Economics
Guidebooks

This Is Smart Growth Showcases Development at its Best

Many people want to know what smart growth looks like. This Is Smart Growth, a publication from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the Smart Growth Network, illustrates and explains smart growth concepts and outcomes. This full-color booklet describes how, when done well, development can help create more economic opportunities, build great places where people want to live and visit, preserve the qualities people love about their communities, and protect environmental resources.

20 Actions Governors Can Take

The National Governors Association's (NGA) Health and Dignity Task Force provides this issue brief on ways to improve long-term health care issues in America.

2003 Advocates' Guide to Housing and Community Development Policy

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) publishes the Advocate's Guide to Housing and Community Development Policy each year to help keep advocates current on a wide range of issues, programs and tools at play in the world of housing policy, and to serve as a primer for those new to the field.

21st Century Land Development Code

In 21st Century Land Development Code from APA Planners Press, two of the nation's leading experts in land-use law and planning provide a comprehensive guide to drafting and updating land-use regulations.

A Citizen’s Guide to Participating in Florida’s Growth Management Process

1000 Friends of Florida have produced A Citizen’s Guide to Participating in Florida’s Growth Management Process, a handbook that provides a brief overview of the Florida's Growth Management Act, and then focuses on how citizens can become effective advocates for better planning in their communities.

A Citizen’s Guide to Protecting Historic Places

A Citizen’s Guide to Protecting Historic Places from the National Trust for Historic Preservation is a primer that reviews the five cardinal land use principles that make up effective historic preservation ordinances, and includes the historic background of historic preservation.

A Guide for Property Owners Returning to New Orleans

The National Trust for Historic Preservation offers this two-page guide for property owners returning to New Orleans. This overview is designed as an initial guide in helping property owners minimize structural and cosmetic flood damage.

A Guide to Aging in Place

The National Aging in Place Council (NAICP) has create an online Guide to Aging in Place. This resource, indexed by topic, provides detailed information about things to consider if you want to remain living independently in your own home throughout retirement.

A Guide to Setting Up Your Own Edible Rooftop Garden

The Alternatives and the Rooftop Garden Project are publishers of Guide to Setting Up Your Own Edible Rooftop Garden, a guidebook that provides a top-to-bottom outline of creating and maintaining rooftop gardens.

A Guide to Smart Growth and Cultural Resource Planning

A Guide to Smart Growth and Cultural Resource Planning, prepared by the Wisconsin Historical Society's Division of Historic Preservation, is now available.

A Guide to Tax-Advantaged Rehabilitation 2009

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is updating its A Guide to Tax-Advantaged Rehabilitation, featuring the latest information on the historic rehabilitation tax credit in an easy question-and-answer format. Sample worksheets help readers estimate the value of the credit for their projects.

A Guide to Transportation Enhancements -- Call for Submissions

The National Transportation Enhancements Clearinghouse (NTEC) is currently seeking submissions to include in A Guide to Transportation Enhancements. The guide utilizes case studies to examine transportation enhancements, and is NTEC's most popular publication.

A Guide to Transportation Opportunities in Your Community

From the Margins to the Mainstream: A Guide to Transportation Opportunities in Your Community from Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP) reviews how federal surface transportation law can be used to support local and statewide efforts to build more livable communities and expand travel options. It is designed to demystify some of the complexities of the transportation laws, programs, and processes.

A Reporter’s Resource and Media Guide to Growth in CA

Unprecedented population pressures throughout California are threatening the state’s natural values and pristine landscapes. The threat is largely the result of land use policies that favor low-density development over carefully planned growth within existing urban boundaries.

A Residents' Guide to Creating Safe and Walkable Communities

People need walkable communities where sidewalks, trails, and street crossings are safe, accessible, and comfortable for people of all ability levels. A Residents' Guide to Creating Safe and Walkable Communities from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, provides examples from communities that are working to improve pedestrian safety. It includes information, ideas, and resources to help residents learn about issues that affect walking conditions; find ways to address or prevent these problems; and promote pedestrian safety.

A Smart Growth Reader

A Smart Growth Reader, prepared by the American Planning Association (APA), is designed as an aid to understanding the various elements that make up Smart Growth. This on-line publication draws on articles that have appeared in APA publications over the past two years, and is intended as a rich compendium of perspectives on the smart growth.

A Strategy for Saving Rhode Island from Sprawl and Urban Decay

This briefing book from Grow Smart Rhode Island provides background information about issues that are critical for the state’s healthy economic and physical development, quality of life, and social well-being.

Achieving Equity and Inclusion in America

PolicyLink has developed Achieving Equity and Inclusion in America: Policy Principles for the Obama Administration and New Congress, a framework of principles that can guide federal decision-making to maximize the return on national investment for all Americans, especially low-income people and communities of color. These principles reflect the knowledge and experience PolicyLink has developed through its decade-long partnership with local leaders working to foster economic and social inclusion in communities across America.

Achieving Smart Growth in New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning (OEP) has produced a report and website, Achieving Smart Growth in New Hampshire. This project documents how New Hampshire is changing and highlights some positive examples of development and conservation throughout the state.

AFT State Guides for Farm-Friendly Planning Policies

The American Farmland Trust (AFT) has produced state guides for California, Wisconsin, and New York to advise municipalities on farm-friendly planning policies.

Ahwahnee Principles for Climate Change

At the 17th Annual Yosemite Conference for Local Elected Officials, a process was set in place by the Local Government Commission's (LGC's) Board of Directors to develop a set of guiding principles for local governments to use in response to global warming. A draft of Ahwahnee Principles for Climate Change was distributed at the conference for comments by all attendees.

Ahwahnee Water Principles for Resource Efficient Land Use

The Local Government Commission has published online the Ahwahnee Water Principles for Resource Efficient Land Use. These principles complement the Ahwahnee Principles for Resource-Efficient Communities that were developed in 1991. Many cities and counties are already using them to improve the vitality and prosperity of their communities.

AIA 50to50

50to50 from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a how-to resource intended to assist architects and the construction industry in moving toward the AIA's public goal of a minimum 50 percent reduction of fossil fuel consumption in buildings by 2010 and carbon neutrality by 2030.

An Economic Development Toolbox

An Economic Development Toolbox from the American Planning Association is a practical guide to economic development that will help local governments analyze their economies and incorporate economic goals into comprehensive plans. It explains the forces that shape local economies and shows officials and planners how they can influence those factors by encouraging the development of infrastructure and promoting regional cooperation in creating jobs.

Annotated Resources for Green Multifamily Rehabilitation

Annotated Resources for Green Multifamily Rehabilitation from Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) is a summary of resources available on the topic of green building/rehabilitation for multifamily homes.

Bargaining for Development

This unique, 312-page volume from the Environmental Law Institute features an extensive categorization of land development conditions by type of public facility and an extensive discussion of ways in which impact fees can be calculated.

Better Models for Commercial Development

Better Models for Commercial Development is a one-of-a-kind publication from The Conservation Fund that shows how communities can improve the design and siting of new commercial development.

Better Models for Development in California

Better Models for Development in California is a one of a kind publication for creating, maintaining and enhancing livable communities in California.

Better Models for Development on the Eastern Shore

Better Models for Development on the Eastern Shore is a unique publication for improving the design and siting of new commercial development on the Eastern Shore. This booklet, co-published with the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy was written for elected officials, planning commissioners, developers and interested citizens on the Delmarva Peninsula. Better Models shows how new commercial development can be made more attractive, more efficient and more profitable.

Bringing Buildings Back

Abandoned properties are a plague across the United States, from rust belt cities like Detroit and Buffalo to small towns like Lima, Ohio, and Waterloo, Iowa. Even in Sunbelt cities such as Houston and Las Vegas, abandonment is a major problem, as investment flows to the periphery, leaving the older, inner neighborhoods behind. In Bringing Buildings Back, author Alan Mallach provides policymakers and practitioners with the first in-depth guide to understanding and dealing with the many ramifications that this issue holds for the future of our older cities.

Brownfields Resource Guide -- Washington State

Brownfields cleanup and reuse are priorities for the State of Washington and USEPA. This resource guide will point you in the right direction to get answers to your questions and help with brownfield projects.

Brownfields Resource Guide for Rural and Small Communities

Published by the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation under a cooperative agreement with EPA, Brownfields Resource Guide for Rural and Small Communities is a guide that provides a range of resources for brownfields efforts.

Brownfields Road Map

The U.S. EPA's Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup, Fourth Edition, includes new and updated resources to assist in identification and selection of innovative site characterization and cleanup technologies for brownfields redevelopment.

Building a Sustainable Business: Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses

Conceived in 1996 by a planning team for the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA) to address the evolving business planning needs of beginning and experienced rural entrepreneurs, Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses incorporates recommendations on content, language and organization from the review process as well as examples from five of the review team’s business plans.

Building for Tomorrow: Innovative Infrastructure Solutions

Building for Tomorrow: Innovative Infrastructure Solutions from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) presents a compendium of innovative alternatives to infrastruction maintenance and improvements for public and private entities.

Building Healthy, High Performance Schools

Building Healthy, High Performance Schools: A Review of Selected State and School District Initiatives illustrates policies, programs, and practices to incorporate a high-performance approach in school planning, design, and construction.

Building Successful Communities in the Sierra Nevada

Planning for Prosperity: Building Successful Communities in the Sierra Nevada is designed to help decision-makers in the Sierra Nevada plan wisely and effectively for their communities' futures.

Building Vibrant Sierra Communities

Building Vibrant Communities: A Commercial and Mixed Use Handbook from the Sierra Business Council (SBC) builds on the vision set forth in the SBC's Planning for Prosperity. Historic downtowns and neighborhoods have been the social, cultural, and economic centers of Sierra communities for over a hundred years. These compact, pedestrian-friendly towns are unique to our region and have enduring value. The Sierra Business Council believes they provide an excellent model for how to plan and enhance future development while we preserve what is best from our past.

Caring for Your Historic Buildings

Technical Preservation Services (TPS) helps home owners, preservation professionals, organizations, and government agencies by publishing printed pamphlets and books -- easy-to-read guidance on preserving, rehabilitating and restoring historic buildings.

Cascadia Scorecard

Northwest Environment Watch (NEW) offers the Cascadia Scorecard, a new gauge of regional progress that monitors seven key trends--health, economy, population, energy, sprawl, forests, and pollution--that are profoundly shaping the region's future.

Chicago's Guide to Completing an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy

Center for Neighborhood Technology recently helped to co-author Chicago's Guide to Completing an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy, a guide that will help cities and counties to develop a long-term and sustainable energy efficiency and conservation plan.

Choosing Our Community's Future

Smart Growth America has released Choosing Our Community's Future, a guidebook developed to assist communities in shaping the growth and development of their neighborhoods, towns and regions.

Codifying New Urbanism

Codifying New Urbanism describes New Urbanist essentials, the steps to putting New Urbanism to work in your community, and the successes of 12 communities who have followed the approaches described in the report.

Communities by Design

From the website: Communities by Design is the first in a series of AIA publications addressing livable communities from the architect's point of view. It is meant to stake out the AIA's position and get people to think of architects as integral to livability issues.

Community Culture and the Environment: A Guide to Understanding a Sense of Place

This Environmental Protection Agency guide is a technical document designed to help environmental professionals engage human communities in the processes of creating, implementing, and sustaining environmental protection efforts. It is based on elements of social science theory and methodology (e.g., anthropology, cultural geography, political science, economics, and sociology) that are relevant to defining and understanding the connections between community life and environmental issues.

Community Design Assessment: A Citizens’ Planning Tool

The Community Design Assessment: A Citizens’ Planning Guide by Kennedy Smith and Leslie Tucker provides a step-by-step process for evaluating the design and visual impact of buildings and corporate graphics in your community in order to guide decisions about future development.

Community Developer's Guide to Improving Schools in Revitalizing Neighborhoods

Community Developer's Guide to Improving Schools in Revitalizing Neighborhoods is a report from Enterprise that shows community developers how to work with school systems to improve individual schools.

Community Development Resources

A collection of publications for guidance on Waterways, Landfills, and Traffic and Highway issues.

Community Development: A Guide for Grantmakers on Fostering Better Outcomes through Good Process

Community Development is a guide for funders on the valuable role of collaborative process in community development initiatives. It draws from the lessons learned by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation during twenty years of funding conflict resolution, collaboration, and civic engagement.

Community Engagement Guide

The Community Engagement Guide from KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Ohio's largest public education philanthropy, is an essential resource for community and school change efforts.

Community Jobs in the Green Economy

Community Jobs in the Green Economy, a collaborative effort between the Apollo Alliance and Urban Habitat, emphasizes the potential of the ''green economy'' to generate quality jobs in the nation's low-income communities and communities of color.

Community-Based Watershed Management Handbook

Community-Based Watershed Management: Lessons from the National Estuary Program (NEP) is designed for all individuals and organizations involved in watershed management, including states, tribes, local governments, and nongovernmental organizations. This document describes innovative approaches to watershed management implemented by the 28 National Estuary Programs (NEPs).

Comprehensive Guide to Sustainable Municipal Planning

The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association has produced a Municipal Sustainability Planning Guide to help communities proactively address current challenges and move towards a sustainable future where a strong economy and participative governance models protect ecological integrity and contribute to a vibrant cultural scene and strong social cohesion.

Conservation Finance Handbook

Conservation Finance Handbook is a how-to guide that explains the complex process of securing federal, state, and private conservation funds and -- most importantly -- researching, designing, and passing a local, voter-approved conservation finance measure.

Conservation Options for Connecticut Farmland

This guide describes farmland protection options and programs available in Connecticut and answers some frequently asked questions about agricultural conservation easements.

Creating a Sense of Place: A Design Guide

Creating a Sense of Place: A Design Guide forms the third in a series of publications produced by Britain's Affordable Rural Housing Initiative, begun in 2003. It is a collaboration between two charitable organizations: Business in the Community and the Foundation for the Built Environment.

Creating Inclusive Communities in Florida

Creating Inclusive Communities in Florida is a manual that offers local officials and affordable housing advocates tools for overcoming NIMBYism, or the Not In My Back Yard syndrome.

Creating Successful Communities: A New Housing Paradigm

The 16-page brochure from the National Multi Housing Council takes on the conventional wisdom about housing preferences and is recommended for use with local planning and zoning boards or to support state and local advocacy efforts.

Delaware DOT's Guidebook on Corridor Capacity Preservation Program Available Online

Instituted as a pilot program in 1992, the CCPP was designed to minimize or eliminate the need to add new lanes to a highway corridor by carefully planning the land uses within the corridor and their interface with the state highway system.

Design Guidelines to Enhance Community Appearance and Protect Natural Resources

Design Guidelines to Enhance Community Appearance and Protect Natural Resources is a guidebook for citizens, decision-makers, and youth from Michigan Technological University that compares traditional development to a more visually appealing approach that also protects natural and cultural resources. Tools to accomplish the recommended approach are suggested.

Developments and Dollars: An Introduction to Fiscal Impact Analysis in Land Use Planning

New York, NY: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), May 2000. This guide provides citizens, planners, local officials and others concerned with sprawling development and growth issues with tools they need to examine the likely impacts of development proposals on local taxes and municipal budgets.

Disaster Planning for Florida's Historic Resources

1000 Friends of Florida has produced the guidebook Disaster Planning for Florida's Historic Resources to help communities better prepare for catastrophic damage to their landmark buildings and structures, historic districts, and archaeological sites -- resources that embody a community's distinct heritage and are a source of pride for area residents.

Driving Urban Environments: Smart Growth Parking Best Practices

The Maryland Governor's Office of Smart Growth has published Driving Urban Environments: Smart Growth Parking Best Practices, an overview of parking strategies that meet the challenges faced by projects in the context of smart growth.

Economics of Historic Preservation: A Community Leader’s Guide

The Economics of Historic Preservation: A Community Leader’s Guide has been updated by author Donovan D. Rypkema in this 2005 edition. This book is an essential reference for any preservationist faced with convincing government officials, developers, property owners, business and community leaders, or his or her own neighbors that preservation strategies can make good economic sense.

Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools

DOE offers ''Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools,'' a series of seven publications that will help school districts save millions of dollars on annual utility bills by designing energy efficient schools compatible with regional climates. The first set of guidelines, released in February, is tailored to hot and dry climates. The new books address the following climates: hot and humid, temperate and humid, cool and humid, cold and humid, cool and dry, and temperate and mixed.

DOE also released the ''National Best Practices Manual for High Performance Schools,'' which provides engineering and architectural specifications and other details on how to apply the guidelines. See the DOE press release at: www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases02/julpr/pr02154.htm

''Energy Efficient Construction'' Technical Bulletins

''Energy Efficient Construction'' is one of a series of Habitat for Humanity's free Energy Technical Bulletins. The documents provide basic how-to information for a variety of sustainable construction methods, materials and techniques.

Energy Guide for Campus Cost Savings

The Energy Smart Guide to Campus Cost Savings was created to help college and university managers sort through the opportunities and possibilities for saving energy and money on their campuses.

Enhancing America's Communities: A Guide to Transportation Enhancements

Enhancing America's Communities: A Guide to Transportation Enhancements is a 40-page brochure that covers the history of the Transportation Enhancements (TE) program and describes how TE funds are distributed as well as the project development process. It also provides fifteen case studies of outstanding TE projects across the country.

Environmental Planning Handbook

In The Environmental Planning Handbook, Tom and Katherine Daniels clarify complex environmental issues, examine current sustainability efforts, and offer step-by-step guidance for local governments to incorporate sustainable environmental quality into local and regional comprehensive planning.

Environmental Stewardship and the Green Campus

Colleges and universities are ideally suited to implement sustainability practices through environmental programs, energy conservation, and recycling. Environmental Stewardship and the Green Campus outlines practical steps your campus or institution can take to promote sustainability, including solid waste reduction, water conservation, transportation solutions, new construction, grounds and land use, and more.

EPA's Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model is a handbook for all stakeholders to understand how equitable development and local environmental and/or public health issues can be addressed through the Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) Model.

Farm to Cafeteria Connections

This handbook is designed to be a resource for farmers, food service professionals and community members in developing Farm-to-Cafeteria programs in Washington state. It provides locally relevant information and an overall look at Farm-to-Cafeteria programs from all across the country.

Farm to Hospital

Farm to Hospital illustrates how improving health care can be accomplished by supporting local agriculture. Linking local farms and hospitals can improve the freshness, quality, and nutritional value of hospital food while opening new markets for small and medium sized farmers.

Field Guide to Green Homes and Green Mortgages

The National Assocation of Realtors® has produced an online Field Guide to Green Homes and Green Mortgages. This web digest of published articles covers many topics, including how to finance a green home, incorporating green home elements such as solar power and Energy Star appliances, and environmentally friendly building materials.

Financing Brownfields Redevelopment Projects: A Guide for Developers.

Washington DC: U.S. EPA, 1999 This guide provides information on brownfields financing issues and informs developers and property owners on the most crucial aspects of financing brownfields redevelopment: identifying potential financing sources, preparing project plans, approaching private lenders, minimizing the financial risks associated with liability, and understanding the site assessment and cleanup process

Getting the Growth You Want: A Citizens Guide to Subdivisions and Smart Growth

Getting the Growth You Want: A Citizens Guide to Subdivisions and Smart Growth is the first of a two-part series from the Montana Smart Growth Coalition and the Great Yellowstone Coalition designed to help communities approve good subdivisions and deny bad ones.

Getting to Smart Growth

This popular, 100-page primer from the ongoing series by ICMA and the Smart Growth Network describes concrete techniques of putting the ten smart growth principles into practice. The policies and guidelines presented in this primer have proven successful in communities across the United States, and range from formal legislative or regulatory efforts to informal approaches, plans, and programs.

Getting to Smart Growth II

Getting to Smart Growth II: 100 More Policies for Implementation is the newest primer in the ongoing series from the Smart Growth Network and ICMA, and follows on the heels of the extremely popular first volume of Getting to Smart Growth. The publication serves as a road map for states and communities that have recognized the need for smart growth but are unclear on how to achieve it. Spanish language version now available!

Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation (Spanish Version)

Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Polices for Implementation has been made accessible for Spanish readers and speakers. The document has been translated in its entirety, complete with all policies and practice tips.

Getting to Smart Growth: Puerto Rico

Getting to Smart Growth has been adapted for Puerto Rico. Hacia el desarrollo inteligente: 10 principios y 100 estrategias para Puerto Rico is an adaptation of the popular, 100-page primer from the ongoing series by ICMA and the Smart Growth Network.

GIS and Brownfields

International City/County Management Association (ICMA) has produced a brochure that provides an introduction to geographic information systems (GIS) products and their importance in the brownfields redevelopment systems.

Going Comprehensive -- Guidebook on Comprehensive Community Development

In Going Comprehensive, a guidebook on comprehensive community development from the Local Initiatives Support Corp., expert practitioners Anita Miller and Tom Burns examine the Comprehensive Community Revitalization Program that produced one of America's most remarkable urban turnaround stories -- New York's once-stricken South Bronx.

Great Neighborhoods: How to Bring them Home

The 1000 Friends Great Neighborhoods Project is intended to help teach the residents and developers in Wisconsin about the social, environmental and economic benefits of building compact, mixed-use, aesthetically appealing neighborhoods; and to offer professional and layperson guidance for how to advocate for and create these neighborhoods.

Green Building Guidelines -- Fifth Edition

The Green Building Guidelines is an easy-to read, builder-friendly primer for homebuilders across the nation. The Guidelines book was originally developed by a committee of builders, architects, building scientists, product manufacturers. This publication from Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) was the first national green home building resource. Their work was supported by the Department of Energy's Building America Program through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings.

Green Government Initiative Publications

NACo's Green Government Initiative Publications are free resources for local governments on all things green, including energy, air quality, transportation, water quality, land use, purchasing and recycling. Includes fact sheets, guidebooks, and case studies of Green Initiatives from throughout the country.

Green Rehab Guide for Multifamily Properties

The Green Guide for Rehab from Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is an accessible and in-depth tool to help affordable housing owners and their consultants integrate green building and energy efficiency into the upgrades of their multifamily properties.

Greening Parking Lots

The City of Toronto's draft Design Guidelines for 'Greening' Surface Parking Lots provide specific strategies and measures which developers, designers and reviewers of surface parking lots can apply to help meet Official Plan policies and environmental performance targets of the Toronto Green Development Standard.

Growing Smarter, Living Healthier: A Guide to Smart Growth and Active Aging

This guidebook is intended for older adults who are interested in how our communities work and how we might help them become more 'age-friendly.' Many of us have longed for the kind of age-friendly neighborhood that has different types of homes for people at different stages of life; walking paths and public transit to make it easy to get around without a car; and parks, shops, services, and homes that are closer together. Older adults are finding that by designing new neighborhoods differently — as well as redeveloping existing neighborhoods and roadways — we can make places that are healthier for ourselves, our neighbors, and the environment. Rather than let aging limit our options, we can actually become more independent by reducing our dependence on the auto, increasing our travel choices, and improving our quality of life right when we've started to have time to enjoy it. We can enrich our own remaining decades, as well as hand off a more sustainable community to future generations. That is, if we decide to do something about it.

In this guide, we address the basic principles of neighborhood and town design. But it is also intended to help you understand why community design matters, and how becoming involved in your community's decisions about growth can make it a better place in which to grow old. You'll find suggestions for ideas to try, and links to resources to learn more about how to remake your neighborhoods to be easier to get around, whether you live in a city, suburb, or small town. We’ll also give you a few ideas for getting involved and staying engaged, providing more housing options and gathering places, eating healthier, and making it easier to carry out your daily activities. After all, our age group spans decades, and some of us are very active, while others have limited mobility.

Active Aging concepts (activities that increase endurance, strength, flexibility, balance, and the principles of injury prevention) can also be built into community design and development to encourage walking, biking, and active use of parks, so that people of all ages get exercise in the course of daily life. This is an image of a group of senior women doing water aerobics in a pool

The first chapter, Staying Active, Connected, and Engaged, outlines why our choices of where and how to live can have an impact on our health and wellbeing. The next three chapters — Development and Housing, Transportation and Mobility, and Staying Healthy — outline strategies and include project examples that address these key issues. Within each chapter, the What You Can Do section provides some ideas for what you can work on with your friends and neighbors. The Conclusion: Next Steps chapter summarizes additional follow-up ideas. In the Resources chapter, you’ll find links to more detailed strategies, websites, and information about each of the ideas discussed in the guide. We included a community self-assessment checklist for you to identify what your community is already doing, and where you might want to focus your energy — so get together, and get moving!

Growing Smarter, Living Healthier: Age-Friendly Neighborhood Design Guidebook

Growing Smarter, Living Healthier is a guidebook from the U.S. EPA intended for older adults who are interested in how our communities work and how we might help them become more ''age-friendly.''

Guide to Complete Streets Campaigns (2006)

The Thunderhead Alliance has completed the second edition of the Guide to Complete Streets Campaigns. This guide is a roadmap to winning a complete streets policy in your jurisdiction.

Guide to Federal Brownfield Programs

Washington DC: Northeast-Midwest Institute, 1999. The federal government has created an array of programs and resources to help clean up and reuse brownfield sites. This guide profiles the federal brownfield programs, explains available resources, and offers contact names. It first reviews the extensive initiatives at the Environmental Protection Agency and then examines other departments and agencies in alphabetical order

Guide to Greener Living

This web resource includes tips on how to save energy at home, work, and on the road.

Guide to Neighborhood Placemaking in Chicago

Guide to Placemaking in Chicago provides basic instruction on Placemaking at the local level and highlights specific examples of citizen-led Placemaking that has already led to sweeping improvements in Chicago neighborhoods. The book encourages citizen action and provides a framework to engage local businesses and government in helping create positive change.

Guide to Transit-Oriented Development

The Minnesota Metropolitan Council's Guide for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) highlights key ideas about TOD and shows how these ideas have been put to work within the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Guiding Growth and Development in Georgia Handbook

Georgia's land use laws, together with innovative planning and fresh approaches to community engagement, provide the tools needed to build strong communities that are sustainable both economically and environmentally. Guiding Growth and Development in Georgia: A Handbook on Planning and Land Use Law and Practices was created by the Livable Communities Coalition for elected officials and interested citizens. This guide is intended to provide an overview of those planning tools and the laws, terms, and concepts essential for using them wisely.

Harnessing Farms and Forests in the Low-Carbon Economy

Harnessing Farms and Forests in the Low-Carbon Economy: How to Create, Measure, and Verify Greenhouse Gas Offsets is a comprehensive guide that explains how farmers and foresters can convert their land's carbon dioxide storage capacity, and reduce emissions of potent greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide, into revenue-generating ''offsets'' that can be bought and sold in future carbon markets.

Healthy Rural Communities: A Resource and Action Guide for North Carolina

Healthy Rural Communities: A Resource and Action Guide for North Carolina describes growth and development issues in rural North Carolina, and provides insight based on the North Carolina Smart Growth Alliance's (NCSGA) Principles of Smart Growth.

High Performance School Buildings Resource and Strategy Guide

The second edition of this nationally vetted and easy-to-read guidebook describes the characteristics and benefits of high-performance school buildings and details the process to help school planners ask the right questions of their design professionals to ensure the best school design possible.

High Performance School Buildings Resource and Strategy Guide

This nationally vetted and easy-to-read guidebook describes the characteristics and benefits of high-performance school buildings and details the process to help school planners ask the right questions of their design professionals to ensure the best school design possible.

High Performance School Buildings Resource and Strategy Guide

The second edition of this nationally vetted and easy-to-read guidebook describes the characteristics and benefits of high-performance school buildings and details the process to help school planners ask the right questions of their design professionals to ensure the best school design possible.

Historic Preservation and Heritage Tourism

Preserving America is a how-to guide to promote historic preservation and tourism from the Homes & Communities Division of Housing and Urban Development. This guide is intended to help state and local governments access funding through the Department's Community Development Block Grant program as a vehicle for historic preservation consistent with the national objectives of the program.

Historic Schools Day

Historic Schools Day is April 24, 2004. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, with Geraldine Hastings, the 2003-2004 National Secondary Social Studies Teacher of the Year, has prepared a Teacher's Resource Guide to help use your school building as a starting point for a lesson plan in history and social studies.

Housing Development Step-by-Step Tutorial

Enterprise's Housing Development Step-By-Step (formerly known as the Housing Developer's Support System, or HDSS) is a comprehensive guide to affordable rental and homeownership housing development for nonprofit organizations.

How to Create a Vibrant Waterfront

This resource from the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) offers 19 tips on how to create a vibrant waterfront, drawing on success stories from around the world.

Illinois Resource Guide for Healthy, High Performance Schools

The Illinois Healthy Schools Campaign has partnered with the Illinois Capital Development Board to create a Healthy and High Performing School Building Taskforce. The taskforce has produced this guidebook to identify best practices and develop a school specific guidance document for healthy and energy efficient construction for Illinois schools.

Impact Fees and Housing Affordability

As part of its efforts to reduce regulatory barriers to affordable housing product, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued Impact Fees and Housing Affordability: A Guide for Practictioners, a new guide for local governments to help them implement equitable impact fees. The report is a valuable resource for apartment firms promoting the sustainability of higher-density housing or opposing unreasonable impact fees.

Increasing Physical Activity Through Community Design

Increasing Physical Activity Through Community Design focuses on how to make communities more bicycle-friendly and walkable.

Is Your City a Great City?

The Project for Public Spaces (PPS) offers a checklist on its website that provides benchmarks of a Great City.

Land Bank Authorities

Land Bank Authorities: A Guide for the Creation and Operation of Local Land Banks from Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) explores the development of land banks in St. Louis, Cleveland, Louisville, Atlanta, and Genesee County, Mich., addressing the conditions, history, and legal structures of each.

Leadership for Active Living Strategies

One of the most important issues our communities face today is a staggering increase in the rates of obesity and chronic disease. Active living offers an opportunity for leaders to address this issue and to help improve the health and vitality of our communities. The 22-page Action Strategies Booklet lists more than 25 strategies and tactics local and state governments can use to support active living.

Leading the Field 2

Leading the Field 2 from the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities’ profiles more than two dozen North American community foundations that have moved beyond grantmaking to actively help shape the future of their communities and help them to grow smarter.

Learning by Design

Learning By Design is the award-winning annual guide that showcases outstanding school and university facility design and construction projects.

LEED for Schools Second Public Comment Period Now Open

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) invites the public and USGBC members to comment on the second draft of LEED for Schools. The public comment period will be open for 15 days, starting Thursday, February 9, 2007 and continuing through Friday, February 23, 2007 at midnight Pacific Standard Time. Any member of the public is welcome to submit comments.

Livability 101

Livability 101: What Makes a Community Livable? is designed by the American Institute of Architects’ Center for Communities by Design to help public officials, and all others actively engaged in this civic dialogue, understand the basic elements of community design and take advantage of existing tools, strategies, and synergies at the policy, planning, and design levels so that their communities can reach their full potential.

Livable Communities@Work #1: Community Organizing
A Populist Base for Social Equity and Smart Growth

This paper, released in November 2002, is the first in a new series being published by the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. The Livable Communities@Work series will focus on the practical aspects of how we create smarter, more livable communities for all and will highlight successful strategies, explore tensions created by competing issues, and generally help spur informed debate on critical topics.

Livable Communities@Work #5: Urban Forests

Livable Communities@Work #5: Urban Forests from the Funders' Network outlines how to improve urban environments and make cities better places to live by fitting natural resources more effectively into the foundation of the city, its infrastructure.

Local Governments and Schools

Local Governments and Schools from ICMA Press is a guide that offers strategies for how local governments and schools can bring their respective planning efforts together to take a more community-oriented approach to schools and reach multiple community goals -- educational, environmental, economic, social, and fiscal.

Local Greenprinting for Growth

Local Greenprinting for Growth is now available from the Trust for Public Land. This four-volume, fully revised workbook series is a guide for communities seeking to create a greenprint conservation program.

Local Open Space Planning Guide

This local open space planning guide prepared by New York State's Quality Communities Task Force is intended to help interested local governments develop and implement local open space conservation programs.

Local Planning Handbook

The Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities area in Minnesota has produced a Local Planning Handbook to guide and support local municipalities in developing and amending their comprehensive plans.

Local Tools for Smart Growth: Practical Strategies and Techniques to Improve Our Communities

Stories, tools and lessons learned from communities thoughout the nation on how to employ planning and development policy to improve quality of life and achieve smart growth goals.

''Main Street... when a highway runs through it A Handbook for Oregon Communities''

The Main Street Handbook was created to assist local communities in their efforts to balance often competing interests: the desire for a vital, pedestrian-friendly downtown with the desire for efficient movement of through traffic.

Malls into Mainstreets

Malls Into Mainstreets, the third installment in the Congress for the New Urbanism’s greyfield mall series, serves as a resource for developers, community leaders, property owners and planners frustrated with dead or dying shopping centers.

Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure

Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure, a publication from the U.S. EPA, describes an action strategy promoting the benefits of green infrastructure in mitigating overflows from combined and separate sewers and reducing runoff.

Maryland Safe Routes to School

The Maryland Department of Transportation's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee recently released the Maryland Safe Routes to School Guidebook. The Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene's (DHMH) Center for Preventive Health Services participated in the development of the guidebook.

Massachusetts Agency Sustainability Planning and Implementation Guide

The Massachusetts State Sustainability Planning and Implementation Guide is a comprehensive guidance document written by the State Sustainability Council in collaboration with Program staff.

Michigan Safe Routes to School Handbook

The Michigan Safe Routes to School Handbook is a comprehensive resource that will help your school start and sustain a Safe Routes to School program. The Handbook includes information on:

Minneapolis Sustainability Indicators

Produced by the City of Minneapolis, this publication list steps to creating a sustainable Minneapolis.

Model Smart Land Development Regulations

The American Planning Association's (APA's) Research Department has created 11 model Smart Growth Codes for Land Development. The model codes are ordinances and regulations that advance smart growth objectives in towns, cities, and counties. This project goes well beyond promoting the concepts of smart growth and moves into fundamental repair of the regulatory system.

National Sustainability Education Standards -- v.1

The U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development has produced National Sustainability Education Standards -- Version 1, a document that begins to define what K-12 students should know and be able to do to be sustainability literate.

New Jersey Brownfields Redevelopment Resource Kit

The New Jersey Brownfields Redevelopment Resource Kit helps anyone interested in redeveloping brownfields learn about the financial incentives and other resources available to them, as well as navigate the associated regulatory processes and legal requirements.

One Future, Different Paths

The UK Government and Devolved Administrations has launched their new Strategic Framework, One Future -- Different Paths. This was launched in conjunction with the UK Government's new strategy for sustainable development, Securing the Future.

Online Transportation Demand Management Encyclopedia

The Online TDM Encyclopedia is a comprehensive source of information about innovative management solutions to transport problems. The Encyclopedia provides detailed information on dozens of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies, plus chapters on their planning, evaluation and implementation. The Encyclopedia can help you view transport problems from a new perspective, and expand the range of possible solutions to apply.

Overcoming Obstacles to Smart Growth Through Code Reform

The Local Government Commission’s Smart Growth Zoning Codes: A Resource Guide is intended to help local officials improve community livability through code reform.

Parking Alternatives: Making Way for Urban Infill and Brownfields Redevelopment.

Washington DC U.S. EPA: 1999. This guide is intended to: 1- Alert readers to the significance of the urban parking issue, addressing the perspectives of both city planners and developers; 2- Illustrate the environmental, financial, and social implications of providing an over-supply of parking; and 3- Describe cost-effective, environmentally sensitive alternatives to generic parking requirements, providing case study examples of successful commercial real estate development in areas that have implemented parking alternatives.

Participatory Land-Use Mapping

Participatory Land-Use Mapping is a technique used to involve members of the public in exploring local and regional land-use planning issues. Residents are, in effect, put in the driver’s seat and challenged to devise solutions to the problem of meeting the community’s projected growth needs while protecting the community’s economic, environmental, and social well-being.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities in California

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) offers Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities in California: A Technical Reference and Technology Transfer Synthesis for Caltrans Planners and Engineers.

Pedestrian Policies and Design Guidelines

The Pedestrian Area Policies and Design Guidelines, produced by the The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), a Council of Governments (COG) that serves as the regional agency for the metropolitan Phoenix area, are intended to provide a source of information and design assistance to support walking as an alternative transportation mode.

Placemaking: Tools for Community Action

This guide provides a starter kit for a community member, city official, planner, or design professional to identify currently available planning tools and to assess their applicability and appropriateness to specific projects or issues, alone or in combination.

Planning for an Agricultural Future: A Guide for North Carolina Farmers and Local Governments

Planning for an Agricultural Future: A Guide for North Carolina Farmers and Local Governments from the American Farmland Trust mixes general discussion of existing tools with specific examples from communities around the state that have developed innovative ways to support their agricultural sector.

Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty

Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty is the first major guidebook on peak oil and global warming for local governments in the United States and Canada. It provides a sober look at how these phenomena are quickly creating new uncertainties and vulnerabilities for cities of all sizes, and explains what local decision-makers can do to address these challenges.

Practice Guides for Brownfields Redevelopment

A series of Practice Guides produced by the Center for Environmental Policy and Management at the University of Louisville are available online as free downloads.

Priorities for a Healthful Illinois

The Illinois Environmental Council has released Priorities for a Healthful Illinois: 2009 Illinois Environmental Briefing Book, a policy agenda to address five critical environmental issues in Illinois that will also help the state rebuild its ailing economy.

Protecting Florida's Springs

Protecting Florida's Springs: Land Use Planning Strategies and Best Management Practices is the award-winning, hands-on protection guide from 1000 Friends of Florida that addresses the problems faced at Florida's freshwater springs.

Purchasing Power: Harnessing Institutional Procurement for People and the Planet

Nearly every institutional purchase, from office paper to buildings, entails hidden costs for the natural environment and the world's people. Shifting just a portion of that spending away from harmful goods and services to more environmentally friendly alternatives can benefit ecosystems and communities, save money, and send a powerful message to markets on behalf of more sustainable options. This guidebook outlines steps to achieve that goal.

Realizing the Vision: 2040 Regional Framework Plan

An important new set of tools to help local elected officials and planners make land-use decisions is available from the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC). The 2040 Regional Framework Plan plan is the culmination of an extensive public-involvement process that included 200 workshops where 4,000 participants expressed their vision of how the region should address growth through the year 2040.

Regional Comprehensive Plan: Charting a Course for Southern California's Future

The Regional Comprehensive Plan (RCP) is a problem-solving guidance document that responds to what the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has learned about the region's challenges through the annual State of the Region report card. Through extensive outreach and input from the RCP Task Force, SCAG's policy committees, subregions, local governments and other key stakeholders, the RCP is a collaborative effort to address our region's challenges and set a path forward.

Regional Indicators: Telling Stories, Measuring Trends, Inspiring Action

Regional indicators are a set of specific measurements, pieces of information, which provide a picture of a place over time. This monograph from the Alliance for Regional Stewardship examines how indicators are being used at the regional level for a variety of purposes.

Renovate or Replace: The Case for Restoring and Reusing Older School Buildings

Renovate or Replace: The Case for Restoring and Reusing Older School Buildings, published by Save Our Land, Save Our Towns Inc. on behalf of The Pennsylvania Historic Schools Task Force, is a guidebook intended to help school boards and communities fully assess their options and to consider their decisions in the context of community revitalization efforts.

Revitalizing America's Mills

Creative communities throughout the United States have developed innovative approaches to revitalizing abandoned and potentially contaminated mills. Revitalizing America's Mills: A Report on Brownfields Mill Projects is a 32-page booklet published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that relates case histories chronicling some of the challenges faced and solutions found during the EPA-supported revitalization of more than 350 mill sites (so far) throughout the nation.

Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) produced the fourth edition of the Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup to assist a broad audience of brownfields stakeholders in identifying and selecting innovative site characterization and cleanup technologies during the redevelopment process.

Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup

The U.S. EPA offers the fourth edition of the Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup (EPA 542-B-05-001) to assist a broad audience of brownfields stakeholders in identifying and selecting innovative site characterization and cleanup technologies during the redevelopment process.

Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) produced the fourth edition of the Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup to assist a broad audience of brownfields stakeholders in identifying and selecting innovative site characterization and cleanup technologies during the redevelopment process.

Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup

The U.S. EPA offers the fourth edition of the Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup (EPA 542-B-05-001) to assist a broad audience of brownfields stakeholders in identifying and selecting innovative site characterization and cleanup technologies during the redevelopment process.

Rocky Mountain Agricultural Landowners Guide to Conservation and Sustainability

The purpose of the Rocky Mountain Agricultural Landowners Guide is to provide ranchers and farmers in the seven Rocky Mountain states -- Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming -- with information and tools to augment both the productivity and stewardship of their land. The guide gives an overview of the variety of private options and public programs that are available to landowners who want to conserve their land and use innovative and sustainable practices to improve its productivity.

Schools for the Future

Particularly aimed at expert professionals such as designers and local authority clients, this guide covers case studies of new build schools and also addresses refurbishment of existing schools, as many sustainability techniques used in the design of new schools can be applied to existing schools.

Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions: An Agenda for Rebuilding America’s Older Core Cities

Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions: An Agenda for Rebuilding America’s Older Core Cities is a report from PolicyLink demonstrating that, despite significant challenges, older core cities can become economically competitive places where all residents can participate and prosper. Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions looks closely at five cities: Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and examines how innovative economic development, land use, transportation, neighborhood revitalization, and housing policies are bringing about significant economic and social revitalization.

Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability

Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability offers firsthand accounts and strategies for greening campuses, rethinking school food, and transforming schools into model sustainable communities.

Smart Bylaws Guide

West Coast Environmental Law has developed a Smart Bylaws Guide to assist local governments to implement smart growth strategies through policy and bylaw changes. The Guide brings together the best practices of municipalities across British Columbia, and highlights other innovators in the United States.

Smart Growth at the Frontier

This 84-page publication examines how rural areas may use urban and suburban smart growth strategies to combat sprawl.

Smart Growth Checklist

New Westminster, British Columbia, has developed a Smart Growth Checklist to assist landowners or developers and their consultants to create the most sustainable project possible.

Smart Growth for Coastal and Waterfront Communities

Smart Growth for Coastal and Waterfront Communities, an interagency guide developed in consultation with the national Smart Growth Network, builds on the network's ten smart growth principles to create coastal and waterfront-specific strategies for development.

Smart Growth Guidelines for Sustainable Design & Development

In Connecticut, the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) partnered with the U.S. EPA to address the challenges and opportunities of growing smarter and building greener. Many of these challenges and opportunities are shared by communities and regions around the country. CRCOG collaborated with EPA’s Smart Growth Program to identify tools and strategies for implementing a state affordable housing program, HOMEConnecticut, to grow smarter, ensure healthy and affordable housing, and support long-term economic competitiveness at the local and regional levels.

The guidelines were developed for communities in Connecticut and around the country striving to get development and future growth that result in stronger neighborhoods, protected open space and watersheds, and healthier and more affordable homes. The guidelines also are applied to site-level conceptual plans for development that are featured in a companion report, Together We Can Grow Better: Smart Growth for a Sustainable Region.

Smart Growth Primer

The purpose of this Smart Growth Primer is to describe what kinds of strategies make up a smart growth approach to urban and near-urban development. At the same time, the Primer is an opportunity to share examples from the many communities in British Columbia that are already successfully using smart growth techniques.

Smart Growth Resources for Massachusetts Cities and Towns

This booklet from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provides a comprehensive listing of financial and technical resources for cities and towns interested in promoting smart growth. The publication is produced by the Office of Commonwealth Development (OCD), which integrates energy, environmental, housing, and transportation policies, programs, and

Smart Growth Shareware

Smart Growth America offers Smart Growth Shareware, a free CD-ROM featuring 100 smart growth publications.

Smart Growth Zoning Codes: A Resource Guide

This guidebook will help planners design a zoning code that encourages the construction of walkable, mixed use neighborhoods and the revitalization of existing places.

Smart Growth, Community Planning and Public School Construction

Supporting Governor Martin O'Malley’s efforts to distinguish Maryland's Smart Sustainable Growth initiatives, the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) has issued its 27th publication of Models and Guidelines. This guide focuses on Maryland's Public Schools Construction Program, supporting sustainable schools within planned growth and Priority Funding Areas across the state.

Smart Growth: A Guide to Developing and Implementing Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programs

Smart growth development, based on 10 key principles, benefits the economy, the community, the environment, and public health. This guide provides information on how local governments have planned, designed, and implemented approaches that encourage smart growth in their communities.

The guide is designed to be used by city planners, local energy managers and sustainability directors, local elected officials, regional planning agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, and citizen groups. Readers of the guide should come away with an understanding of smart growth principles and how they can be applied in practice, foundations and strategies for smart growth development, expected costs, and potential funding opportunities.

The guide describes the benefits of smart growth (section 2); planning and design approaches to smart growth (section 3); key participants and their roles (section 4); foundations for smart growth program development (section 5); implementation strategies for effective programs (section 6); investment and funding opportunities (section 7); federal, state, and other programs that may be able to help local governments with information or financial and technical assistance (section 8), and finally two case studies of local governments that have successfully implemented smart growth principles in their communities (section 9). Additional examples of successful implementation are provided throughout the guide.

The guide can be downloaded free at the link below.

This Smart Growth guide is one in a series of Local Climate and Energy Strategy Guides produced by EPA. While each guide stands on its own, the entire series contains many interrelated strategies that can be combined to create comprehensive, cost-effective programs that generate multiple benefits. Access the guides at www.epa.gov/statelocalclimate/resources/strategy-guides.html.

Smart Infill

The Greenbelt Alliance has released Smart Infill, a 72-page guide for civic leaders and local citizens that shows how the Bay Area can achieve more livable communities and more sustainable development by developing underutilized land within existing urban areas. The report presents 12 key strategies to bring about well-planned infill housing and mixed-use development. These recommendations include zoning changes, design guidelines, public participation processes, revised parking requirements, and preparation of ''Specific Plans'' coordinating neighborhood revitalization.

Smart Plans

The Montana Smart Growth Coaltion offers a comprehensive list of Smart Growth Model Plans and Regulations on its web site.

Smart Scorecard for Development Projects

The purpose of a Smart Project Scorecard (SPS) is to assist elected local officials, developers, investors, neighborhood groups and designers make better project-level decisions that achieve the Smart Growth objectives.

Smart, Green & Growing Planning Guide

This publication outlines Maryland’s long-range, multi-agency initiative focused on protecting the state's precious, yet limited, air, water and land resources in every region of the state. It’s time to move from 20 years of treading water to 20 years of cleaner water, healthier communities and more sustainable growth. Sound land use planning, from State smart growth programs to local government and citizen actions, is a critical piece in this Smart, Green & Growing strategy.

By reducing sprawl development and concentrating new housing in our existing communities, we will protect irreplaceable forests and farmland and continue to improve the health of Maryland’s Chesapeake and Coastal Bays.

The guide provides you with a brief introduction to planning in Maryland, emphasizing key planning laws and tools that guide smart, sustainable growth. While not designed to be an exhaustive reference, the guide presents an overview of land use planning in Maryland, providing background on the State’s enabling legislation and significant laws governing planning. This includes the 1992 Planning Act, the 1997 Priority Funding Areas Act and the 2006 laws expanding the scope of local comprehensive plans. This is followed by summaries of Governor O’Malley’s Smart, Green & Growing legislative package, which was passed in the 2009 session of the General Assembly and signed into law.

Smart, Green and Growing Planning Guide

The Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) created the Smart, Green & Growing Planning Guide in response to the many requests from State and local government officials, smart growth advocates and interested citizens to produce a concise reference to planning and smart growth in Maryland. This guide provides you with a brief introduction to planning in Maryland, emphasizing key planning laws and tools that guide smart, sustainable growth.

SmartCode

This resource has been updated. Please see SmartCode V9.0 at the resource link below.

Sprawl Primer

1000 Friends of Minnesota has created a Sprawl Primer that includes a variety of fact sheets designed to assist citizen activists in their efforts to stop sprawling development patterns, and to support smart growth.

Stemming the Tide

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has produced Stemming the Tide: A Handbook on Preserving Subsidized Multifamily Housing. The book details the loss of thousands of subsidized houses in the U.S. during the past decade.

Strategies to Revitalize Rural Communities

The Center for Rural Affairs has created a series of strategies designed to address the needs of America's struggling rural communities. The strategies range from agricultural and small business development to state and federal policy revisions.

Sustainable Community Development Code -- Beta

The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute has released a beta version of the Sustainable Community Development Code, a guidebook that provides extensive resources encompassing the broad scope of sustainable living.

Sustainable Prosperity: Grow Smart Rhode Island's Briefing Book for Candidates

A Blueprint for Sustainable Prosperity and Enhanced Quality of Place is Grow Smart Rhode Island's 2008 Candidates' Briefing Book, a nonpartisan effort to promote better understanding of growth and development issues and various strategies and best practices to tap Rhode Island's full economic, environmental and social potential.

Sustainable Table

Sustainable Table celebrates local sustainable food, educates consumers on food-related issues and works to build community through food.

Teardowns Resource Guide

The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Teardowns Resource Guide is a one-stop-shop for information on teardowns and the tools that are available for use to best manage this trend. The Guide shows how communities from across the country have worked to put in place and adopt tools to manage teardowns and retain the character of historic neighborhoods.

Ten Principles for Coastal Development

The Urban Land Institute's booklet Ten Principles for Coastal Development provides guidelines for balancing the demand for coastal development with resource conservation, including public access vs. private property, sustainability, enhancing value through conservation, siting and construction, and more.

Ten Principles for Developing Affordable Housing

The Urban Land Institute's Ten Principles for Developing Affordable Housing provides a road map for affordable housing a reality in your community. The principles address building community support, leveraging public incentives and financing, creating effective partnerships, understanding your market and your customer, and the importance of good design and sustainability.

Ten Principles for Rebuilding Neighborhood Retail

This booklet will help you identify the key issues that neighborhood streets face, determine the most effective ways to rebuild them and ensure their long-term competitive position, and set strategic principles to guide the community, public planners, retailers, and developers.

Ten Principles for Reinventing America's Suburban Business Districts

Fresh ideas and development opportunities are emerging in response to trends in demographics, traffic congestion, fiscal constraints, and opposition to suburban development. Based on a study conducted by a team of planning and development experts, this booklet describes how reinventing suburban business districts can deal with these trends and issues and can address the changing needs of the community.

Ten Principles for Suburban Smart Growth on the Fringe

Based on contributions from experts in the real estate industry as well as conservationists, Ten Principles for Suburban Smart Growth on the Fringe takes a fresh, realistic approach to suburban development, providing guidelines to make new development more attractive, accessible, efficient, environmentally sensitive, livable, and profitable.

The Ahwahnee Principles for Smart Economic Development: an Implementation Guidebook

Washington, DC: Local Government Commission. This guidebook on implementing smart economic development principles presents a comprehensive approach to local economic development that embraces social and environmental responsibility and recognizes the value of natural and human capital.

The Business of Affordable Housing

The Business of Affordable Housing from the Urban Land Institute tells the secrets of ten firms, both for-profit and nonprofit, that are able to successfully produce affordable housing. Gain insight into best practices and diverse strategies for business plans, predevelopment, working with the community, complex financing, property management, and organizational growth and sustainability.

The Chicago Green Alley Handbook

The Chicago Green Alley Handbook is a manual promoting the City's use of best management practices within public alleyways. The handbook outlines sustainable techniques that adjacent property owners can implement on their own commercial, industrial, and residential properties. Crafted with a clear and transferable message, it serves as a model to create greener, environmentally sustainable urban places.

The Chicago Green Alley Handbook

The Chicago Green Alley Handbook received the Communications Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) at its 2007 Professional Awards. The manual promotes the City's use of best management practices within public alleyways.

The Chicago Green Alley Handbook

The Chicago Green Alley Handbook is a manual promoting the City's use of best management practices within public alleyways. The handbook outlines sustainable techniques that adjacent property owners can implement on their own commercial, industrial, and residential properties. Crafted with a clear and transferable message, it serves as a model to create greener, environmentally sustainable urban places.

The Citizen's Guide to Planning

For decades, planning officials and engaged citizens have relied on The Citizens Guide to Planning for a better understanding of the basics of planning. The newly released Fourth edition describes the land-use planning process, the key players in that process, and the legal framework in which decisions are made.

The Cleanup War Chest: State Bond Financing for Environmental Initiatives and Brownfields Redevelopment

While many states have incentives for cleanup of contamination, only a few are regarded as funded at a level that approaches the vast need. The Cleanup War Chest: State Bond Financing for Environmental Initiatives and Brownfields Redevelopment from Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMW) details some of the largest state-level financial commitments to brownfield remediation and environmental protection.

The Colorado Brownfields Handbook

The Colorado Brownfields Handbook is the culmination of a three-year partnership between Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Office of Smart Growth in DOLA to promote the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield sites around the state.

The Creative Community Builder's Handbook

The Creative Community Builder's Handbook: How To Transform Communities Using Local Assets, Arts, and Culture, by Tom Borrup with Partners for Livable Communities, is a guidebook for putting the power of arts and culture to work in your community.

The Economic Benefits of Land Conservation

Does land conservation protect the bottom line? Leading experts in the field assert that it does. The Economic Benefits of Land Conservation from the Trust for Public Land presents quantitative and authoritative research on the economic benefits land conservation can bring to communities.

The Green Home Guide

The Green Home Guide from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a web-based resource for all aspects of green homes, including green home programs, remodeling guidelines, and news and events.

The Practice of Low Impact Development

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released The Practice of Low Impact Development, a publication that presents a land development process -- Low Impact Development (LID) -- that uses various land planning and design practices and technologies to conserve and protect natural resource systems and reduce infrastructure costs.

The SmartCode Solution to Sprawl

The SmartCode Solution to Sprawl from the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) is a practical guide to changing unsustainable land use patterns. The SmartCode is a comprehensive zoning tool designed by a diverse group of planners, designers, attorneys, developers, and concerned citizens led by Andres Duany, the noted land use expert and one of today's foremost urban planners.

The Sustainability Handbook

The Sustainability Handbook: The Complete Management Guide to Achieving Social, Economic, and Environmental Responsibility from the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) covers the complexities, challenges, and benefits of sustainability and provides a blueprint on how organizations of all sizes can reach or exceed economic, social and environmental excellence.

TOD 202: Station Area Planning

Station Area Planning: How To Make Great Transit-Oriented Places is the first in a series of ''TOD 202'' guidebooks from Reconnecting America that promote best practices in transit-oriented development.

Trails & Greenways: Advancing the Smart Growth Agenda

This paper draws on existing research and case studies to provide comprehensive documentation of the benefits green infrastructure can bring to a community and a region, and the impact trails and greenways have on advancing smart growth objectives. In addition, transportation planning theories of induced demand and system extent, as well as social justice issues associated with regional trail development, are explored. 43 pages, PDF format.

Transportation Improvement Program

''A Guide for Municipal Officials, Special Interest Groups, and Citizens.'' A pamphlet explaining how municipalities and interest groups can get involved in the region's transportation project development process.

Turning Bases into Great Places: New Life for Closed Military Facilities

Turning Bases into Great Places: New Life for Closed Military Facilities, a guidebook from the U.S. EPA, discusses how to create a vision for former installations that provides housing and transportation choices, creates a mix of jobs and housing, and makes the most of natural assets.

Turning Brownfields into Vital Community Assets: A Guide for Community Based Organizations.

Washington DC: Neighborhood Reinvestment Training Institute, 1999. This comprehensive introduction covers the basics and will help community organizations assess the feasibility of of redeveloping a brownfield; mobilize and organize a brownfields redevelopment effort in the local community; understand the range of social, technical, political, financial, regulatory, and legal issues; and select appropriate technical, legal, and financial assistance.

Unlocking the Promise

Unlocking the Promise: A Guide for Funders Interested in Transformational Grantmaking from the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities focuses on the intersection of race, class, and access to opportunity, as related to growth and development decisions made by governments, private developers, and not for profit organizations in communities of all sizes.

USGBC -- LEED Rating System for Existing Buildings

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released the much-anticipated LEED for Existing Building (LEED-EB) Green Building Rating System. LEED-EB was designed to meet market demand for an existing building rating system following the success of LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC), the USGBC’s current rating system for new construction.

Using Tax Increment Financing for Brownfields Redevelopment -- 2008 Update

The Northeast-Midwest Institute offers a timely update to Using Tax Increment Financing for Brownfields Redevelopment, providing additional information on this economic development incentive that has now become a maintstream tool in much of the U.S.

Vision Dixie 2035

Vision Dixie is a historic effort by leaders throughout Utah's Washington County to build a vision for tomorrow based on the ideas and values of county residents. Through Vision Dixie, more than three thousand residents created a framework in which future development and transportation work together to create communities, and a region, that preserve Southern Utah's quality of life, along with an affordable, livable future.

Working to Preserve Farm, Forest and Ranch Lands

Working to Preserve Farm, Forest and Ranch Lands: A Guide for Military Installations, a primer from American Farmland Trust, looks at how sprawl is encroaching on military bases nationwide, and focuses on the opportunities that exist for cooperation between agriculture interests and the U.S. military that can help each meet their respective goals.

Youth VOICES in Community Design Handbook

Youth VOICES in Community Design Handbook, a how-to guide on getting youth involved in local policymaking and community planning, provides a step-by-step guide to youth engagement and is supported by an extensive online library of articles and activities.

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