Planning

Spotlight on Sustainability: Madison, WI

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Unsustainable growth, lack of economic opportunities, community health concerns, and loss of natural resources—these are issues facing cities and towns across the country, and Madison, Wisconsin is no exception. But, regional planning organizations in the Greater Madison area are now attempting to confront these endemic issues in a strategic and sustainable way that utilizes Madison’s strengths rather than allowing its weaknesses to be barriers to an effective response.

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Upcoming Webinar: Transit Corridors for Sustainable Communities – Planning Transit to Connect the Dots

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Join us Tuesday, August 23rd at 3:30 PM ET for the next Sustainable Communities Network webinar: “Transit Corridors for Sustainable Communities: Planning Transit to Connect the Dots.” This event is hosted by Smart Growth America, PolicyLink, Reconnecting America and the National Housing Conference.

The session will begin with a discussion of the different types of transit corridors and how what they connect can have significant implications for land uses, ridership, and the potential for development after the transit is built, including a description of examples of these different corridor types and how transit and land use have interacted in a few regions. Following that, participants will learn how planners in a small town in Colorado are making the transition from thinking about making a successful transit system to ensuring that the system is integrated into community life and makes inter-agency connections. The session will conclude with an overview of the innovative tools being used in a joint planning process between city staff in Tigard, OR, a suburb of Portland, and the regional planning agency to direct growth alongside a high capacity transit planning project in the city.

Speakers include Dena Belzer, President of Strategic Economics and partner in the Center for Transit-Oriented Development; Crista M. Gardner, Senior Planner at Portland Metro; and David Johnson AICP, Director of Planning, Roaring Fork Transportation Authority. This webinar will be moderated by Elizabeth Wampler, Program Associate at Reconnecting America and the Center for Transit-Oriented Development.

What: “Transit Corridors for Sustainable Communities – Planning Transit to Connect the Dots”
When: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 3:30 PM ET
Where: Webinar information will be sent to registrants.
RSVP: Click here to Register. Please RSVP by 5 PM ET on August 22nd.
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Partnership For Sustainable Communities Grantees Host Briefing On Capitol Hill

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This week, Smart Growth America brought together representatives from groups who received Department of Housing and Urban Development regional planning grants as part of the interagency Partnership for Sustainable Community for a briefing on Capitol Hill. The grantees who spoke at the briefing represented a diverse cross-section of communities that are implementing regional planning grants, including representatives from the Metro-Boston region, Northern Maine, and Metropolitan Des Moines. Shelley Poticha, Director of HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Community Development, shared the agency’s perspective of the transformative potential of regional planning grants and the unique cross-agency collaboration between HUD, DOT and EPA that defines the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

HUD distributed just shy of $100 million for regional planning grants to 45 different grant recipients as part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities in fiscal year 2011. So far those grant recipients have managed to leverage almost another $100 million out of local private, non-profit and local government partners to support their efforts. Shelley noted that kind of financial investment in support of a non-construction project was remarkable. Why is there so much excitement from the business community, local governments, universities and other partners on the ground when it comes to these regional planning grants?

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Smart growth in demand: Google asks Mountain View, CA for mixed-use development

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Technology megaplayer Google – known widely for attracting some of the most talented web developers in the world – is using its position as a large employer in a small city to encourage smart growth development.

In a letter to the City of Mountain View, CA, where the company has its headquarters, Google encouraged planners to pursue sustainable development strategies. Mountain View is currently working to update its strategy for development, and asked for public input on the decisions to be made.

In the letter Google VP David Radcliffe voiced the company’s support for “mixed-use development…along with the kind of land use development described in the Final Report by the Mountain View Environmental Sustainability Task Force.” The Task Force’s recommendations – which focus on strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – would improve the quality of life for Google’s 20,000 Mountain View employees, Radcliffe explained, as well as help the city fiscally and for the long-term. From the company’s letter:

We would encourage you to provide opportunities for the North Bayshore area to continue to be the center of sustainable development for Google’s HQ campus…[and] the model Silicon Valley community – leading the way with visionary development opportunities to create the most efficient, sustainable and fiscally supportive plan to the community of Mountain View and the North Bayshore area.

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National Associations Congratulate HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Awardees

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 14, 2010

National Associations Congratulate HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Awardees
Organizations Urge Continued Federal Investments to Ensure Nationwide Community Economic Competitiveness

WASHINGTON, DC – The National League of Cities (NLC), National Association of Regional Councils (NARC), Smart Growth America (SGA), the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA (ICLEI) congratulate the cities, towns, communities and regions which today were awarded Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These communities will now undertake critical regional planning and implementation activities that support building sustainable, livable communities through regional cooperation, broad stakeholder and community involvement and coordinated processes. The organizations also offer gratitude to HUD and the other federal agencies involved for undertaking an inaugural and historic process that will yield results for years to come.

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Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference Champions Economic and Environmental Revitalization

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Vacant Properties Conference 2010

Investing in and reusing vacant properties can catalyze long-term, sustainable revitalization in a community. Focusing on the multiple benefits these projects bring to neighborhoods and local economies, the Center for Community Progress’ Reclaiming Vacant Properties conference kicked off this week in Cleveland, Ohio. The annual conference brings together a diversity of leaders working on community development issues to make our neighborhoods stronger and healthier.

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Chicago's 30 year plan looks at day-to-day life and regional prosperity

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From CMAP's GO TO 2040 report
A page from the introduction to CMAP’s GO TO 2040 report.

Chicago’s Metropolitan Agency for Planning announced today a visionary plan how the city and its surrounding counties should grow and develop over the next 30 years. The GO TO 2040 project is “a comprehensive regional plan seeks to maintain and strengthen our region’s position as one of the nation’s few global economic centers.” After three years of research, the Agency lays out four main themes in its comprehensive new report: livable communities (including housing, water, energy, parks and local food), human capital (including education and the workforce), efficient governance (including tax reforms) and regional mobility (including strategic investment in transportation).

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New York passes bill to make infrastructure investments smarter

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In a time when state public infrastructure funds are already stretched thin, can we afford to exacerbate the problem by making infrastructure decisions that support sprawl, requiring expensive extension of roads and utilities? According to the New York state legislature the answer is no. Last month the state passed the Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act.

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Webinar: TIGER II Discretionary Grants and HUD Community Challenge Planning Grants

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Webinar: National Infrastructure Investments (TIGER II Discretionary Grants) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Challenge Planning Grants Date/Time:  Thursday, July 1 at 2:00pm EDT The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and HUD have issued a joint solicitation for the two planning grant programs in order to better align transportation, housing, economic development, … Continued

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California developers call SB 375 “a pro-growth strategy” that’s good for business

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Will California’s plans for reducing dangerous climate-changing emissions help or hinder the building and development market? California’s most prominent association of real estate developers answered that question emphatically last week, saying that California’s law requiring regions to reduce emissions through smarter land use, transportation, and housing decisions is good for business.

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