released a guidebook of programs that would assist commercial to residential conversions. As local government leaders, developers, policymakers, and other stakeholders debate strategies to revitalize their downtowns, this guidebook … Continued
In a moderated panel discussion, hosted in New Delhi, India, several land use experts brainstormed how governments can advance people-centered communities that include green infrastructure as a central focal point of the community. Additionally, they examined the similarities between developing communities in the Global South and smaller communities in the U.S. Good communities don’t just … Continued
Thanks to generous funding from The Barr Foundation, over the last several months, SGA has provided technical assistance to two Massachusetts-based community organizations: Westside Legends of Pittsfield, MA, and CultureHouse of Somerville, MA. These technical assistance partnerships with these two community organizations are oriented around the goal of advancing equitable zoning reform and affordable housing … Continued
Smart Growth America partnered with Community Workshop LLC to work with Vermont decision makers as they reevaluate and reimagine their state’s Designation Programs. The recent Designation 2050 Design Summit helped advance this project to improve climate resilience and housing affordability. Last month, planners, state and local leaders, and business and property owners came together to … Continued
In August 2023, over 2,700 Brownfields practitioners met in downtown Detroit to share the latest trends and best practices for revitalizing and redeveloping contaminated brownfield sites across the country. The National Brownfields Coalition (NBC), a nonpartisan advocacy coalition convened by Smart Growth America and the Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR), actively participated at the … Continued
As climate change continues to threaten communities with extreme weather events and sea level rise, innovative approaches to increasing resilience are a critical strategy to mitigate the potential damage. Norfolk, Virginia’s comprehensive climate-informed zoning reform is one of the first to use climate considerations to guide future development—and despite concerns that it could have a … Continued
As the impacts of climate change continue to intensify, zoning presents a key tool to direct development to protect communities from climate events. Norfolk, Virginia, a city at severe risk from sea level rise due to climate change, is among the first cities in the US to use climate adaptation as a core consideration for … Continued
Smart Growth America is launching a new technical assistance (TA) program to support equitable development and housing attainability in Massachusetts thanks to generous funding from The Barr Foundation. The program is designed to provide community-based organizations with the skills and tools to advance sustainable, equitable development and affordable housing, and to support generational wealth creation … Continued