For decades, zoning has been used as a tool to segregate and exclude. It has contributed to some of the biggest problems that communities across America face today: people can’t afford to buy homes (let alone rent), there’s an over-reliance on single-family-only housing options, and our sprawling communities are harming people’s health and the environment—not … Continued
Press Release October 15 – Smart Growth America is proud to announce the launch of the Center for Zoning Solutions (CZS), our initiative dedicated to promoting and implementing zoning reform that fosters healthier, more vibrant communities. CZS will build upon Smart Growth America’s 25 years of experience supporting communities to create people-oriented places … Continued
To advance livable places, healthy communities, and shared prosperity, Smart Growth America is launching the Center for Zoning Solutions.
From reduced opportunities to travel by bike or foot to a lack of parks and green spaces, our built environment actively contributes to the state of our physical and mental well-being, and nowhere is its negative impact felt more than in Black and Brown communities.
Smart Growth America (SGA) is pleased to announce the return of the Form-Based Codes Award, now in its 17th year. As a program of SGA, the Form-Based Codes Institute has supported the FBC Award program to recognize exemplary form-based codes that advance the practice of form-based zoning for equitable development, people-oriented communities, and predictable development … Continued
On April 28, 2023, SGA attended the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in their hearing, “Building Consensus to Address Housing Challenges.” At the hearing, senators recognized the housing crisis and the need to address it, and witnesses testified to various approaches to solving housing problems and delivering more much-needed housing affordable to … Continued
Streets don’t exist in a vacuum. They are inextricably connected to the buildings, sidewalks, spaces, homes, businesses, and everything else around them that they serve. The strongest Complete Streets policies require the integration of land-use planning to best sync up with a community’s desires for using and living on their land today and in the future.
The Form-Based Codes Institute (FBCI)— a program of Smart Growth America—is pleased to announce the 2022 FBCI Form-Based Codes Award, which recognizes exemplary form-based codes that advance the practice of form-based zoning in both composition and implementation. In its 16th year, FBCI’s Form-Based Codes Award seeks to highlight best practices in zoning reform to promote: … Continued
In partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Smart Growth America (SGA) is eager to begin a new research project that will analyze the fiscal impacts of climate-informed zoning policy in Norfolk, Virginia, a community already experiencing the damaging impacts of climate change, including flooding. Alongside a comprehensive scan of peer cities’ climate-informed zoning approaches, SGA will consider how those approaches and land use policy can affect housing affordability, fiscal budgets, and equitable development objectives as well as highlight best practices to help coastal communities better prepare for future flooding and other climate change hazards.
In the final session of Commonwealth Communities: Smart Growth Strategies for Our Emergent Future, expert speakers ranging from local municipal leaders to professional researchers discussed how to incorporate equity into zoning law. The history of zoning in the U.S. is fraught with racism and disparate impacts on communities of color and low-income communities. We have … Continued