Video

Laura Jackson of Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield on creating healthier communities

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Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council recently spoke with Laura Jackson, an Executive Vice President of Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, to get her perspective on why smart growth strategies should be a priority for the health care industry and how the way we build communities can help abate rising health care costs and improve public health.

“Smart growth practices are a way to help people understand that there are certain things you can do, either low cost or no cost in many cases in communities, to live a longer healthier life,” says Jackson.

Local Leaders Council

Jeremy Madsen on using urban growth boundaries to direct development and protect open lands

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Jeremy Madsen, Executive Director of Greenbelt Alliance, California’s San Francisco Bay Area land conservation and urban planning organization, talks about urban growth boundaries. By adopting a line beyond municipal services cannot extend, cities and counties can protect open space and agricultural lands and promote growth where they want it to occur. See more interviews with … Continued

Local Leaders Council

Mayor Rick Danner on revitalizing Greer, South Carolina’s downtown

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The City of Greer had a vision for turning around their downtown. Mayor Rick Danner talks about they went about implementing that vision through a Master Plan created with the help of a public-private partnership and turned their downtown from a couple of restaurants into a vibrant center that includes a new city hall, a … Continued

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Vice-Mayor Anu Natarajan on building better in Fremont, CA

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Vice-Mayor Anu Natarajan believes her city of Fremont, CA, can be an economic leader in the region and the country. Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council sat down with Vice-Mayor Natarajan to learn more about her ideas for building on the city’s existing diversity to make Fremont more vibrant and economically competitive.

Local Leaders Council

T4America kicks off a new alliance of #CanDoLeaders

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Today is the start of a brand new focus for Transportation for America.

Since 2008, T4America has been a leading advocate in Washington for a national investment plan for transportation that matches today’s challenges and opportunities. Smart Growth America is proud to call T4America one of our programs.

Today, T4America is launching the next phase: A new alliance of business, elected, and civic leaders from cities, towns and suburbs across the nation. They know how valuable a robust transportation network is for local economies, and that stronger local economies build a stronger America. They will be there to stand up for local communities as Congress in 2014 addresses the growing hole in the transportation fund and the expiration of last year’s MAP-21 law.

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Mayor Madeline Rogero on brownfields redevelopment in Knoxville, TN

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Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council recently interviewed Madeline Rogero, mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, to ask her how local governments can catalyze brownfields redevelopment and jumpstart revitalization. In the video above, Rogero discusses how strategic investments by local government have made brownfield sites in Knoxville more attractive to potential developers.

Local Leaders Council

Carlos Gallinar on building a stronger El Paso, TX with Plan El Paso

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Last year, El Paso, TX’s comprehensive plan Plan El Paso was named the Best Smart Growth Plan by the Atlantic Cities and honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for achievement in smart growth. Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council sat down with Carlos Gallinar, El Paso’s Deputy Director for City Development and Planning, to learn what El Paso is doing to become one of the premier cities of the Southwest.

Local Leaders Council

Jim Bacon explains the fiscal and economic benefits of smart growth

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Jim Bacon is creator and publisher of Bacon’s Rebellion, a Virginia-based blog that covers a range of infrastructure, growth and policy issues. In an interview with Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, Bacon discusses how he came to see smart growth strategies as a fiscally responsible approach to development.

A former editor of Virginia Business Magazine, Bacon has been following community development and transportation issues since the 1980s when northern Virginia was experiencing a building boom. “I was really concerned about costs of growth at the time,” says Bacon. “When you smear out growth over a large, huge land mass, it’s going to be far more expensive to build the roads, extend water and sewer, cable lines, and electricity.”

Local Leaders Council
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