Growth can create great places to live, work and play -- if it responds to a community’s own sense of how and where it wants to grow. Communities have different needs and will emphasize some smart growth principles over others: those with robust economic growth may need to improve housing choices; others that have suffered from disinvestment may emphasize infill development; newer communities with separated uses may be looking for the sense of place provided by mixed-use town centers; and still others with poor air quality may seek relief by offering transportation choices. The common thread among all, however, is that the needs of every community and the programs to address them are best defined by the people who live and work there.

Citizen participation can be time-consuming, frustrating and expensive, but encouraging community and stakeholder collaboration can lead to creative, speedy resolution of development issues and greater community understanding of the importance of good planning and investment. Smart Growth plans and policies developed without strong citizen involvement will at best not have staying power; at worst, they will be used to create unhealthy, undesirable communities. When people feel left out of important decisions, they will be less likely to become engaged when tough decisions need to be made. Involving the community early and often in the planning process vastly improves public support for smart growth and often leads to innovative strategies that fit the unique needs of each community.

Resources

“Show You’re Green” Award Winning Projects

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Housing and Custom Residential Knowledge Community has selected eight “Show You’re Green” projects as examples of outstanding housing that is both affordable and green. The knowledge community invited Show You’re Green submissions from architects and developers around the nation.

From the Margins to the Mainstream -- Federal Transportation Law and Community Mobility Needs

The Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP) and its partners have released two new reports on the federal transportation law: A Guide to Transportation Opportunities in Your Community and Using the Federal Transportation Law to Meeting the Mobility Needs of Your Community: Report on Workshop Discussions, Findings and Next Steps.

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.

1000 Friends of Wisconsin ''Ten of the Best'' Awards

As part of its 10th year celebration, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin is recognizing ''10 of the Best'' individuals, organizations, companies, and efforts to promote better communities through land use and transportation ideas, policies, projects, and investments.

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.

2003 AFT Steward of the Land Awardees

John and Lorraine Merrill of Stratham, New Hampshire, have won American Farmland Trust's (AFT) 2003 Steward of the Land Award, the largest nationwide award for land stewardship.

2003 Phoenix Awards

The 2003 Phoenix Awards for Excellence in Brownfield Redevelopment will be one of the highlights of the National Brownfields Conference, Brownfields 2003, in Portland, Oregon on October 27-29, 2003.

2004 American Community Survey

Smart Growth America and the National Association of Realtors® prepared this survey in October 2004 on Americans’ preferences for the type of communities they want to live in and the policies they support for creating those communities. The preferences and other opinions expressed in the survey suggest a direction for solving the conflicting pressures of the desire to develop and the wish to preserve communities.

2004 Most Endangered Sites

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named eleven historic areas in the United States to its Most Endangered Sites list for 2004. From Utah's Nine Mile Canyon to New York City's Columbus Circle, this year's list calls attention to the natural and cultural landmarks of the United States that are at risk.

2005 APA Planning Awards

The American Planning Association (APA) has announced the winners of its 2005 National Planning Awards. These awards honor the cutting-edge achievements of the planning profession and those involved in creating communities of lasting value.

2005 City Livability Awards

Mayors Gregory J. Nickels of Seattle, Washington, and Douglas H. Palmer of Trenton, New Jersey, have been awarded First Place honors in the 2005 City Livability Awards Program, sponsored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Waste Management.

2005 Five Star Restoration Challenge Grants

The National Association of Counties, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Wildlife Habitat Council, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Community-Based Restoration Program within NOAA Fisheries, and other sponsors (e.g., Office of Surface Mining), are pleased to solicit applications for the 2005 Five Star Restoration Challenge Grants Program.

2005 Glynwood Harvest Awardees

Glynwood Center created the Harvest Awards program in 2003 to highlight work by individuals and organizations who are doing an exceptional job of supporting local and regional agriculture in order to inspire others to take action within their own communities. The Awards help to identify and disseminate “best practice” ideas which will inspire others to take action within their own communities and build urban/rural coalitions in support of responsible farmers.

2005 Golden Shoe Award

The Center for Quality Growth & Regional Development at Georgia Tech (CQGRD) and Emory University won a Golden Shoe Award from Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety (PEDS) for creating an ongoing venue for multi-disciplinary discussions and research on the relationship between health and the built environment through the Healthy Places Research Group.

2005 International Awards for Livable Communities

The International Awards for Liveable Communities is the world’s only Competition for local communities that focuses on environmental management and the creation of liveable communities.

2005 Rudy Bruner Awards

The Bruner Foundation has announced winners of the 2005 Rudy Bruner Awards. Projects receiving recognition include the Portland Streetcar Project and downtown Silver Spring revitalization.

2005 Rudy Bruner Awards for Urban Excellence

Excellence exists in every city. It can be found in downtowns, neighborhoods, and parks. The Rudy Bruner Award searches for urban places that embody excellence, and celebrates their contribution to the richness and diversity of the urban experience.

2005 ULI Awards of Excellence -- Americas

Eleven outstanding developments from the Americas have been selected as winners for the 2005 Urban Land Institute's first ever (ULI) Awards for Excellence: The Americas competition.

2005 Yoshiyama Award for Exemplary Service to Community

The Hitachi Foundation presents the Yoshiyama Award for Exemplary Service to the Community, an annual award in which up to ten high school seniors from around the United States are honored for their community service activities.

2006 Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants

The Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Program provides grants to organizations working on a local level to protect and improve watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay basin, while building citizen-based resource stewardship.

2006 DIFA-Award

The DIFA-Award, launched in 2001, aims to involve policy-makers, those actively involved in urban development and those affected by it in a wide-ranging dialogue on the future of the city. Deadline for the 2006 DIFA-Award is November 30, 2005.

2006 Five Star Grant Recipients

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has prepared an online list of its 2006 Five-Star Grant Recipients. Twenty-four states are represented in this list of recipients in a program that provides environmental education and training through projects that restore wetlands and streams.

2006 Five Star Restoration Grants

The National Association of Counties, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Wildlife Habitat Council, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other sponsors, are pleased to solicit applications for the 2006 Five-Star Restoration Matching Grants Program.

2006 Green Roof Award of Excellence -- Civic

The Civic Award of Excellence will be presented to a person (in North America) who through a substantiated action has advanced the public policy debate on green roofs. The 2006 contest has been extended to accept nominations until March 15th, 2006 (midnight EST).

2006 Massachusetts Smart Growth Conference Proceedings

Conference proceedings and presentations from the 2006 Massachusetts Smart Growth Conference are now available online at the conference website. More than 750 people from the private, public, and non-profit sectors attended this event, co-hosted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Planning Association.

2006 Maxwell Awards of Excellence

The Fannie Mae Foundation, in partnership with the National Vacant Properties Campaign, has announced the 2006 Maxwell Awards of Excellence. The 2006 awards honor exemplary projects that reclaimed vacant and abandoned sites in the production of affordable housing. Four organizations doing outstanding work turning vacant properties into parts of vibrant communities were selected for the Awards.

2006 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement

On November 15, 2006, EPA announced five winners of the 2006 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. This award recognizes outstanding achievement in smart growth by tribal, state, local, or regional governments in five categories: Overall Excellence, Built Projects, Policies and Regulations, Small Communities, and Equitable Development.

2006 Neighborhood of the Year Award

Neighborhoods, USA (NUSA) invites applications to its 2006 Neighborhood of the Year Awards Program. Application deadline for the 2006 award is March 1, 2006.

2006 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference -- Audio Recordings

Audio compact discs from the 2006 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference are available for purchase. The fifth annual conference drew more than 1,200 attendees and offered dozens of seminars, symposia, workshops, and other events.

2006 Outstanding Brownfields Team Award

The U.S. EPA announced that Spokane, Washington's Kendall Yards environmental project team has been selected to receive the national 2006 Outstanding Brownfields Team Award. These awards recognize excellence in regional waste management and emergency response programs.

2006 Vision Long Island Smart Growth Awardees

Vision Long Island hosted more than 375 leaders, experts and advocates at the 5th Annual Smart Growth Awards on June 16, 2006. The event put a spotlight on the cutting edge people, projects and policies that are shaping the future of Long Island’s landscape. Categories were based on Vision Long Island's “Principles of Smart Growth,” and included awards for green development and regional leadership.

2006 Vision Long Island Smart Growth Awards Nominations

Vision Long Island is seeking nominations for its fourth annual Smart Growth Awards. This special event will honor individuals and organizations taking leadership in advancing Smart Growth projects, policies, regulations and initiatives. Deadline for submission is February 28, 2006.

2006 Yoshiyama Award for Exemplary Service to Community

The Hitachi Foundation presents the Yoshiyama Award for Community Service each year to ten high school seniors from throughout the United States on the basis of their community service activities. The Nomination process for the 2006 Award closes April 3, 2006.

2007 Award for Smart Growth Excellence -- New York State

The New York State Association of REALTORS Award for Smart Growth Excellence was created to recognize the successful efforts of New York's communities to incorporate the principles of smart growth into their projects, policies and programs. Its purpose is to promote the continued advancement of smart growth in the state, in accordance with the principles adopted by REALTORS.

2007 Better Community Awards Nominations -- Florida

Each year, 1000 Friends of Florida honors successful efforts to save special places, fight sprawl, and build better communities in this rapidly growing state. The 2007 Better Community Awards will recognize individuals, organizations, public-private partnerships, local governments, and agencies that, through visionary leadership and planning, have brought about positive and lasting change in their community or region or the state.

2007 National Planning Awards -- Call for Entries

Good planning helps create communities of lasting value. Creating such communities takes effort, vision, and dedication.

2007 Planning Award for Regional Bicycle Plan

Changing people's minds about the practicality and convenience of using a bicycle instead of car to drive to work, complete an errand, or go on a nearby outing is neither simple nor easy. Yet, the idea of using a bicycle to get around town is not only gaining popularity in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but also national attention.

2007 Vision Long Island Smart Growth Awardees

Vision Long Island honored a dozen individuals and organizations in their 2007 Smart Growth Awards ceremony, held on June 15, 2007, at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, New York.

2007 Walk to School Survey Findings

The 2007 Walk to School Survey Findings report provides a brief background on Walk to School events in the U.S.; summarizes findings from the 2007 Walk to School Organizer survey; proposes implications of the findings; and recommends actions that would likely strengthen the conduct of future events and increase capacity and demand for SRTS programs.

2008 Accredited Land Trusts

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, awarded accreditation to 39 land trusts from across the country at its 2008 inaugural awards ceremony. This is a milestone for the land conservation community.

2008 AFT Steward of the Land Award -- Profile

American Farmland Trust is proud to recognize Nash Huber of Nash's Organic Produce as our 2008 Steward of the Land. The award recognizes Huber for his leadership in protecting agricultural land, local food and the environment.

2008 Awards for Excellence -- Europe

Five outstanding developments have been selected as winners of the Urban Land Institute's (ULI) 2008 Awards for Excellence: Europe competition. The Awards for Excellence competition is widely recognized as the land use industry's most prestigious recognition program.

2008 Better Community Awards -- Florida

1000 Friends of Florida has announced winners of its 2008 Better Community Awards competition.

2008 Better Community Awards Nominations -- Florida

Each year, 1000 Friends of Florida honors successful efforts to save special places, fight sprawl, and build better communities in this rapidly growing state. The 2008 Better Community Awards will recognize Florida's leading citizens, public servants, programs and communities that are contributing to an enhanced quality of life in this state.

2008 Comprehensive Planning Grants -- Wisconsin

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has announced comprehensive planning grants for 149 local governments throughout Wisconsin, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin reports. This funding will help communities develop and adopt locally created plans to address long-term needs, promote economic development, and guide future land use decisions.

2008 Green Fund Grant Recipients -- Berkeley

The University of California-Berkeley sponsors the Green Fund Cal sustainability projects, which are funded by the Chancellor's Green Campus Fund.

2008 John W. Gardener Leadership Award Nominations

Submit your nominations now for the 2008 John W. Gardner Leadership Award, which recognizes an individual whose leadership in or with the nonprofit community has been transformative and who has mobilized and unified people, institutions, or causes that improve lives.

2008 National Preservation Awards

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has announced the 21 recipients of the 2008 National Preservation Awards at its national conference, held this year in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

2008 National Preservation Conference Speeches

Speeches from the 2008 National Preservation Conference are now available on the National Trust for Historic Preservation website. If you missed any of these key sessions, or just want to revisit a great talk, streaming audio from the Plenary Sessions and Special Lectures can be accessed at your convenience.

2008 Sustainability Award Winners -- Berkeley

The Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS) at the University of California-Berkeley presents the annual Sustainability Award to outstanding members of the Cal Community. Winners of the 2008 competition are featured on the CACS website.

2008 UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development Speaker Series

Ecofoot, the official website of the Office of Campus Sustainability at Michigan State University, provides a listing for its 2008 UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development Speaker Series. Participating in the Fall 2008 speaker lineup are Ritu Primlani, Richard Louv, and Tom Princen.

2009 Better Community Awards Nominations -- Florida

1000 Friends of Florida hosts the Better Community Awards program to showcase Florida's leading citizens, public servants, programs and communities that are contributing to an enhanced quality of life in this state.

2009 Detroit Community Development Awards

The 2009 Detroit Community Development Awards will be presented September 18, 2009. This event, sponsored by Detroit LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), will recognize the individuals and organizations working tirelessly to achieve success in Detroit neighborhoods.

2009 Livable Communities Award

The Coalition for Smarter Growth will present its Sixth Annual Livable Communities Leadership Award to Congressman Gerry Connolly at an awards ceremony on February 25, 2009.

2009 Maine Downtown Achievement Awards

The Maine Downtown Center is seeking nominations for its 2009 Downtown Achievement Awards. The deadline for submitting nominations has been extended to March 20, 2009, at 4:00 pm.

2009 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement Winners

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson presented the 2009 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement on December 1 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Through the awards, four communities were recognized for their comprehensive approach to improving access to affordable housing, providing more transportation options and protecting the local environment for residents.

The four recipients of the 2009 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement are:

Overall Excellence: Lancaster County Planning Commission for Envision Lancaster County. Lancaster County, in south-central Pennsylvania, is known for its historic towns and villages, and its fertile farmland. To maintain the county’s character, its diverse economy, and its natural resources for future generations, the Lancaster County Planning Commission established a countywide comprehensive growth management plan, which protects valuable farmland and historic landscapes by directing development to established towns and cities in the county.

Policies and Regulations: City of Charlotte for Urban Street Design Guidelines. As the central city in a rapidly growing metropolitan area, Charlotte, N.C., is under intense development pressures. Rather than continue the automobile-dominated development patterns of the last 50 years, Charlotte adopted Urban Street Design Guidelines to make walking, bicycling, and transit more appealing and to make the city more attractive and sustainable.

Built Projects: Chicago Housing Authority, FitzGerald Associates Architects and Holsten Real Estate Development Corporation for Parkside of Old Town. Parkside of Old Town sits on eight city blocks that were once home to a public housing complex notorious for criminal activity. The redevelopment has transformed the neighborhood by reconnecting it to downtown Chicago and tying together mixed-income housing, parks, and new shops and restaurants.

Smart Growth and Green Building: City of Tempe, Ariz. for the Tempe Transportation Center. The Tempe Transportation Center is a model for sustainable design, a vibrant, mixed-use regional transportation hub that incorporates innovative and green building elements tailored to the Southwest desert environment. The Tempe Transportation Center is a true multi-modal facility that integrates a light rail stop, the main city bus station, and paths for bicyclists and pedestrians.

2009 New Partners for Smart Growth Session Proposals

The Local Government Commission (LGC) is conducting a ''Call for Session Proposals'' (CFSP) for the 2009 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference program. This process will be open from May 19 through June 25, 2008. The submittal review process will take place from early-July through late-August 2008.

2009 Smart Growth Design & Reuse Competition

The Valley Development Council, in collaboration with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, invites you to participate in the 2009 Smart Growth Design & Reuse Competition.

Architects, designers, landscape architects, planners and students are invited to prepare concept plans for the redevelopment of three strategic sites in the Pioneer Valley, a region of Western Massachusetts defined by the Connecticut River Valley. These sites are located in Southampton, Palmer and Hadley.

The goal for this international design competition is to create a local example of sustainable development and redevelopment, and to provide a model of how communities in the region can grow smarter. With the partnerships formed through this competition process, there will be significant momentum for turning the winning concept plan idea into reality.

Deadline for submissions is January 15, 2010.

2009 Smart Growth Vermont Awards

Smart Growth Vermont announces its 2009 Smart Growth Awards and Art Gibb Award Ceremony. This awards program honors projects, initiatives, and plans anywhere in the state of Vermont that demonstrate smart growth principles in action.

2009 Sustainability Awards

The Fraser Basin Council of British Columbia congratulates recipients of its 2009 Sustainability Awards.

2009 Sustainable San Mateo County Awards

Winners of the 2009 Sustainable San Mateo County Awards and Green Building Awards were honored at the 10th Annual Awards Event held on March 18, 2009 at the South San Francisco Conference Center.

2010 Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition

The ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition, now in its eighth year, offers graduate-level students the opportunity to form their own multidisciplinary teams and engage in a challenging exercise in responsible land use. Student teams comprising at least three disciplines will have two weeks to devise a comprehensive design and development program for a real, large-scale site fraught with challenges and opportunities. Submissions will consist of boards that include drawings, site plans, tables, and market-feasible financial data.

ULI will announce this year’s competition site on January 18, 2010, which is the day the competition officially gets underway.

The winning team will receive $50,000 and the finalist teams $10,000 each.

2010 Healthy Communities - Region 1

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1, requests proposals for the Healthy Communities Grant Program. This program support projects that work directly with communities to reduce environmental risks and protect and improve human health and the quality of life. Priority areas include: Asthma; Capacity Building on Environmental and Public Health Issues; Healthy Indoor/Outdoor Environments; Healthy Schools; and Urban Natural Resources.

Some $300K is expected to be available, with up to 20 awards anticipated.

Responses are due April 5, 2010. Projects must take place in CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, or VT.

2010 MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Awards Program

MetLife Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) are partnering for the ninth year to recognize, sustain and share the work of innovative partnerships between community groups and police to promote neighborhood safety and revitalization.

Preliminary Application Deadline: February 26, 2010

Awardees will receive monetary grants ranging from $15,000 to $25,000.

Case studies about award-winning partnerships will be disseminated throughout the community development and law enforcement industries.

Cash grants will be awarded in the following two categories:

Neighborhood Revitalization Awards (Six at $15,000-25,000): These awards celebrate exemplary collaboration between community groups and police that yields crime reduction as well as economic development outcomes, such as real estate development, business attraction and job growth.

Special Strategy Awards (Five at $15,000): Community and police partners who have achieved significant accomplishments in one of the following areas will receive awards:

• Applied technology
• The Aesthetics and Greenspace Improvement
• Diversity Inclusion & Integration
• Drug Market Disruption
• Gang Prevention & Youth Safety
• Seniors & Safety

2010 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is now accepting applications for the 2010 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This competition is open to public- and private-sector entities that have successfully used smart growth principles to improve communities environmentally, socially, and economically.

The application period is open from February 8, 2010 to April 5, 2010.

Up to five awards will be given in the following categories:

• Programs, Policies, and Regulations
• Smart Growth and Green Building
• Civic Places
• Rural Smart Growth
• Overall excellence

2010 New Partners for Smart Growth: Building Safe, Healthy and Livable Communities

February 4-6, 2010 – Seattle, WA

The 9th Annual 2010 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Seattle, Washington, boasted record-breaking attendance. Some 1,600 people from across the country gathered for three days of presentations, discussions, and information sharing. For more information about the conference, see www.newpartners.org.

The conference was produced by the Local Government Commission (LGC), with support form a very impressive and multi-disciplinary group of partners and sponsoring organizations, agencies, and companies. Without their collective support, this dynamic event would not have been possible. For a complete list of sponsors and cosponsors, see

The conference was produced by the Local Government Commission (LGC), with support form a very impressive and multi-disciplinary group of partners and sponsoring organizations, agencies, and companies. Without their collective support, this dynamic event would not have been possible. For a complete list of sponsors and cosponsors, visit the conference website.

PDF files of available PowerPoint presentations are now available on the conference program page at the link below. These files are available for FREE download.

Please note: some presentation files are large and may take time to download.

2010 Opportunity to Register and Other Important Information for Electronic Application Submission for the Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program

On February 10, 2010, HUD published an Advance Notice (75 FR 6689) announcing its intent to offer funding through competitive NOFA under its Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program. Through the Advance Notice, HUD sought input from state and local governments, regional bodies, community development entities, and a broad range of other stakeholders on how the Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program should be structured in order to have the most meaningful impact on regional planning for sustainable development.

HUD is publishing this new Notice to inform potential applicants of the multi-week time frame for the registration requirements that must be met before an application can be submitted, as well as the application procedures to follow once the NOFA itself is published.

HUD is using this notice to request entities interested in applying for the Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program to notify HUD of their intent to submit an application. Providing HUD with this information will allow HUD to properly access the workload anticipated during the review process and plan accordingly to ensure timely decision-making.

If your organization is interested in applying for the Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program, please call the HUD NOFA Information Center as soon as possible at 1-800-HUD-8929. The NOFA Information Center will ask for your organization name and address, contact name, email, and telephone number, including area code. Notification of intent to apply is not a requirement for application. If you are an eligible applicant, you may still apply – notification merely helps HUD determine staffing requirements for review and evaluation of applicants.

The full Notice is available at the link below.

2010 U.S. Forest Service National Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Cost-Share Grant

The U.S. Forest Service recently issued a Request for Proposals for the 2010 National Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Cost-Share Grant Program. There is approximately $900,000 available for projects within four issue areas:

• Energy conservation and urban forests
• Climate change and urban forests
• Public health and urban forests
• Green infrastructure assessments

A copy of the grant package is available on the Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry website at the link below.

Pre-Proposals must be posted to www.grants.gov or Courier hard copies received by 11:59 PM Eastern, December 15, 2009. Innovation proposals selected for full proposals will be (tentatively) due by 11:59 PM Eastern, March 17, 2010. The U.S. Forest Service will award the successful projects as Federal Financial Assistance grants no later than September 30, 2010.

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.

30 Great Places in America

The American Planning Association (APA) has announced its 2008 list of Great Neighborhoods, Great Streets, and Great Public Spaces -- in 21 states and the District of Columbia -- that offer better choices for where and how people work and live.

5th World Environmental Education Congress -- Call for Papers

The Organizing Committee of the 5th World Envronmental Education Congress is accepting abstract proposals for its May 10-14, 2009 event in Montreal, Canada.

A Better Future from Farms

American Farmland Trust is launching two new initiatives to harness the potential of our nation's farms and ranches at this pivotal time in history: the Agriculture & Environment campaign and the Growing Local campaign.

A Blueprint for Action: Developing a Livable Community for All Ages

A Blueprint for Action was created to provide local leaders with tools to build the collaborations needed to create livable communities for people of all ages. The guide can be used as a quick-reference kit for practitioners looking for tools, resources, and best practices. It includes information based on community experiences in building local leadership and offers tools to prepare for the needs of a maturing America, drawing on the most innovative and effective practices of communities throughout the country.

A Bridge to Somewhere: Retooling the U.S. Transportation System

A Bridge to Somewhere is a report from Brookings that analyzes the current state of the U.S. transportation system, identifies weaknesses, and outlines crucial points of action to build a transportation policy that works on the federal, state, and local levels.

A Call to Farms

A Call To Farms: A Mid-Decade Review of Connecticut’s Agricultural Lands, a report prepared by The Working Lands Alliance, features a summary of key farmland data in the state of Connecticut, including land prices, land use, and farmland loss.

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 Civic Gift

This report documents how entrepreneurs, investors, and insightful communities across Michigan are preserving historic assets and reaping greater economic activity and a higher quality of life.

A Global Urban Agenda: Highlights from the 2005 World Cities Forum

A Global Urban Agenda from the Urban Land Institute highlights issues discussed at ULI’s World Cities Forum in June 2005.

A Guide for Collaborative Action

This report examines how community development organizations often overlook the importance of involving youth and delinquency prevention in their programs.

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 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 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 Legal Guide to Urban and Sustainable Development for Planners, Developers and Architects

Written by pioneering attorneys in the emerging fields of urbanism and green building, A Legal Guide to Urban and Sustainable Development for Planners, Developers and Architects offers you practical solutions for legal issues you may face in planning, zoning, developing, and operating such communities.

A National Model for Smart Growth

''A National Model for Smart Growth'' is the title of this PowerPoint presentation from Ventura, California, on how the city is making smart growth central to its planning.

A National View of Agricultural Easement Programs

The American Farmland Trust has released its third report in the series A National View of Agricultural Easement Programs: Easements and Local Planning. Examining the planning connections of 46 easement programs in 15 states, this report is based on the perceptions knowledgeable persons collected in extensive phone interviews and on more objective information from other sources.

A New Hampshire Model Community

Over the past several months the AIA150 team and Durham officials, residents, and stakeholders have been working together to articulate a vision for a redeveloped Mill Plaza property in Durham, New Hampshire. Work has now begun to translate this vision from words to sketches.

A New Path Forward: Action Plan for a Sustainable Washington
Achieving Long-Term Economic, Social, and Environmental Vitality

From the Executive Summary:
Governor Gary Locke convened the Sustainable Washington Advisory Panel in September 2002 because of the widening gap between our state’s current reality and a Washington that is equitable, healthy, and prospering. The Panel concluded that it is imperative to initiate significant changes now if we want Washington’s quality of life to improve, not diminish, over the next generation.

A Plan for Tomorrow: Creating Stronger, Healthier Communities

A Plan for Tomorrow: Re-Thinking Density to Create Stronger, Healthier Communities is a free PowerPoint presentation jointly prepared by the Urban Land Institute, the National Multi-Housing Council, and the Sierra Club, that shows how density can transform neighborhoods, and offers compelling research to allay conventional fears about density.

A Primer on Active Living for Government Officials

This primer on active living is an introduction for government officials on the health and economic benefits of active living, and explores ideas on how state and local officials can promote active living within their communities.

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 Roadmap to Revitalizing Urban Neighborhood Business Districts

This report describes methods that the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation have used to successfully revitalize urban neighborhood districts.

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.

A Toolkit for Tomorrow’s Schools

This analysis examines how schools and development can be planned together using common population projections, facility budgeting, comprehensive plans, and even common review staff.

A Toolkit for Tomorrow’s Schools

This analysis examines how schools and development can be planned together using common population projections, facility budgeting, comprehensive plans, and even common review staff.

AASHE Sustainability Leadership Awards -- 2007

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) presented its annual Campus Sustainability Leadership Awards at the 7th biennial Greening of the Campus Conference, ''Partnering for Sustainability: Enabling a Diverse Future,'' held September 6-8, 2007, at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

Access to Safe Parks Helps Increase Physical Activity Among Teenagers

Access to Safe Parks is a brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research that presents policy recommendations aimed at improving neighborhood environments and access to parks to encourage physical activity by California adolescents.

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.

ACHP Guide to Historic Preservation Funding

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) offers this online guide that outlines the range of historic preservation funding options that are currently available.

Across Local Borders

This 45-page report documents some of the conditions under which local governments have found regional coordination of brownfields redevelopment to be strategic, the different forms of regional coordination that are taking place, and case study examples describing why and how communities are meeting brownfields challenges through regional approaches.

Active Design Guidelines

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, architects and urban reformers helped to defeat infectious diseases, such as cholera and tuberculosis, by improving design of buildings, streets, neighborhoods, clean water systems and parks. In the 21st century, designers can again play a crucial role in combating the most rapidly growing public health epidemics of our time: obesity and its impact on related chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Today, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet are second only to tobacco use as the main causes of premature death in the United States. A growing body of research suggests that evidence-based architectural and urban design strategies can increase regular physical activity and healthy eating.

The Active Design Guidelines provides architects and urban designers with a manual of strategies for creating healthier buildings, streets and urban spaces, based on the latest academic research and best practices in the field. A growing body of research suggests that evidence-based architectural and urban design strategies can increase regular physical activity and healthy eating.

The Guidelines includes:

• Urban design strategies for creating neighborhoods, streets and outdoor spaces that encourage walking, bicycling and active transportation and recreation.
• Building design strategies for promoting active living where we work, live and play—for example, through the placement and design of stairs, elevators and indoor and outdoor spaces.
• Discussion of synergies between active design and sustainable design initiatives such as LEED and PlaNYC.

The Active Design Guidelines was developed through a partnership of the New York City departments of Design and Construction, Health and Mental Hygiene, Transportation, City Planning and the Office of Management and Budget, working with leading architectural and planning academics, and with assistance from the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter. Other City agencies that contributed to the Guidelines include the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, Department of Buildings, Department of Parks and Recreation, School Construction Authority, Housing Preservation and Development and the Department for the Aging.

Active Living and Social Equity

Active Living and Social Equity describes how local managers, department heads and local government staff can design healthy communities for all residents, regardless of income, race or ethnicity, age, ability or gender.

Active Living Research -- Call for Proposals (Round 8)

Active Living Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has issued a call for full proposals for research topic grants and full proposals for dissertation grants in Round 8 of their program.

Active Living Research 2009 -- Childhood Obesity

Active Living Research supports research to inform policy and environmental strategies for increasing physical activity among children and adolescents, decreasing their sedentary behaviors and preventing obesity. A special emphasis is placed on research focused on racial/ethnic populations and children living in low-income communities who are at highest risk for obesity. Findings will advance RWJF's efforts to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.

Active Living Research Rapid-Response Round 3 Grants

Active Living Research (ALR) is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that supports research to inform policy and environmental strategies for increasing physical activity among children and adolescents, decreasing their sedentary behaviors and preventing obesity. The program places special emphasis on reaching children and youths ages 3 to 18 who are at highest risk for obesity: Black, Latino, American Indian and Asian/Pacific Islander children, as well as children who live in under-resourced and lower-income communities.

The Rapid-Response Round 3 call for proposals will support opportunistic, time-sensitive studies on emerging or anticipated changes in physical activity-related policies or environments. Rapid-response grants are expected to accelerate progress toward policy and environmental strategies to prevent and reduce childhood obesity. For maximum impact, studies should be completed in as short a time frame as realistically possible, and results disseminated using methods designed to reach local, state or national decision-makers in time to help inform key policy decisions. Detailed results of these studies, including methodologies and data analyses, along with the outcome of the efforts to reach policy audiences, also should be subsequently reported in peer-reviewed publications.

A total of up to $1.5 million will be awarded under this CFP. The maximum award for a single grant is $150,000, with a maximum funding period of 18 months.

Application Deadline: Letters of Intent can be submitted at any time until July 1, 2011.

More details on how to apply are available at the link below.

Active Living Resource Center Library

The Active Living Resource Center (ALRC) is an online resource designed to help citizens take charge in their neighborhoods and make them more physically active by making them more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. The ALRC Library provides dozens of resources that support this goal.

Active Neighborhood Checklist

Active Living Research grantees have developed an objective and practical checklist to help residents, community groups, local government officials and advocacy organizations determine whether their neighborhoods are activity friendly. The checklist rates communities on land use, presence of public recreational facilities, availability of public transportation and quality of the environment.

Affordable Housing and Community Development

Washington Mutual teams up with nonprofit organizations by investing in their efforts to build stronger communities. One program offers grants on affordable housing and community development.

Affordable Housing and Smart Growth: Making the Connection

This report identifies a range of policies and approaches that help achieve both smart growth and affordable housing objectives. The report provides case studies of towns, cities, and states that have benefited from linking these two interrelated goals.

Affordable Housing Built Responsibly Grants

Through the Affordable Housing Built Responsibly grant program, The Home Depot Foundation administers millions of dollars in grants each year to nonprofit organizations whose missions align with the Foundation's interests in supporting the production and preservation of affordable, efficient and healthy housing.

The Home Depot Foundation makes grants to 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charities in the United States and to charitable organizations in Canada. Support is given to programs and projects that align with the Foundation's mission and grant criteria.

To better support its mission, The Home Depot Foundation awards most of its grants by directly soliciting proposals from high-performing nonprofit organizations with the demonstrated ability to create strong partnerships, impact multiple communities and leverage grant resources. In order to identify potential future nonprofit partners or respond to unique community revitalization opportunities, a limited amount of unsolicited grant funding is set aside to be awarded through a competitive process.

UPDATE: Community Tree Grants
The Home Depot Foundation has combined its community trees grant program with its Affordable Housing Built Responsibly grant program. The Foundation remains firmly committed to supporting the planting of trees and the development of greenspace in order to provide communities with the many economic, social and environmental benefits of the urban forest. This change in programming structure reflects the foundation’s understanding that it is more effective to support the creation of healthy and sustainable communities through the integration of our focus areas.

Preference is given to proposals that include community engagement that result in the production, preservation, or financing of housing units for low- to moderate-income families. The most promising proposals incorporate a number of “green” building design practices. Also, proposals that clearly demonstrate how tree strategies integrated with affordable housing production/preservation create healthier, more vibrant communities will have a distinct advantage.

For this grant cycle, letters of inquiry are due July 1, 2010. Full project proposals are due September 15, 2010.

Affordable Housing Design Advisor

This web site is described as a tool, resource, idea bank and step-by step guide to Design in affordable housing.

Affordable Housing Resource Center

The Affordable Housing Resource Center is an online resource offered by Novogradac & Company LLP that features policy and legislation, state information, financing tools, and more.

Affordable Rental Housing

Window of Opportunity: Preserving Affordable Rental Housing is a $50 million initiative to preserve and improve affordable rental housing across the United States. The initiative's immediate goal is to help large nonprofit housing organizations purchase and maintain 100,000 units of existing, affordable rental housing that might otherwise deteriorate or become too expensive for low- and moderate-income households.

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.

Age Friendly Manitoba Initiative

The Canadian Province of Manitoba has launched an Age Friendly Initiative with numerous partners to address the challenges facing the growing population of seniors.

Agenda for a Sustainable America

Agenda for a Sustainable America is a comprehensive book that assesses U.S. progress toward sustainable development and a roadmap of necessary next steps toward achieving a sustainable America.

Aging Americans: Stranded Without Options

This report from The Surface Transportation Policy Project presents new findings based on the National Household Transportation Survey of 2001 and places them in the context of other research on mobility in the aging population.

Aging and Smart Growth: Building Aging-Sensitive Communities

This report posits that the sprawling, automobile-dominated landscape so prevalent throughout the United States seriously limits the continued mobility and independence of older people, a reality that is of enormous consequence to the aging experience.

Aging in Place Initiative

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) and Partners for Livable Communities (PLC) have launched a joint initiative to work with cities and counties over an 18-month period to facilitate a community dialogue on ''aging in place,'' and to assist community leaders in developing an action plan to ensure programs and services are in place so that communities are good places to grow old.

Aging in Place Reading List

The National Aging in Place Council (NAIPC) publishes an Aging in Place Reading list featuring recommended books and articles. Featured titles include ''The Senior Solution: A Family Giude to Keeping Seniors Home for Life'' and ''Retirement Life By Design.''

Aging in Place: A Toolkit for Local Governments

Aging in Place: A Toolkit for Local Governments from the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Community Housing Resource Center is a tool designed to help local governments plan and prepare for their aging populations. It presents a series of programs and zoning practices that expand the alternatives available to older adults living in the community.

Agriculture and Farmland Protection Programs

This report to the New York State Advisory Council on Agriculture summarizes results from six regional round table discussions on Agriculture and Farmland Protection held between May and September, 2003. These discussions were held to obtain informed stakeholder views on current State programs designed to promote the agricultural industry and maintain the agricultural land base.

Agriculture and Smart Growth

There is a growing recognition that the protection of farmland around cities and towns -- urban-influenced farmland -- contributes to smart growth and the livability of our communities. Not only does agricultural protection further smart growth, integral to smart growth is the protection of urban-influenced farmland. Sustainability begins -- although it does not end -- with the land that feeds us.

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.

AIA Connecticut Public Service Award

The American Institute of Architects Connecticut (AIA Connecticut) Public Service Award is a biennial program that recognizes those individuals or groups who have demonstrated public service in activities related to a single project or for ongoing public service.

AIA Housing and Community Design Awards -- 2010

Applications are currently being accepted by the Housing and Custom Residential Knowledge Community of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), in conjunction with the Office of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, for the 2010 AIA Housing and Community Design Awards. These annual awards recognize excellence in residential housing design, particularly in affordable housing, community-based design, participatory design, and housing accessibility.

AIA National Honor Awards 2007 -- Call for Entries

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Institute Honor Awards program recognizes achievements for a broad range of architectural activity in order to elevate the general quality of architectural practice, establish a standard of excellence against which all architects can measure performance, and inform the public of the breadth and value of architectural practice.

AIA Recorded Presentations -- Convention '09

Did you miss the 2009 AIA convention? The American Institute of Architects is offering through its website a video stream of select presentations and workshops from the 2009 National Convention and Design Exposition.

AIA Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) Program

The SDAT is a community assistance program that focuses on the principles of sustainability. SDATs will bring a team of volunteer professionals (such as architects, urban designers, planners, hydrologists, economists, attorneys, and others) to work with community decision-makers and stakeholders to help them develop a vision and framework for a sustainable future.

AIA Sustainable Design Assessment Team RFP -- 2009

The American Institute of Architects Center for Communities by Design announces the 2009 Sustainable Design Assessment Team Program Request for Proposals.

AIA Sustainable Design Assessment Team RFP -- 2010

The AIA Center for Communities by Design announces the 2010 Sustainable Design Assessment Team Program Request for Proposals. The RFP solicits applications for inclusion in the Sustainable Design Assessment Team 2010 program.

AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects -- 2009 Nominations

The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (AIA/COTE) invites your entry to the 2009 Top Ten Green Projects Awards.

Alcan Prize for Sustainability 2007

The Alcan Prize for Sustainability is a $1 million prize that recognizes organizations demonstrating a comprehensive approach to addressing, achieving and further advancing economic, environmental and/or social sustainability. The Alcan Prize for Sustainability is one of the world’s most significant, privately funded Prizes. One Prize is awarded annually.

Alcan Prize for Sustainability 2008

The Alcan Prize for Sustainability is a $1 million prize that recognizes organizations demonstrating a comprehensive approach to addressing, achieving and further advancing economic, environmental and/or social sustainability. The Alcan Prize for Sustainability is one of the world’s most significant, privately funded Prizes. One Prize is awarded annually.

Alternatives for Coastal Development

NOAA Coastal Services Center offers an extensive online library of information and tools for coastal development, mapping, and restoration. In Alternatives for Coastal Development: One Site, Three Scenarios, the Center examines design scenarios in terms of Smart Growth.

America 2050 Planning Initiative

America 2050 is a national initiative to meet the infrastructure, economic development and environmental challenges of the nation as we prepare to add about 130 million additional Americans by the year 2050.

America’s Best: Profiles of America’s Best Energy Efficiency Programs

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) conducted a national review and assessment of current utility-sector energy efficiency efforts in order to identify exemplary energy efficiency programs that might be replicated by those in other jurisdictions.

America’s Most Livable Cities

Browse the list of this decade's Most Livable Communities, honored by Partners for Livable Communities, a national non-profit organization that has been working at the frontlines of livability for over twenty-five years.

American Citizen Planner

American Citizen Planner Consortium is partnering with affiliates at educational institutions around the United States to form the nation's leading land use education consortium.

American Farmland Trust Introduces New Website

The American Farmland Trust has redesigned its website to promote its vision for change: A vision of well-managed, protected farm and ranch land that provides open space, clean water, healthy food, wildlife habitat and a renewed connectedness between the farm community and the rest of America.

American Makeover

American Makeover is a new web-exclusive series that explores growth and development alternatives in communities across America, looking at what can be done to help our communities grow in such a way that gives us the kind of neighborhoods and choices we're increasingly looking for.

The first episode ''sounds the alarm bell on Atlanta’s sprawl.'' No one who has ever been to Atlanta will argue their status as poster child of sprawling growth, but it's encouraging that the filmmakers spend most of the short episode taking a closer look at the alternatives in Atlanta — focusing on those growing millions of people who are looking for places to live that are walkable and connected and dontt entail hour-long car commutes to work, school, or the local market.

The series is expected to include episodes of four to five more cities.

American Metropolis: Divided We Sprawl

This presentation given by Bruce Katz to the Land Use Coalition at Yale (LUCY) presents the major trends affecting cities and metropolitan areas, the forces driving these trends, and the policy solutions available to affect positive change.

American Planning Association

APA is a nonprofit, public interest organization representing 30,000 practicing planners, elected and appointed officials, and citizens involved in urban and rural planning issues. APA's members believe that sound planning is essential to meeting our nation's economic, environmental, and community development needs. Sixty-five percent of the members work in state and local government agencies, helping citizens define the kind of community they want to live in and developing policies, plans, and land use regulations that respond to those desires. APA is working with the SGN to disseminate ''best practice'' techniques for encouraging citizen participation, reforming state and local planning frameworks, and promoting sustainable development patterns.

America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations -- 2010 Nominations

The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Dozen Distinctive Destinations® program recognizes unique cities and towns across the country working to preserve their historic character, promote heritage tourism, enhance their community and encourage others to enjoy all they have to offer.

America's Favorite Farmers Market Contest

American Farmland Trust (AFT) is holding the first-ever America's Favorite Farmers Markets™ contest to raise national awareness about the importance of supporting fresh food from local farms and farmers.

AMPO -- 2004 Conference Presentations

Presentations from the 2004 Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations Conference are available online as PowerPoint files through the AMPO website.

AMPO Annual Conference Presentations

The AMPO Annual Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, October 2-4, 2007, drew close to 300 attendees from MPO's, state and federal agencies, and consulting firms. Presentations from many conference events are now available online at the AMPO website.

An Alternative Future: Florida in the 21st Century 2020 2040 2060

An Alternative Future is a comprehensive look at an alternate trend for development that would accommodate the predicted doubling of Florida's population by 2060 without changing the character of the landscape. By creating an efficient transportation infrastructure, a significant cost-savings can be realized -- up to $526 billion dollars -- over the current development trends.

An Urban Agenda for an Urban Age

Before the international Urban Age conference in Berlin, Bruce Katz, Vice President and Director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at The Brookings Institution, argued that if cities are the organizing units of the new global order, then a broad range of policies and practices at the city, national, and supra-national levels need to be reevaluated and overhauled around new spatial realities and paradigms.

Anacostia River Urban Watershed Partnership RFP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is soliciting new assistance agreement proposals under the EPA's Targeted Watershed Grants Program designed to support the protection and restoration of urban water resources through a holistic watershed approach to water quality management.

Ann Arbor Greenbelt Map

In November 2003, the residents of Ann Arbor overwhelmingly passed the Open Space and Parkland Preservation Millage, also known as the Ann Arbor Greenbelt and Parkland Program. The purpose of the Greenbelt Program is to protect both working farmland and natural areas, as well as identifying and conserving those lands that are integral to the protection of the City of Ann Arbor's source groundwater and the Huron River -- a portion of which is designated a state scenic river.

Annual Urban Forestry Awards -- Mississippi

Each year the Mississippi Urban Forest Council (MUFC), in partnership with the Mississippi Forestry Commission and the U.S. Forest Service, recognizes and honors cities, individuals, civic groups and businesses that have demonstrated success with urban forestry and green infrastructure.

APA Affordable Housing Reader

With the support of the Fannie Mae Foundation, the American Planning Association (APA) has assembled more than 100 documents and articles from APA publications that examine the affordable housing problem in the U.S. and identify and evaluate various solutions.

APA Audio Conferences

The American Planning Association (APA) offers the Audio Conference Training Series comprised of thematic audio and visual training programs. Topics during the current series include Economic Development for Small Towns, Planning and Public Health, and Planning for Safe Growth.

APA National Plan of the Year Award -- 2006

With northeastern Illinois expected to grow by 1.9 million people over the next 25 years, a new vision -- one that will accommodate this anticipated growth in an efficient, coordinated and sustainable manner -- is guiding decision making around the region. This vision is a key component of the 2040 Regional Framework Plan, recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Planning Award for a Plan from the American Planning Association (APA).

APA National Planning Conference Coverage 2007

The American Planning Association has created a website featuring resources and information from their 2007 National Planning Conference. Session reports, photos from various events, media coverage, and more can be found at this resource.

APA Releases Report on Regional Affordable Housing Programs

The American Planning Association's new report, Regional Approaches to Affordable Housing, evaluates 23 programs across the nation to find out if they actually resulted in housing production and, if so, how. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Fannie Mae Foundation, and APA funded the study.

APA's 2009 Planning Conference -- Call for Proposals

The American Planning Association (APA) is seeking proposals for providing educational content at the 2009 APA National Planning Conference in Minneapolis, April 25–29, 2009.

Application Guidelines for Safe Routes to School

The National Safe Routes to Schools Partnership (SRTS) provides links to the State Departments of Transportation that have released application guidelines for the federal program.

Applications Sought for Brownfields Assessment Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup Grants

The US Environmental Protection Agency is soliciting applications for its Brownfields Assessment Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup Grants. Assessment grant funds of up to $200,000 (up to $350,000 with waiver) may be used to inventory, characterize, assess and conduct planning and community involvement efforts related to brownfields.

April 2007 Getting Smart! Newsletter

The April 2007 issue of Getting Smart! focuses on three case studies of faith-based organizations and religious institutions that have been pivotal in the success of smart growth efforts.

April 2009 Getting Smart! Newsletter

The April 2009 Getting Smart e-newsletter features articles on energy-related topics. With the Obama Administration declaring energy a priority and investing billions of federal dollars in new and existing programs, this edition offers some ideas for broader consideration.

Arizona Smart Growth Scorecard

The Arizona Smart Growth Scorecard is a valuable tool for community self-assessment developed by a working group of the Growth Cabinet with input from public and private stakeholders. It is designed to strengthen the ability of local officials to plan for future growth and development and to adopt comprehensive strategies that address growth-related pressures. As Arizona continues to attract unprecedented population growth, all levels of government must play a role in wisely planning and managing both the challenges and opportunities that new growth and development present.

Recognizing that communities measure and track how well they are implementing smart growth and look for areas of improvement, the Growth Cabinet prepared this Scorecard to help communities assess whether they have the right tools in place to promote smart growth. Executive Order 2007-05, directed state agencies to identify how state discretionary funds might provide incentives to communities for growing smarter and technical assistance for those needing support. The intent is to provide communities, counties, and Tribal governments - small or large, rural or urban - with a simple, clear, usable means of evaluating how well prepared they are for the pressures of growth. In addition, the Scorecard can help spur action on local and regional approaches to address growth issues and provide incentives and assistance to communities wanting to effectively and efficiently manage development. Cities, towns, counties, and Tribal governments will be evaluated by the set of smart growth criteria and indicators contained within the Scorecard.

Arlington Carshare Program -- 2006 Report

The Arlington Carshare Program 2006 Report provides a summary of the program and provides a second-year evaluation of the Carshare Program based on member surveys conducted by Arlington in March 2005 and 2006.

Arlington's Smart Growth Journey: Documentary Film

Arlington's Smart Growth Journey is a documentary film that traces the dramatic history of the past half-century of growth and development in Arlington, Virginia.

ARRA Prevention and Wellness Funding: Communities Putting Prevention to Work

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Procurement and Grants Office has published a funding opportunity announcement entitled, ''American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Communities Putting Prevention to Work.'' Approximately $373 million will be available in fiscal year 2009 to fund thirty to forty awards.

ASLA Community Service Award

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has announced that Kevin Shanley, ASLA, president of The SWA Group, will receive the Society’s 2005 Community Service Award, to be presented during its Annual Meeting October 7-10 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

ASLA General Design Honor Award -- 2008

Design changes to the grounds surrounding the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. have won recognition in the General Design Honor category of the American Society of Landscape Architects 2008 Awards.

ASLA Student Awards -- 2008 Recipients

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has announced winners of its 2008 Student Awards. Representing the top student honors in the profession, will present the awards to 20 projects from 11 colleges and universities at the ASLA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. The ceremony and reception will take place on October 6, 2008 and is sponsored by Landscape Forms.

ASLA Student Awards -- 2009 Call for Entries

Each year, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Student Awards give us a glimpse into the future of the profession by recognizing student work in the field.

Student categories in the 2009 competition are ''Student Community Service Award'' and ''Student Collaboration.''

Association of Bay Area Governments: Theory in Action - Smart Growth Case Studies in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the nation

This online document catalogs smart growth initiatives such as compact development, urban revitalization, affordable housing, and open space protection at the local, regional, and state level in the Bay Area, elsewhere in California, and in the rest of the country.

Athena Medal Award -- 2007

The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) has selected David Lewis as the latest recipient of the Athena medal for lifetime achievement in urbanism. The medal, whose recipients are chosen by CNU's board of directors, was presented to Lewis by CNU President and CEO John Norquist in a ceremony in Pittsburgh November 6, 2007.

Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) Livable Centers Initiative -- Georgia

The Atlanta Regional Commission’s (ARC) Livable Centers Initiative encourages local jurisdictions to plan and implement strategies that link transportation improvements with land use development strategies to create sustainable, livable communities consistent with regional development policies.

Atlanta's Fifty Forward Initiative

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) has launched an ambitious initiative, called ''Fifty Forward: Metro Atlanta Futures Forum,'' to explore possible future scenarios for metro Atlanta and forge an action plan to ensure future livability, prosperity and sustainability.

Audio from Three Winter 2008 Smart Growth Speaker Series Events

New audio recordings are now available from three Smart Growth Speaker Series events at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. These lectures are part of a four-part series focusing on Smart Growth in Washington, D.C., which will conclude with the April 23, 2008 event celebrating 10 years of the Smart Growth Speaker Series.

August 2007 Getting Smart! Newsletter

The August 2007 issue of Getting Smart! focuses on one of the hottest -- no pun intended -- issues of the day: climate change. The transportation sector is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions. To effectively reduce emissions from the transportation sector, we must reduce the number of miles U.S. residents drive; in other words, land use patterns must change. Smart growth will play a critical role in making this change happen.

August 2008 Getting Smart! Newsletter

The latest issue of Getting Smart! is now available for all Smart Growth Network members in the Members Section. This edition of Getting Smart! examines how the most public of places -- our community's streets -- can be transformed to serve not only vehicles but also pedestrians and cyclists.

Award for Municipal Excellence

The Awards for Municipal Excellence identify and showcase outstanding city and town programs that improve the quality of life in America’s communities. Winners of this award exemplify excellence in city governance, best practices in municipal policy, and models to follow to improve the lives of their citizens.

Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing

In partnership with the MetLife Foundation, The Enterprise Foundation offers the MetLife Foundation Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing. The awards program recognizes 501(c)(3) community-based or regional nonprofit organizations and Tribes or Tribally Designated Housing Entities that excel in property and asset management or provide housing to people with special needs.

Awards for Municipal Excellence -- 2008 Call for Nominations

The National League of Cities (NLC) is pleased to announce the 2008 Awards for Municipal Excellence, an awards competition that identifies and showcases outstanding city and town programs that improve the quality of life in America's communities.

Awards of Excellence for Community Trees -- 2007

The Home Depot Foundation, in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, recently announced the opening of the application period for the Second Annual Awards of Excellence for Community Trees. The Home Depot Foundation believes that the urban forest is one of the essential building blocks for healthy, livable communities impacting our social, environmental, economic and overall well being -- and that the simple act of planting a tree has the power to be the catalyst for significant ecological improvements and profound community change.

Awards of Excellence for Sustainable Community Development

The Home Depot Foundation’s Awards of Excellence for Sustainable Community Development recognizes public-private partnerships that have successfully developed projects and/or initiatives that promote and exemplify a more sustainable community. Truly sustainable projects take a holistic, integrated approach, whereby sustainability planning, affordable housing and the creation of green spaces and planting of trees are inextricably linked.

Projects that qualify for the Awards of Excellence in Sustainable Community Development program exhibit thoughtful construction of a neighborhood which includes green affordable housing and tree plantings and have gone beyond to address overarching community issues. These projects have contributed to creating a stronger connection among the residents and addressed many broad-scale issues, including treatment of stormwater, economic development, reducing urban heat island effect, disaster preparedness, carbon reduction strategies, abandoned and foreclosed properties, pedestrian friendliness, traffic calming, transit oriented development, and resident health and quality of life.

The Awards of Excellence go to both the cities and their non-profit partners representing the partnership that completed the local initiative. The Foundation will recognize a National Winner ($75,000 grant), National Runner-up ($25,000 grant), and up to three Honorable Mentions ($2,500 grant).

The grants are to be used at the discretion of the non-profit to further the sustainability goals of the community.

Responses are due March 31, 2010.

Awards of Excellence Winners

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) selected four local agency projects for the 2004 Award of Excellence awards.

Balanced Growth Implementation Project -- Minnesota

1000 Friends of Minnesota and the Community Growth Institute are partnering to assist three Minnesota communities in the implementation of their balanced growth visions. Cities involved in this program are the City of Northfield (Rice County), Florence Township (Goodhue County), and the City of Mayer (Carver County).

Baltimore Community Foundation Fund for Neighborhoods -- Baltimore Area of Maryland

The Baltimore Community Foundation (BCF) Fund for Neighborhoods provides funding for neighborhoods, one of nine areas in which BCF focuses its strategic grantmaking. BCF seeks to advance the ideals of a welcoming environment, open access and civic engagement-with all of its privileges and responsibilities-in every area of community life.

Baltimore County Forest Sustainability Project

Baltimore County's Forest Sustainability Project is the latest report in The Conservation Fund's Green Infrastructure Case Studies series. The project engages stakeholders to ensure the long-term health and vitality of Baltimore County's diverse forest resources.

Bank of America Community Development

Bank of America has established several programs that support sustainable community regional planning.

Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative -- 2005

Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence initiative consists of three distinct investing programs in select markets: Neighborhood Builders, Local Heroes, and Student Leaders.

Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative -- 2006

Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence initiative consists of three distinct investing programs in select markets: Neighborhood Builders, Local Heroes, and Student Leaders.

Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative -- 2007

Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence initiative consists of three distinct investing programs in select markets: Neighborhood Builders, Local Heroes, and Student Leaders.

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.

Basic Design Guidelines for Businesses and Historic Districts

Design guidelines for businesses and historic districts is the focus of this free, three-page fact sheet from Scenic America.

Bay Area Community Foundation

The Bay Area Community Foundation works with individuals, families, businesses and organizations to create permanent endowment funds that help our region meet the challenges of changing times. The Foundation is located in Bay City, Michigan, and serves Bay and Arenac Counties.

The Foundation invests and administers these funds and then uses their earnings to award grants each year to many of the humanitarian, educational and cultural organizations in this remarkable region we call home. The Foundation goes beyond simply making grants that advance charitable activities - we also identify current and emerging issues, stimulate local resources to address those needs and help our region prepare for the future.

For more information,visit the link below.

Bay Area Focused Growth

Four San Francisco, California Bay Area regional agencies have joined forces in a Joint Policy Committee. The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) are working together to create complete, livable communities.

Bay Area Smart Growth Fund -- San Francisco Bay Area, California

The Bay Area Smart Growth Fund I, LLC invests in retail, office, commercial, industrial, multi-family and select single-family housing opportunities that may make a measurable impact on the economic and social revitalization of neighborhoods in the 46 targeted communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Beginning Farmer Funding Sources

The Center for Rural Affairs features a ''Beginning Farmer Financing Programs'' page on its website. This resource includes web and telephone contact information for several programs designed to assist beginnning farmers.

Beltway Burden: Housing and Transportation Costs Squeeze Working Families

Housing located far from transit and employment centers places a heavy financial strain on working families in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, according to a 2009 publication from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing. Beltway Burden: The Combined Cost of Housing and Transportation in the Greater Washington, DC Metropolitan Area, documents the challenges faced by area working families who are forced to ''drive 'til they qualify'' for housing, incurring higher transportation costs that eventually erode their housing cost savings. It finds that area families are victim to combined housing and transportation costs that constitute, on average, nearly 47 percent of the area median income.

Best and Worst Developments in the Bay Area

The Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC) has produced this report that rates 18 projects in nine counties of the San Francisco Bay area.

Best Awards 2007

Since 1993, the BEST Awards have been presented annually to Portland, Oregon, area companies demonstrating excellence in business practices that promote economic growth and environmental benefits.

BEST Awards 2008

Since 1993, the Office of Sustainable Development in Portland, Oregon, has hosted the BEST Awards -- Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow. These awards have been presented annually to Portland area companies demonstrating excellence in business practices that promote economic growth and environmental benefits.

Best Practices for Preservation Organizations

Best Practices for Preservation Organizations from the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides preservation easement holding organizations with guidance on the operation of easement programs and organizational best practices by applying Land Trust Standards and Practices.

Best Practices in Development: ULI Award Winning Projects 2009

This lavishly illustrated, hardcover awards book profiles 48 top development projects throughout the world. Each project description includes photos, the development story, and project data and is a winner or finalist for the prestigious ULI Awards for Excellence. The annual prize is based on financial viability, the resourceful use of land, design, relevance to contemporary issues, and sensitivity to the community and environment.

Best Practices in Green Education

Best Practices in Green Education from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) offers model education programs and curriculum to support efforts in educating for sustainability. USGBC believes educators learn best from hearing the stories of other educators' efforts.

Best Practices in the Production of Affordable Housing

Best Practices in Producing Affordable Housing, an Urban Land Institute/Fannie Mae Foundation Policy Forum held in Washington, D.C., in March 2005, sought to identify and explore current best practices and learn from companies that are doing an exemplary job of providing affordable housing. This document reports on the initial findings from that event.

Better Community Awards -- Florida

Each year, 1000 Friends of Florida honors successful efforts to save special places, fight sprawl, and build better communities in this rapidly growing state. The 2007 Better Community Awards will recognize individuals, organizations, public-private partnerships, local governments, and agencies that, through visionary leadership and planning, have brought about positive and lasting change in their community or region or the state.

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 in Maryland

Authors Edward McMahon and Shelley Mastran offer practical advice on key issues facing communities throughout Maryland in Better Models for Development in Maryland, published by the Conservation Fund.

Better Models for Development in Pennsylvania

Better Models for Development in Pennsylvania is a 134-page book that offers officials and citizens dozens of ideas and examples of ways to balance conservation with economic development.

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.

Better Models for Urban Supermarkets

Better Models for Urban Supermarkets shows how neighborhood groups and supermarket chains can work in partnership to plan an urban store that complements the historic fabric of the streetscape while meeting the bottom-line needs of the retailer.

Better Public Transit Systems

Better Public Transit Systems: Analyzing Investments and Performance from the American Planning Association (APA) is a complete primer for performance and investment analysis of public transportation. Whether you're planning a major new public transit project, expanding an existing system, or simply evaluating the needs of your current system, Better Public Transit Systems provides the tools you need to define your goals and conceive and analyze design alternatives.

Beyond Gray Pinstripes 2003

Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2003: Preparing MBAs for Social and Environmental Stewardship highlights six cutting-edge schools preparing future executives with a solid training in environmental and social impact management.

Beyond the Fence, A REALTORS® Guide to Military Base Closure

Beyond the Fence, A REALTORS® Guide to Military Base Closure, Realignment and Encroachment, takes a look at the Department of Defense's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process so that REALTORS® can know how to get involved to help communities cope with the substantial economic challenges that arise when bases are proposed for closure or expansion.

BGreen 2020

The City of Bridgeport and Bridgeport Regional Business Council have released BGreen 2020, a Sustainability Plan that outlines the policies and actions to be implemented in the next decade to improve the quality of life, social equity, and economic competitiveness of the city while reducing carbon emissions and increasing the community's resilience to the effects of climate change and increasing energy costs. The program management team, led by Regional Plan Association, convened the efforts of more than a hundred stakeholders in a Community Advisory Committee and working groups to develop strategies to address brownfields and land use, pedestrian and transit access, renewable energy production, and environmental protection while supporting the growth of green jobs in the region.

BGreen 2020 is the result of a public-private partnership between the City of Bridgeport and the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, a consortium of local business groups. By building on Bridgeport's existing strengths, BGreen will modernize the city's infrastructure, create wealth, intensify urban amenities, enhance environmental quality, enable revitalization without gentrification, and retain Bridgeport's historic character. Early priorities are the creation of an Energy Improvement District to support energy efficiency and production, adopting a ''Transit First'' policy, developing a plan for open space use and maintenance, expanding recycling, and protecting the region's waterways through enhanced stormwater management. A Green Collar Institute will train workers and act as an incubator for developing green industries.

More information, and a download link, can be found at the link below.

(Reprinted with permission from Regional Plan Association)

Bicycle Friendly Communities Awards 2005

Sixteen cities across the United States were awarded “Bicycle Friendly Community” designation by the League of American Bicyclists. The award, given at levels from Bronze to Platinum, recognizes those communities that are improving conditions for bicyclists and bicycling safety.

Bicycle Friendly Community Grants

The Bicycle Friendly Communities Campaign is an awards program that recognizes municipalities that actively support bicycling.

Bicycle Parking Solutions

''A Resource for Installing Indoor Bicycle Parking.''

Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century, January 17-June 22, 2003

Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century explores five categories of issues that design and building professionals are addressing in order to reduce the deleterious environmental impact of skyscrapers and other megastructures: Energy; Light and Air; Greenery, Water and Waste; Construction; and Urbanism.

Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment

With a global food crisis, rising environmental concerns, and America's children facing epidemic levels of diet-related diseases, how can educators positively engage students in understanding the connections among these topics? Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment provides a conceptual framework for integrated learning in these important areas in K-12 classrooms.

Bike and Build

Bike and Build raises funds for affordable housing projects through. Riders select one of several coast-to-coast routes and receive sponsor pledges for the trip. Over five seasons, Bike and Build has contributed $1,144,231 to housing groups to fund projects planned and executed by young adults; this includes $391,327 donated from the summer of 2007.

Bikes Belong Grants -- Summer 2007

Bikes Belong is the national coalition of bicycle suppliers and retailers working together to put more people on bicycles more often. Through national leadership, grassroots support, and promotion, Bike Belong works to make bicycling safe, convenient, and fun. In summer 2007 Bikes Belong presented six grant awards, totaling $46,935. Investment in these paths, trails, parks, and advocacy initiatives will help create, enhance, and protect great places to ride in communities across the country.

BikeSafe: Online Transportation Design Toolkit

BikeSafe is an online toolkit from the U.S. Department of Transportation that allows the user to select appropriate countermeasures or treatments to address specific problems faced by cyclists and planners who design bicycle-friendly transportation corridors. BikeSafe also includes a large number of case studies to illustrate treatments implemented in communities throughout the United States.

Biking and Walking Funding

America Bikes outlines on its website how communities can leverage federal funding to improve local roads for bicyclists through the 2005 SAFETEA-LU bill.

Bill Moyers' Interview with Michael Pollan -- Podcast

In this podcast, Bill Moyers sits down with Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley, to discuss what direction the U.S. should pursue in the often-overlooked question of food policy.

Biodiversity and Smart Growth

This paper discusses the relationship between biodiversity conservation and smart growth, the work that is being done, and suggests promising strategies and explicit collaborations for consideration by philanthropic and public funders and other key actors.

Biodiversity Grants -- Living Lands Project

Living Lands is a new Defenders of Wildlife project to increase the capacity of local land trusts to protect, enhance and restore native wildlife habitat and biodiversity. The project will support this work through financial and technical assistance.

Blueprint Buffalo

Blueprint Buffalo is a report from the National Vacant Properties Campaign (Campaign) and Local Initiatives Support Corporation -- Buffalo (LISC-Buffalo) that outlines a strategy to rebuild the Buffalo, New York region using smart growth development principles, with an emphasis on reclaiming and reusing vacant and abandoned properties.

Blueprint for a Better Region: Putting Development in the Right Places

This PowerPoint presentation promotes Smart Growth principles in the Greater Washington, D.C. metro area.

Blueprint for America

Blueprint for America is a comprehensive community service program of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) initiated by AIA members in their local communities.

Blueprint for America Initiatives

Blueprint for America Initiatives are part of the nationwide community service program launched by American Institute of Architects to mark the organization's 150th anniversary. In communities across the country, AIA members donating their time and expertise are collaborating with citizens to find and implement ways to enhance their communities.

Blueprint for American Prosperity

The Blueprint for American Prosperity is a multi-year initiative from Brookings to promote an economic agenda for the nation that builds on the assets -- and centrality -- of America's metropolitan areas.

Blueprint for Oregon's Future

From 2005-2007, 1000 Friends of Oregon, the Bus Project, and more than 50 other organizations hosted a series of town hall forums in 16 locations across the state. Called ''Envision Oregon,'' these forums challenged more than 2,200 participants from over 140 towns and places in Oregon to describe their vision for Oregon's future, and to help create strategies for making that vision a reality. They also formed the foundation for Blueprint for Oregon's Future.

Blueprint Houston

Blueprint Houston is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building community support for a planning process that makes improvements to Houston's quality of life and place.

Blueprints for Successful Communities

Blueprints for Successful Communities is an education and technical assistance program of The Georgia Conservancy that is designed to facilitate community-based planning efforts across the state.

Boston Indicators Project -- Nominate an Innovation

The Boston Indicators Project offers new ways to understand Boston and its neighborhoods in a regional context. It aims to democratize access to information, foster civic discourse, and track measures of progress and shared goals in ten sectors.

Boston Indicators Report

The Indicators Report provides high quality data and information about Boston by engaging hundreds of participants and experts in presenting data in 10 categories, drawn from the wealth of research and information generated by public agencies, civic institutions, researchers, think tanks and community-based organizations.

Boston Schoolyard Funding -- Boston, Massachusetts

The Boston Schoolyard Initiative (BSI) was formally launched in 1995 as a public/private partnership to help revitalize Boston's schoolyards.

Breaking the Codes

Breaking the Codes is a report from Good Jobs First that documents the ways that states are revising their building codes to encourage more rehabilitation of existing structures, especially in urban areas.

Breaking the Development Logjam

Breaking the Development Logjam from the Urban Land Institute explains in plain terms how developers and planners can involve the community in the development process using the latest community engagement tools.

BreakThrough Award 2007

The MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures BreakThrough Award is for innovative organizations in the nonprofit or public sectors that are filling pressing human resource needs by engaging the growing numbers of Americans over 50 who want to work for the greater good. The Award will showcase new approaches by these organizations, as employers or intermediaries.

Briefing Papers on Benefits of City Parks

To demonstrate the benefits of city parks and the varied positive affects they can have on a community, the City Parks Forum is producing a series of briefing papers on ''How Cities Use Parks For…''

Brookings Greater Washington Research Program Outlines Vision for Capital Renewal

''Revitalizing Washington's Neighborhoods: A Vision Takes Shape,'' a new discussion paper by Alice Rivlin and others, provides a roadmap for revitalizing the District of Columbia and boosting its population by targeting development resources on key neighborhoods.

Brookings Institute Releases Reports on Vacant Properties, Urban Land Reform

The Brookings Institute Center on Urban and Metropolitan Studies has released several reports on vacant properties and policy reforms.

Brower Youth Award Nominations -- 2008

The Brower Youth Awards is an annual national award recognizing six young people for their outstanding activism and achievements in the fields of environmental and social justice advocacy. The winners of the award receive a $3,000 cash prize, a trip to California for the award ceremony and wilderness camping trip, and ongoing access to resources and opportunities to further their work at Earth Island Institute. Young activist leaders ages 13-22 living in North America are eligible to apply.

Brownfield Communities Network

Brownfield Communities Network is a national network of local communities working to demonstrate how the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated property can be an effective tool for community revitalization.

Brownfield Redevelopment Funding

Through its Project Learning Program (PLP), the Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR) assists nonprofits, municipalities, and community organizations in tackling brownfield redevelopment projects. Each year, CCLR awards several PLP grants to communities and organizations, providing them with the financial and technical assistance necessary to address brownfield-related issues such as: contamination and remediation, economic feasibility, regulatory facilitation, financing, and community-based decision making. Once awarded funding, grantees often retain outside consultants to assist with community-consensus building, economic feasibility studies, site reuse planning, and site design.

Brownfield Redevelopment Solutions

Working with a stakeholder group, Envision Utah has developed a multi-disciplinary tool to expedite the land redevelopment process without sacrificing environmental and land-use standards.

Brownfield to Parks Examples

Since the 1970's, The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has been helping to transform used land into gardens and parks. TPL has posted on its website recent examples -- snapshot portraits of communities where brownfields are giving way to gardens, parks, greenways and open space.

Brownfields 2009-2013 Annual Conference RFP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting proposals from eligible entities and non-profit organizations for financial assistance to assist non-federal personnel in participating in three national Brownfields conferences to be planned and held over a five-year period, beginning in 2009.

Brownfields and Sustainable Development

Region 8 of the U.S EPA offers an online toolkit for tackling brownfields restoration that help remediation efforts to be profitable for the community, restorative for the environment over the long term, and sustainable.

Brownfields Assessment Grants -- EPA Region 8 (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah)

Region 8 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offers brownfield assessment grants that provide funding to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning and community involvement related to Brownfield sites.

Brownfields Case Study: Hercules, California

This case study from the Local Government Commission examines how the town of Hercules, California, reclaimed a 426-acre brownfield site in the middle of town.

Brownfields Center

The Environmental Law Institute's Brownfields Center provides essential information on brownfields cleanup and redevelopment with a focus on the concerns and needs of community groups across the country. The Center's goal is to encourage and support effective citizen participation in the redevelopment of brownfields.

Brownfields Economic Development Initiative

The Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) is one of the key competitive grant programs that HUD administers to stimulate and promote economic and community development activities under Section 108(q) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. BEDI is designed to assist cities with the redevelopment of abandoned, idled and underused industrial and commercial facilities with expansion and redevelopment of real or perceived environmental contamination.

Brownfields Federal Programs Guide

There are nearly two dozen federal programs that can help communities in one way or another to assess, cleanup and reuse Brownfields. Brownfields Federal Programs Guide examines in alphabetical order the resources available in other departments and agencies which could be applied in Brownfields situations.

Brownfields Financing Basics

This presentation introduces newcomers to the brownfields financing issue -- local officials, developers, congressional staff, and others -- to basic terms, programs, and opportunities for public sector initiatives.

Brownfields Funding -- Maryland

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), Site Assessment/State Superfund Division can perform a Phase I and Phase II Site Assessment at selected sites at no cost to the property owner or interested party. MDE, through a grant with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has funds to conduct assessments at Brownfields properties throughout the State of Maryland.

Brownfields Funding -- SMARTe

Brownfields funding resources can be found on the Sustainable Management Approaches and Revitalization Tools (SMARTe) website, a free, web-based decision support system for developing and evaluating future reuse scenarios for potentially contaminated land.

Brownfields Funding Awards -- 2008

Communities in 43 states, two Tribal Nations and two territories will share over $74 million in EPA Brownfields grants in 2008 to help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, turning them from problem properties to productive community use.

Brownfields Grants -- Montana

Montana's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) offers a web site dedicated to brownfields grant information. The data is linked to the U.S. EPA's Brownfields grants program.

Brownfields Grants from CCLR

The Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR) awards Project Learning Program (PLP) grants that range in size up to $25,000 per project, year-round, on a merit-based schedule.

Brownfields Links

The U.S Conference of Mayors website offers a list of brownfields links on its website.

Brownfields National Site Revitalization Award

Orlando's Baldwin Park community, the largest single-phase demolition and recycling project in history that has resulted in one of the nation's most successful residential real estate developments, has added yet another prestigious award to its trophy case. The Phoenix Award™ was presented to Baldwin Park Development Company during the Brownfields 2006 environmental conference in Boston.

Brownfields Policy and Research

The February 2009 Brownfields Policy Research Newsletter from Northeast/Midwest Institute (NEMW) includes links to recent reports and white papers plus a feature article, ''Infill, Historic Preservation, and Infrastructure Savings.''

Brownfields Policy Research Newsletter from NEMW

The Northeast/Midwest Institute (NEMW) publishes the Brownfields Policy Research Newsletter, a monthly publication highlighting policy research and legislative information that will assist brownfields and community redevelopment practitioners to make progress in their communities.

Brownfields Redevelopment

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking proposals for Smart Growth and Brownfield Redevelopment. Proposals are due by 5:00 pm on August 24, 2004.

Brownfields Redevelopment -- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy offers a focus on brownfields in the Community Lots section of their website. This focus section is specifically tailored for the needs and concerns of nonprofit community-based organizations (CBOs) that want to undertake brownfield redevelopment.

Brownfields Redevelopment Fund -- Oregon

The Brownfields Redevelopment Fund is a direct loan and grant program to conduct environmental actions on brownfields. Created by the Oregon Legislative Assembly in 1997, the program's primary purpose is to assist private persons and local governments to evaluate, cleanup, and therefore redevelop brownfields.

Brownfields Redevelopment Toolbox for Disadvantaged Communities

Case Studies, site-specific tools, and planning for brownfields remediation in disadvantaged communites are all part of the Brownfields Redevelopment Toolbox for Disadvantaged Communities from the Northeast-Midwest Institute and the Disadvantaged Communities Network.

Brownfields Redevelopment: Best Practices Report

The NGA Center for Best Practices examines innovative state practices in brownfield redevelopment that encourage urban cleanup and revitalization. Two PDF files included as resources on this site.

Brownfields Research Consortium

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee Brownfields Research Consortium is a new partnership among UWM faculty, government agencies, businesses, and nonprofit organizations involved in the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield properties.

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.

Brownfields Tax Incentive

Originally signed into law in 1997, the Brownfields Tax Incentive encourages the cleanup and reuse of brownfields. This program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been extended through December 31, 2009.

Brownfields to Green Space

Brownfields to Green Space is a fact sheet from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) that describes the financial hurdles met by groups and communities seeking to convert brownfields to usable green space, and the positive effects new green spaces have on communities.

Brownfields Tools for Disadvantaged Communities

The Northeast-Midwest Institute, the Sustainable Community Development Group and The Ferguson Group have launched a U.S. EPA-sponsored initiative to provide brownfields tools and technical assistance to local communities that are seeking to overcome economic and neighborhood disadvantage.

Brownfields Training Grants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment (OBCR) has issued a revised announcement of a funding opportunity for the Brownfields Training, Research, and Technical Assistance Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program.

Brownfields Training, Research and Technical Assistance Grants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posts on its website Training, Research, and Technical Assistance Grant Fact Sheets. These Fact Sheets, viewable as PDF or HTML documents, describe various programs throughout the United States that are receiving funds from the EPA's Technical Assistance Program.

Brownfields: State of the States

Elected officials and program staff across the country have endeavored to make certain that their programs reflect local brownfield project needs, run smoothly, and take advantage of opportunities to tie brownfield cleanup and redevelopment assistance with regulatory incentives. This updated report highlights their successes and challenges over the past year.

BrownfieldSource.org

BrownfieldSource.org is a comprehensive online resource for brownfields news and information.

Build Smart

This article from The American School Board Journal challenges the notion that bigger schools are better, a trend that has dominated the education landscape for decades.

Building a Better Urban Future

Building a Better Urban Future: New Directions for Housing Policies in Weak Market Cities, from Local Initiatives Support Corp., looks at how U.S. cities have not shared equally in the economic gains of the past decade.

Building Better: A Guide to America's Best New Development Projects

Building Better: A Guide to America's Best New Development Projects from the Sierra Club reports on the current state of development in the United States and highlights some of the best new developments that are producing healthy neighborhoods and livable communities.

Building Cities in the Virtual World

Planning Magazine from the American Planning Association (APA) discusses new Internet technologies -- specifically, the social networking capabilities referred to as Web 2.0 -- that are providing new ways to design and plan.

Building Commons and Community

Building Commons and Community documents 45 years of the late Karl Linn's legacy creating neighborhood spaces for communities and by communities. In this richly-illustrated landscape-format hardcover book, Linn presents his philosophies and practical wisdom to help people use the resources they find in their own surroundings to create welcoming shared spaces.

Building Communities and Entrepreneurs

The Citigroup Foundation's Building Communities and Entrepreneurs program supports community development corporations, intermediary organizations and community development financial institutions that focus on affordable housing, economic development, welfare-to-work initiatives, community infrastructure improvements, and environmentally sustainable growth to local economies.

Building Community Case Study

Building Community: A Post-Occupancy Look at the Maryvale Mall Adaptive Reuse Project is the topic of this February 2006 IssueTrak from CEFPI, (the Council of Educational Facility Planners International. Find out how an aging subdivision uses a vacant mall to rebuild community and create opportunities for residents.

Building Community through Transportation

The overarching goal of Building Community through Transportation, a Project for Public Spaces (PPS) initiative, is to support Placemaking and transform federal, state, and metropolitan transportation policies and practice that currently prioritize moving people and goods over creating walkable, healthy and sustainable communities. This campaign is also focused on influencing the design of streets and transit facilities so they become assets and gathering places for civic life.

Building Florida's Future

Building Florida’s Future: Strategies for Regional Cooperation, a report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Florida Initiative on Regional Collaboration, outlines how the state's communities can benefit economically and in maintaining a high quality of life by working closely together during the substantial growth expected in the next 15 years.

Building Healthier Schools: Local Collaborations to Promote Nutrition and Physical Activity

The National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) offers this compilation of innovative approaches to collaboration and creative health-promoting activities that resulted from local public health agency (LPHA)-school partnerships.

Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging -- 2007

The U.S. EPA is inviting eligible candidates to submit applications for the Excellence in Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging award. This award recognizes communities for their outstanding comprehensive approaches to implementing principles of smart growth, as well as strategies that support active aging.

Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging -- 2008 Applications

The U.S. EPA's Aging Initiative is spearheading the multi-agency Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Award. The The principal goal of the is to raise awareness across the nation about healthy synergies that can be achieved by communities combining Smart Growth and Active Aging concepts.

Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging -- 2009 Applications

The principal goal of the Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Award program is to raise awareness across the nation about healthy synergies that can be achieved by communities combining Smart Growth and Active Aging concepts.

Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Assessment Tool

The U.S. EPA's Aging Initiative website provides a wealth of information about the Agency's efforts to protect the environmental health of older persons. The Initiative's Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Assessment Tool consists of a series of questions that address concerns for an aging population in terms of overall health, quality of life in terms of accessibility within the community -- and how smart growth practices provide solutions to these questions.

Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Award

The U.S. EPA's Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Award recognizes communities for their outstanding comprehensive approaches to implementing principles of smart growth, as well as strategies that support active aging.

Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Awards 2008

The U.S. EPA has produced a booklet for recipients of its Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Awards 2008. Included in this booklet are details on the 2008 Achievement Award Winner, 2008 Commitment Award Winners, and 2007 BHCAA Winner Updates.

Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Awards Nominations

Nominations are now open for the 2009 Excellence in Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Awards. This award from the U.S. EPA's Aging Initiative program recognizes communities for their outstanding comprehensive approaches to implementing principles of smart growth, as well as strategies that support active aging.

Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging: Grant Winners

The U.S. EPA has announced winners of its Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging: Training and Demonstration Projects. EPA has awarded the Training Grant to the Univeristy of Maine, and the Demonstration Grant to Portland State University.

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 Sustainable Communities

Building Sustainable Communities is the Local Initiatives Support Corporation's (LISC's) plan to help community residents transform distressed neighborhoods into healthy and sustainable communities of choice and opportunity -- good places to work, do business and raise children.

Building Sustainable Communities: Duluth

Building Sustainable Communities is an LISC website feature that includes a focus on the Duluth, Minnesota, neighborhood of Central Hillside -- one of the oldest and most historic neighborhoods in Duluth, where efforts to preserve the past and secure the future are paying off.

Building the Line to Equity

PolicyLink and Action! offer Building the Line to Equity: Six Steps for Achieving Equitable Transit Oriented Development in Massachusetts, a report that lays out a set of principles for achieving transit development without displacement.

''Building Together'' Highlights

The Enterprise Foundation's 2004 Annual Network Conference, ''Building Together: Partnerships for Successful Community Development,'' examined how the community development industry can accomplish more for low-income families by strengthening relationships with current partners and reaching out to new ones.

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.

BURA Charitable Trust Awards for Community Regeneration

The 2005 BURA Awards seek to identify and promote projects that are truly inspired and driven by local people and that aim to raise community spirit and improve the quality of life of local people.

Bye, Bye Suburban Dream.

Newsweek, May 15, 1995. Lead article introducing the new urbanist movement, principals, practitioners and vision. Also includes a set of 15 steps needed to fix the American suburb from the viewpoint of new urbanists

Califia Sketchbook Design Competition

The Califia Sketchbook Design Competition will demonstrate what life will be like in Califia, a proposed next generation eco-city. People from around the world are invited to enter a conceptual sketch conveying their view of ''slices-of-life'' within Califia, revealing smarter ways of building, powering, and maintaining the urban fabric. The program sponsors believe that allowing for more direct public involvement in the design of future living spaces is the first step in a successful eco-city project.

California Greening Schools Initiative

The California Green Schools Initiative has compiled a list of resources as a starting place for parents, teachers, and school administrators who are interested in finding ways to cover the costs of greening their schools.

California Smart Growth Initiative

The California Smart Growth Initiative, initiated in September 2000 by the Urban Land Institute, is designed to examine growth and development trends in California, determine the barriers to smart growth, and identify specific local, regional, and state solutions that advance a collaborative smart growth agenda.

California Sustainable Community Planning Grant Program

On behalf of the Strategic Growth Council, the California Dept. of Conservation is administering a $22.3 million competitive planning grant program for sustainable community plans.

The primary purpose of this grant program is to implement the vision of the Governor and Legislature to foster and support development of sustainable communities. Local governments will need to adopt land use plans and integrated strategies that can transform communities and create long term prosperity. Such communities shall promote equity, strengthen the economy, protect the environment and promote healthy, safe communities.

Under SB 732, approximately $60 million will be awarded to cities, counties, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), Joint Powers Authorities (JPAs), Regional Transportation Planning Agencies (RTPAs), and Council of Governments (COGs). The Council anticipates two or three funding cycles.

Funds will be used to encourage sustainable regional and local actions that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, promote water conservation, reduce automobile use and fuel consumption, encourage infill and compact development, protect natural resources and agricultural lands, promote public health, and revitalize urban and community centers. Proposals must help achieve state planning priorities and environmental goals, as well as promote cooperative and scale-appropriate methods and strategies that reflect the interdependence of environmental, economic and community health.

Workshops will be conducted to provide technical assistance in preparing grant applications and vetting project proposals for eligibility and competitiveness.

Applications are due by August 31, 2010.

Call for Abstracts -- Urban Down Under 2005

Urbanism Down Under 2005 -- Creative Urban Futures, an international urban design conference with an Australasian focus, has issued a Call for Abstracts for their August 2005 conference.

Call for Entries: 2006 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the fifth annual National Award for Smart Growth Achievement.

Call for Entries: National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education Best Masters Thesis Award 2007

The National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland will grant one award in the amount of $1000 for the best masters thesis focused on urban growth and development issues completed in the 2007 academic year. Masters students in urban planning, public policy, civil engineering, public and community health, economics and finance, political science or related fields are encouraged to apply.

Call for Papers -- International Sustainable Development Conference -- Sustainable Cities

The Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management (CUPEM), The University of Hong Kong, in association with ERP Environment, have announced the 12th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference 2006 will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong on April 6-8, 2006.

Call for Pilot Projects: LEED for Neighborhood Development Pilot Rating System

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is soliciting projects to be part of the pilot program for its LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System. Up to 120 pilot projects will be selected to participate in the pilot program.

Call for Program Ideas -- New Partners for Smart Growth 2008 Conference

The Local Government Commission is conducting a ''Call for Program Ideas'' for the 2008 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference program. This process will be open from June 6th through July 11th, 2007. The submittal review process will take place from mid-July through late-September 2007, and those selected for inclusion in the final program will be notified by late September.

Call for Smart Growth Model Courses

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has received requests from communities and universities for help in developing model courses that incorporate smart growth into hands-on, applied course offerings.

Campus Building Design Projects

Sterling College recently began to renovate its facilities and dorms to make these historic Vermont buildings more energy efficient. In keeping with the mission of the college, it was apparent that this development should be done in an ecologically sustainable way.

Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework

The Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework (CSAF) examines campus sustainability by looking at the interconnectedness of People and Ecosystems in maintaining the balance of life on this planet.

Campus Sustainability Leadership Awards -- 2007

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) presented its Campus Sustainability Leadership Awards on September 7, 2007, at the 7th biennial Greening of the Campus conference, ''Partnering for Sustainability: Enabling a Diverse Future,'' held at Ball State University September 6-8, 2007, in Muncie, Indiana.

Campus Sustainability Leadership Awards -- Call for Nominations 2008

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education is accepting nominations for the 2008 Campus Sustainability Leadership Awards. The awards recognize institutions that have demonstrated an outstanding overall commitment to sustainability in their governance and administration, curriculum and research, operations, campus culture, and community outreach.

Campus Sustainability Report -- Indiana University 2007

The Indiana University Task Force on Campus Sustainability has released the Campus Sustainability Report, a collective work of more than 100 IU faculty, staff, and students who have been engaged, over the past six months, in developing a sustainability plan for the IU-Bloomington campus.

Campus Sustainability Report -- Michigan State University 2007

The Michigan State University Committee for a Sustainable Campus (UCSC) has released the 2007 Campus Sustainability Report, a collective work that builds on the initial report from 2003. The report presents the latest trends in interdependence between the social, environmental and economic components of the campus -- and adds several new indicators.

Can Landscape Architects Make Schools Walkable Again?

In the April 15, 2008 edition of LAND online, the landscape architecture news digest of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), editor J. William ''Bill'' Thompson discusses the challenge of getting kids to walk to school.

Canada's Sustainable Cities 2009

Corporate Knights Magazine has issued its 2009 Sustainable Cities Report, the third annual report detailing which Canadian cities have the smallest environmental footprint.

Canons of Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism

The Charter of the New Urbanism is the guiding document of the new urbanist movement. Although it offers an encompassing vision of sustainable urbanism from the scale of the region to the block and building, three leading CNU members, including two who had a central role in drafting the original Charter, undertook an effort to clarify and detail the relationship between New Urbanism and sustainability. The resulting document, The Canons of Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism, is designed to serve as a set of operating principles for human settlement that reestablish the relationship between the art of building, the making of community, and the conservation of our natural world.

Caring for Land Trust Properties

How can you be a good guest and care for the land you have been entrusted with? In Caring for Land Trust Properties from the Land Trust Alliance (LTA) you will learn to manage properties more effectively.

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.

Case Studies for Transit-Oriented Development

Case Studies for Transit-Oriented Development, a report prepared for Local Initiatives Support Corp. by Reconnecting America, is a short summary of the TOD tools that are used by communities all across the country.

Case Studies in Smart Growth

The New Jersey Smart Growth Gateway, a project of New Jersey Future, is an online resource to provide the information necessary to begin implementing Smart Growth Strategies in their communities. Included on this website are links to on- and off-site case studies from a variety of organizations.

Case Study: Gardening in the San Diego School District

The Local Government Commission (LGC) has posted this case study of gardening in the San Diego School District. Students at Rosa Parks Elementary School in the San Diego, California, can enjoy the benefits of a community garden right on their school's campus. The school is located in the City Heights neighborhood where residents are predominately Latino, African-American and Southeast Asian, and 54.5 percent of families earn incomes below the federal poverty level.

CDC Livability Listserv

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) facilitates a Listserv that addresses issues related to health and the built environment. An e-newsletter that includes related news articles, latest studies, and updates on conferences and events related to livability is sent to all subscribers once a month.

CDC Offers Slideshows on Kidswalk to School Website

Two new slide presentations are available on the CDC's Kidswalk-to-School website. Each comes with a lesson plan, presenter's guide, and presentation script.

Center for Infrastructure Equity

The PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity advocates for fair and inclusive policies and provides community and grassroots leaders, advocates, and public officials with the tools, training, and consultation needed to ensure that public investments in infrastructure create economic opportunity and health in all communities. The center has evolved out of several years of action-oriented research and partnerships by PolicyLink with state and local organizations, and is poised to continue that work while also addressing key new federal infrastructure policy opportunities.

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Founded in 1978, CNT invents and develops tools and methods for sustainable development. CNT is working with the SGN to promote technical assistance and to enhance regional cooperation in South Florida. It is also working with the Surface Transportation Policy Project and the Natural Resources Defense Council to develop and implement location-efficient mortgages, which take into account the transportation efficiency of a property's location, making home ownership more affordable for properties located closer to public transportation. CNT has organized a coalition of 140 groups in the Chicago region to develop a long-range transportation plan that promotes smart growth. It has also led the way in using transit-oriented development as a redevelopment strategy in an urban setting, and it has created a financial intermediary to promote inner-city commercial development around transit.

Center for Sustainable Communities

Center for Sustainable Communities, part of the National Association of Counties (NACo) website, provides a forum for county officials to work with other government leaders, the private sector, and communities to develop policies and programs that lead to economic enhancement, environmental stewardship and social well being -- the three pillars of sustainable communities.

Center for Urban and Rural Affairs Funding

The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) is an all-University applied research and technology center at the University of Minnesota that connects faculty and students with community organizations and public institutions working on significant public policy issues in Minnesota.

Central Florida Champions Awards

The Urban Land Institute-Orlando will honor exceptional community leaders, initiatives and projects dedicated to sustainability and excellence at its Central Florida Champions Awards 2008, to be held September 24, 2008, in Orlando, Florida.

Central Florida Regional Indicators Report 2005

The Central Florida Regional Indicators Report 2005 establishes a regional key indicator system that not only measures progress in the myregion priority areas but indicates the region’s success in becoming less fragmented and more coordinated.

Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida

The Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida was established by the Governor and Legislature of Florida to envision the future of Florida -- to help citizens and state leaders prepare for a continued increase in population and to craft a plan that meets the challenges and opportunities this presents. This First Annual Report lays the foundation for the creation of a sustainable Florida.

CEOS for Cities

CEOs for Cities is a membership-based national network of urban leaders dedicated to creating next generation cities that hold the answers to many of the challenges our nation faces. Through its website, members and visitors can keep current on events, publications and projects, meetings, and more.

Champions for Sustainable Communities

Forward Scotland is accepting nominations for the first-ever Champions for Sustainable Communities Awards, to be held on 18 March 2008 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Champions for Sustainable Communities -- Call for Partners

Forward Scotland is currently developing and looking for partners for Champions for Sustainable Communities. Originally launched in 2008, this is an award that recognizes the achievements of individuals across society who have lead the way in community development with the highest regard for sustainable development principles.

Champions of Sustainability in Communities Awards 2009

A growing number of colleges and universities are reaching beyond their campus boundaries to partner with their local communities in advancing collective sustainability goals. For the College Sustainability Report Card 2009, the Sustainable Endowments Institute solicited nominations to recognize exceptional collaborations, celebrate their successes, and inspire new project ideas.

Charrettes for Sustainable Communities

Charrettes for Sustainable Communities is a PowerPoint presentation that includes slides and a script, describes charrettes and explains how they can be used to improve the planning process in your community.

Charrettes: A Community Planning Tool that Improves Public Participation (PowerPoint Presentation)

This PowerPoint presentation, which includes both slides and a script, describes what a charrette is and how it can be used to improve the planning process in your community.

Charting the Course for Rebuilding a Great American City

A special volunteer six-member team of planners assembled by APA visited New Orleans October 23 to October 28 to assess the city's needs for developing and implementing plans to guide redevelopment in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The team has put its findings and recommendations into a report, Charting the Course for Rebuilding a Great American City.

Check Your Success: A Guide to Developing Indicators for Community-Based Environmental Projects

Check Your Success is a guide to developing indicators for community-based environmental projects. It's designed for groups that are working on environmental protection at a community level, and will boost efforts to improve your community by helping you develop indicators to measure your success. It also will show you how your group can move beyond a narrow focus and start thinking about how your activities can be used to address the connections between the environment, economy and society.

Chesapeake Bay Grant Programs

The Chesapeake Bay Trust has issued several request for proposals for its 2007-2008 grants cycle. A July 13, 2007 deadline applies for the Stewardship Grants Program, the Environmental Education Grants Program, and the Urban Greening Grant Program.

Chesapeake Bay Trust Mini-Grants: Summer 2009 Deadlines

The Chesapeake Bay Trust's Mini Grants program awards up to $5,000 for projects that address one or more of the Trust's grant making priorities. The majority of Mini Grant applications are submitted by schools for field experiences and on-the ground student service projects.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Grants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Chesapeake Bay Program Office, is announcing a request for proposals for Support of the Chesapeake Bay Targeted Watershed Pilot Grants Program (CBTWPGP) for 2005. This is a new announcement that has not previously been distributed.

Chicago Climate Action Plan

The Chicago Climate Action Plan describes the major effects climate change could have on the city and suggests how all city residents can work together to address those challenges.

Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission

Most transportation decisions are made by regional transportation planning agencies that have little tradition or mechanism for citizen outreach or participation. To help balance this process, CNT convened the Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission (CTAQC), a 150-member regional coalition that promotes compact urban development, the integration of land use and transportation planning, and citizen participation in the planning process.

Chicago's Eat Local Live Healthy Campaign

''Chicago: Eat Local, Live Healthy'' is a City of Chicago strategy to coordinate aspects of the local and regional food industry in ways that enhance public health and create food-related business opportunities.

Children and Nature Network Community Action Guide

The Children and Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support people and organizations working toward the goal of reconnecting children and nature. C&NN provides a critical link between researchers, individuals, educators, organizations, businesses and government agencies dedicated to children's health and well-being.

Choice Neighborhoods Funding -- 2009

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the availability of $113 million in HOPE VI funding in a July 14, 2009 keynote address on the future of urban revitalization at the National Press Club during the Brookings Institution's event, ''From Despair to Hope: Two HUD Secretaries on Urban Revitalization and Opportunity.''

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.

Citistates Weekly Columns

The Citistates Group is a network of journalists, speakers and civic leaders focused on building competitive, equitable and sustainable 21st century metropolitan regions.

Citizen Planner Online Glossary

Citizen Planner offers a glossary of planning-relate terms on its website, Citizen Planner Online. This alphabetical index covers the full spectrum of planning and development topics.

Citizen Planners Resource Kit

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy offers U.S. planning boards a complimentary Citizen Planners Resource Kit. The Citizen Planners Resource Kit was developed for distribution to local planning boards and commissions across the U.S. as part of the Lincoln Institute’s mission to reach out to citizen planning commissions through educational programs, publications, multi-media resources, and its website.

Citizen Surveys for Local Governments

Citizen Surveys for Local Government: A Comprehensive Guide to Making Them Matter from ICMA is a 2009 book that shows how to put your citizen survey results to work for you, to improve performance and efficiency.

City News

CityNews is an interactive website serving the greater Chicago area that allows users to obtain data about properties in their community and indicators about their community. In addition to the specific housing data, overall statistics from Chicago neighborhoods are available.

City Parks Forum Briefing Papers

The City Parks Forum, a special initiative of the American Planning Association (APA), has published a second series of briefing papers that show mayors, city managers, planners and others how to use healthy parks to create safer neighborhoods, protect and enhance urban environments, improve learning among children, and improve public health.

City Practice Resources

When your city is seeking solutions, avoid reinventing the wheel by using the City Practice Resources compiled by the staff of the National League of Cities. Four City Practice Resources are now available: City Practice Online Database, City Practices Briefs, Municipal Action Guides, and the Municipal Reference Service Inquiry Service.

City/County Collaborations on Brownfields

The Joint Center for Sustainable Communities and the National Association of County Organizations (NACo) offer City/County Collaborations on Brownfields, a report on how cities and counties have cooperated to reclaim brownfield properties.

CITYGreen Environmental Education

American Forests' environmental education program provides students with a real world learning experience while providing teachers an innovative yet well organized program for teaching science, math and Geographic Information Systems.

Civic Leadership Awards

The National Trust for Historic Preservation presented the Main Street Leadership Awards in May 2004 at the opening session of the 2004 National Main Streets Conference, the annual conference of the National Trust Historic Preservation's Main Street Center.

Civic Participation and Smarter Growth

The Funders' Network's updated translation paper Civic Participation and Smart Growth describes how ongoing decisions about what, where, and how to grow represent opportunities to increase civic participation and decrease social isolation, for the public at large and especially for populations traditionally excluded from decision-making.

Civic Trust Awards 2005

The Civic Trust Awards recognize the very best in United Kingdom architecture, urban design, landscaping and public art. They are awarded to projects of the highest quality design, but only if they are also judged to have made a positive contribution to the local environment -- and helped improve the places where we live.

Civic Vision Award -- AIA Houston

The American Institute of Architects-Houston (AIA) honored Houston Tomorrow's David Crossley with its Civic Vision Award at AIA Houston's Annual Meeting on October 30, 2008.

Clarksville, Tennessee, Smart Growth Plan 2030

The Clarksville Smart Growth Plan 2030 was initiated in January 2010 by Clarksville Mayor John E. Piper and the Clarksville City Council. The mayor established a Comprehensive Master Plan Committee with the responsibility of creating a strategic plan to guide the future growth, development and quality of life initiatives for the community. The first phase of the plan was published to a new website on July 30.

Smart Growth Plan 2030 is subtitled ''a Blueprint for Progress & Quality . . . as we grow to 250,000 residents.'' Combining the work of a multi-disciplinary planning team plus the input of 200 citizen volunteers, the plan presents a vision for the city of Clarksville, including artistic renderings, potential projects, economic considerations and implementation steps to achieve major priorities.

Clean Air Excellence Awards -- 2010

The U.S. EPA is accepting applications for the 10th Annual Clean Air Excellence Awards. The program honors outstanding innovative efforts to help make progress in achieving cleaner air. Award-winning entries must directly or indirectly reduce pollutant emissions, demonstrate innovation, offer sustainable outcomes, and provide a model for others to follow.

Clean Energy and Climate Policy for U.S. Growth and Job Creation

The new study Clean Energy and Climate Policy for U.S. Growth and Job Creation concludes that a robust climate bill could boost the U.S. economy by about $111 billion by 2020 and create as many as 1.9 million jobs.

The report is by David Roland-Holst and Friedrich Kahrl of the University of California, Berkeley, in collaboration with Madhu Khanna of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Jennifer Baka of Yale University. The authors’ findings run contrary to claims made by opponents of climate legislation in the U.S. Senate.

The team's analysis issued in late October 2009 offers a state-by-state look at the economic implications posed by comprehensive federal climate policy.

The study's key findings are:

• All 50 states can gain economically from strong federal energy and climate policy, despite the diversity of their economies and energy mixes.
• Contrary to what is commonly assumed, comprehensive national climate policy does not benefit the coasts at the expense of the heartland states.
• A strategy for public education about the conservation effort is in place.
• The country as a whole can gain 918,000 to 1.9 million jobs, and household income can grow by $488 to $1,176, by 2020 under comprehensive energy and climate policy.

Clear as Mud: Planning for the Rebuilding of New Orleans

Planning the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has been among the greatest urban planning challenges of our time. Since 2005, Robert B. Olshansky and Laurie A. Johnson, urban planners who specialize in disaster planning and recovery, have been working to understand, in real time, the difficult planning decisions in this unusual situation. As both observers of and participants in the challenging process of creating the Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP), Olshansky and Johnson bring unparalleled detail and insight to this complex story.

New Orleans has had to rebuild its buildings and institutions, but it has also had to create a community planning structure that is seen as both equitable and effective, while addressing the concerns and demands of state, federal, nonprofit, and private-sector stakeholders. In documenting how this unprecedented process occurred, Olshansky and Johnson spent years in New Orleans, interviewing leaders and citizens and abetting the design and execution of the UNOP. Their insights will help cities around the globe recognize the challenges of rebuilding and recovering after disaster strikes.

Clearing the Air

Nearly half of all Americans are breathing unhealthy air, and air quality in dozens of metropolitan areas has actually gotten worse over the last decade according to a new report from the Surface Transportation Policy Project.

Climate@CNU

Climate@CNU is the Congress for the New Urbanism's (CNU's) Low-Carbon Urbanism Campaign, which emphasizes low-carbon neighborhoods and high-quality living.

CNU Athena Award

Sim Van der Ryn became the 10th recipient of the Athena Award when the the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) honored him at its Sustainable Communities 2008 conference in September 2008. Van der Ryn earned an international reputation as the ''father of the green building'' during his tenure as California State Architect during then Governor Jerry Brown's administration.

CNU Athena Award 2009

The Congress for the New Urbanism has named Grady Clay and Rob Krier as recipients of the 2009 Athena Medal. They join a list of others honored with the award for their work in laying the foundation for the New Urbanism movement.

CNU Charter Awards 2006

CNU invites professionals from around the world to submit their projects to the 2006 Charter Awards. The Charter Awards honor exceptional designs that complement and enhance their built and natural environments, including projects that repair or reshape these contexts. Entries are due January 31, 2006.

CNU Charter Awards 2006 Honorees

The Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) has honored 19 professional, student, and faculty projects with in their 2006 Charter Awards competition.

CNU Charter Awards 2007 Honorees

The Congress for the New Urbanism announces the recipients of its 2007 Charter Awards, the annual prize honoring the best of the New Urbanism. The 20 winning professional submissions and 5 student/faculty submissions were chosen by a seven-member jury of distinguished urbanists in March 2007.

CNU Charter Awards Nominations 2007

The Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) is accepting nominations for its 2007 Charter Awards, recognizing achievements in design, planning, and development that meet the exacting standards of the Charter of the New Urbanism.

CNU New England Awards

The Congress for the New Urbanism-New England recognized five winners at its First Annual CNU New England Awards. These awards recognize the best of new urbanist plans, programs, designs, and projects based upon the principles set forth in the Charter of the New Urbanism.

CNU Project Database

Are you looking for ideas on how other communities are successfully promoting walkable, neighborhood-based development? The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) offers a Project Database that features dozens of new urbanist developments from throughout the United States and other countries.

CNU XIV Multimedia Toolkit

The Congress for New Urbanism offers the CNU XIV Multimedia Toolkit, a collection of materials from sessions and events at the 2006 CNU Congress. The Toolkit includes audio and video from nearly 50 Congress sessions, a similar number of slideshows, and reports from the correspondents who covered the Congress for the online Daily NUws.

Coalition for Smarter Growth Awards

The Coalition for Smarter Growth will host its Tenth Anniversary Celebration November 14, 2007 in Washington, DC at the True Reformer Building, with a reception, silent auction, and presentation of the 2007 Capital Region Visionary Awards.

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.

Collaboration for Change: A Practitioner's Guide to Environmental Nonprofit-Industry Partnership

This report provides decision-makers in business and environmental nonprofits with the practical tools required to launch or improve effective partnerships.

Collaborative of High Performance Schools Project List

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) facilitates the design, construction and operation of high performance schools: environments that are not only energy and resource efficient, but also healthy, comfortable, well lit, and containing the amenities for a quality education. The CHPS Project List provides an at-a-glance view of school districts from across the country that are building high performance schools using the CHPS Criteria.

College Sustainability Report Card 2009

GreenReportCard.org is the first website to provide in-depth sustainability profiles for hundreds of colleges in all 50 U.S. States and Canada. Its College Sustainability Report Card is the only independent evaluation of campus and endowment sustainability activities at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

Colorado Brownfields Foundation Due Diligence Grants -- Colorado

The Environmental Due Diligence Pilot Program is seeking communities that are proactively pursuing economic development opportunities. The EDD Program will conduct Phase I Environmental Assessments on a property or multiple properties within selected communities. Alternatively, area-wide assessments could be conducted for a main street, industrial district, business park, or other geographic area.

Colorado Governor’s Awards for Downtown Excellence -- 2005

The Colorado Governor's Awards for Downtown Excellence is an annual program that recognizes the progress being made in revitalizing Colorado's historic downtown and neighborhood business districts and the contributions these districts are making to Colorado's quality of life and economy.

Commentary Links Economic Vitality to Growth Management

This commentary in the Springfield (MO) News-Leader argues that Springfield's economic resilience depends on the city setting a statewide example of growth management in the Show Me State.

Commonwealth Capital -- Massachusetts

The Commonwealth Capital (CC) policy of the Office for Commonwealth Development (OCD) coordinates Massachusetts capital spending programs that affect development patterns. The state's goal is to invest in projects that are consistent with OCD's Sustainable Development Principles and partner with municipalities seeking to advance the Commonwealth's development and resource protection interests.

Commonwealth Design Awards 2006

Honoring smart growth design, cutting-edge community development, and progressive urban and rural planning in Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth Design Awards recognize design excellence and responsible development in Pennsylvania.

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.

Communities by Design Built Works

Built Works, from the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Center for Communities by Design, is a web resource that demonstrates the expertise architects contribute to community design. Featured projects on Built Works serve as a community design resource and demonstrate the positive impact of thoughtful community design and civic engagement in our nation's communities.

Communities Creating Healthy Environments

Communities Creating Healthy Environments is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that aims to prevent childhood obesity by increasing access to healthy foods and safe places to play in communities of color. The program will advance RWJF's efforts to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015 by supporting diverse, community-based organizations and federally chartered tribal nations in the development and implementation of effective, culturally competent policy initiatives to address childhood obesity at the local level.

Communities of Tomorrow Partnership

Sustainable community development affects our people, our environment, and our economy. Communities of Tomorrow will make Regina, Saskatchewan a world leader in environmental sustainability, community development and technology commercialization.

Community Action Grants

The Gannett Foundation supports local organizations in communities served by Gannett Co., Inc.

Community Action Grants: Washington, DC Region

The Gannett Corporation's Community Action Grants program makes grants to eligible organizations in the communities in which Gannett does business, including the Washington, DC Metro area.

Community Assessment Tools

The Active Living Resource Center offers a collection of community assessment tools on its Web site.

Community Assistance Grant Program

To help communities begin the planning process toward smart growth, northeast Ohio's Smart Growth Education Foundation (SGEF) has established a grant program to provide ''seed'' money to help pay for professional planning help.

Community Building: How to Do It, Why It Matters

Building a stronger community leads to a higher quality of life—higher educational performance, lower crime, and better physical and mental health. Community building develops trust between residents and governments, and generates a partnership between them.

Community building creates an environment in which there is almost no issue that cannot be resolved, leads to better ideas and solutions, encourages people to be responsible for and committed to improving the quality of life in their communities, and makes the job of the local government manager easier.

In this IQ Report, Ed Everett, former city manager of Redwood City, California describes how we are currently stuck in the “vending machine” form of government, with the public viewing themselves as customers, and why this has caused the public to lose their sense of being responsible citizens and accountable for their community. He describes how local governments need to change the way we view our residents to move them from being customers to being citizens. Discover the various roles of local government in building community and get concrete examples of those roles, and lessons learned. Through this report, you will come to understand not only the power of community building but also the way that community building relates to the reasons why many of us were drawn to the profession of local government management in the first place.

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 Design Centers

Community Design Centers (CDCs) provide planning, design and technical assistance to low- and moderate-income urban and rural communities, many of which have limited resources.

Community Design, Active Living and Public Health

Community Design, Active Living and Public Health makes a compelling case for changes in regional and community design to reverse the growing trend toward obesity and its negative effects on health.

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 Financing through Deutsche Bank

Through its role as a financial services provider, Deutsche Bank seeks to create economic opportunities in distressed communities. Although Deutsche Bank has no retail branches within the Americas, the Bank's Community Development Group has developed many innovative and effective strategies for bringing capital to communities in need.

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 Empowerment Program: Nurturing Public Involvement in the Transportation Planning Process

Results of pilot study conducted by the Surface Transportation Policy Project and Federal Transit Administration highlighting successful public involvement in transportation decision-making and public-non-profit partnerships.

Community Energy Opportunity Finder

The Community Energy Opportunity Finder is an interactive tool that will help you determine your community's best bets for energy solutions that benefit the local economy, the community, and the environment.

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 Food Projects Grants Program 2007

The Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program provides the major funding source for community-based food and agriculture projects nationwide. Approximately $4.6 million in funds will be granted in 2007.

Community Food Projects Grants Program 2010

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) invites applications for the Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFPCGP) for fiscal year (FY) 2010 to support: (1) the development of Community Food Projects with a one-time infusion of federal dollars to make such projects self-sustaining; and (2) Planning Projects to assess the food security needs and plan long-term solutions to help ensure food security in communities. CSREES anticipates that the amount available for support of this program in FY 2010 will be approximately $5,000,000.

Community Forest Report

Community Forests is a report from the Community Forest Collaborative on the potential role of community ownership and management of forestland. It's based on research that includes GIS analysis, interviews, surveys, input from two workshops, and five case studies of Community Forests in northern New England that illuminate particular aspects of the Community Forest Model.

Community Garden Grants

Project Orange Thumb is a grant program that provides community garden groups with the tools and materials they need to reach their goals for neighborhood beautification and horticulture education.

Community Growth Institute -- Rural Land Use

The Community Growth Institute (CGI) is a rural land use think tank that focuses on rural communities. In addition to research and training on rural land use issues, CGI offers rural communities a variety of services and resources, from preparing comprehensive plans and writing ordinances to performing daily planning and zoning administration duties.

Community Growth Options -- Minnesota

Community Growth Options, a 1000 Friends of Minnesota program, is designed to deliver to small, fast-growing communities financial and other assistance for community planning, ordinance development and implementation.

Community Housing Partnership Annual Report 2009

Community Housing Partnership (CHP) is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that develops and operates permanent housing for formerly homeless people with on-site support services, job training, leadership development and employment opportunities.

Community Image Survey CD

The Community Image Survey from the Local Government Commission (LGC) is a tool for helping decision-makers and their constituents address community design, land use and transportation issues. It uses visual images to help participants evaluate their existing environment and envision their community's future. Tailored for the needs of each community, the survey provides a foundation for planning and implementation efforts.

Community Indicators

This report by Rhonda Phillips for the American Planning Association's Planning Advisory Service reviews the use of indicators in planning practice and explores their relationship to citizen participation, quality of life, and sustainability.

Community Indicators Consortium

The Community Indicators Consortium (CIC) is an active learning network and community of practice among persons and organizations interested or engaged in the field of community indicators and their application. CIC is organized around the belief that information sharing across areas of interest is a key element in successful work to benefit people and their concerns about their communities.

Community Innovations Grants

The Boston Foundation announced $19 million in new grant awards to more than 100 nonprofit organizations serving Greater Boston. While the wide range of these grants speaks to the rich complexity of life in the region, each individual funding decision reflects a strategic commitment to increase impact, opportunity and innovation within the organizations that serve area residents.

Community Involvement Grants

Small differences in a community can make a large difference in the world. Tom's of Maine supports and encourage your efforts to get involved with its Community Involvement Grants program. In November 2009, Tom's of Maine will award five 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations with $20,000.

Community Involvement in Brownfield Redevelopment

Community participation and stakeholder involvement play an essential role in successful brownfield development, as dozens of success stories attest. Yet historically, community participation in federally influenced redevelopment activities has been adversarial.

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 Land Trust Award

The Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) received top honors in the World Habitat Awards 2007/08 for ''Community Land Trust Innovation.'' Established in 1985 by the Building and Social Housing Foundation as part of its contribution to the United Nations International Year of Shelter for the Homeless, two World Habitat Awards are presented each year to projects from the global North as well as the South that provide practical and innovative solutions to current housing needs and problems.

Community Land Trusts: Leasing Land for Affordable Housing

This article from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy's Land Lines newsletter discusses how a community land trust (CLT) can be a useful tool for lower-income families to help purchase and finance housing.

Community Lots Website

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy offers the Community Lots project, an online resource designed to help community-based organizations (CBOs) move beyond their traditional role of housing development and into the community at large.

Community of Choices

This video focuses on the economic, social, and environmental benefits of preserving community character.

Community Planner Pro

The Community Planner Pro™ CD-ROM, included as part of The Enterprise Foundation's Community Development Library, helps nonprofit, community-based organizations engage neighborhood residents in the process of developing practical action plans for their community.

Community Preservation in Action

Community Preservation in Action features articles about completed or planned projects that preserve and enhance quality of life in Massachusetts communities.

Community Revitalization Grants -- Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development sponsors the Community Revitalization Program. This program provides grants for community revitalization and improvement projects which in the judgment of the Department will improve the stability of the community; promote economic development; improve existing and develop new civic, cultural, recreational, industrial and other facilities; assist in business retention, expansion, stimulation and attraction; promote the creation of jobs and employment opportunities; or enhance the health, welfare and quality of life of citizens in the Commonwealth.

Community Revitalization Resources -- Honolulu

The City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, offers a Community Revitalization Unit, providing information, technical support, and technical assistance for communities and organizations within communities that wish to implement projects, programs and activities that will be a positive influence for that community.

Community Revitalization Stories: On Common Ground

The Summer 2005 edition of On Common Ground from the National Association of Realtors turns its focus to revitalization: success stories of rejuvenation in urban areas and inner-ring suburbs.

Community Rules: A New England Guide to Smart Growth Strategies

Written by the Vermont Forum on Sprawl and the Conservation Law Foundation, Community Rules is a guidebook for local planners, concerned citizens, and others who want to achieve smart growth in their communities through better planning, zoning, and permitting.

Community Schools National Awards of Excellence -- 2007 Call for Entries

The Community Schools National Awards of Excellence honor community schools and community-wide initiatives that have been operating for three or more years and have demonstrated positive results for students, families and/or communities.

Community Services Block Grant Program -- Community Economic Development

The Office of Community Services will award Community Economic Development discretionary grant funds for operational projects to Community Development Corporations that are experienced in implementing economic development projects. The purpose of these grants is to create new employment and business development opportunities for low-income individuals. Deadline for applications is May 12, 2006.

Community Toolbox for Children’s Environmental Health

Guided by a board comprised primarily of grassroots leaders, Community Toolbox supports community-based initiatives to protect children from environmental health hazards.

Community Watershed Assessment

The Community Watershed Assessment Handbook is a simple and straightforward watershed assessment tool that is intended to direct community groups and local governments in conducting a comprehensive environmental assessment.

Community-Based Habitat Restoration

The Five-Star Restoration Program provides modest financial assistance on a competitive basis to support community-based wetland, riparian, and coastal habitat restoration projects that build diverse partnerships and foster local natural resource stewardship through education, outreach and training activities.

Community-Based Systems Change

What is systems change? How do you change systems? Who should be involved? Community-Based Systems Change: Getting Started, from the Center for Civic Partnerships, provides answers to these questions. It also includes several examples of systems change involving local government, community-based organizations, residents, local businesses and others.

CommunityViz Planning Software

The Orton Family Foundation announces that it is making its CommunityViz® planning software available to communities at a new, reduced cost of $185, removing a significant barrier to access to communities across the country in need of effective planning tools and methods.

CommunityViz® Software

CommunityViz® GIS software for land-use planning from Placeways is designed to help people visualize, analyze, and communicate about important land-use decisions. CommunityViz® community planning software provides a real–time interactive environment of 3D visuals, intelligent maps and dynamic analysis tools.

Compendium of Sustainability Indicators

Version two of the Compendium of Sustainable Development Indicator Initiatives is now available online. Use this searchable directory to find initiatives based on location, type, issue areas, and more. Search for topics including quality of life,housing, and transporation.

Complete Streets Report

The Thunderhead Alliance, national coalition of state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations, has published the first nationwide analysis of policies designed to create complete streets that routinely accommodate bicycle and pedestrian travel.

Complete the Streets

Complete streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and bus riders of all ages and abilities are able to safely move along and across a complete street. The Complete the Streets website contains information and resources that you can use to help bring complete streets to your community.

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.

Congress for the New Urbanism

CNU is a collaboration of professionals working to reform North America's urban growth patterns. CNU encourages restoration of existing urban centers, reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, conservation of natural environments, and preservation of the built legacy. It works with governmental agencies and neighborhood activists to shape federal, state, and local policy and to promote the importance of neighborhood vitality, place-specific investments, and physical design. CNU is currently collaborating with the SGN to develop a workbook on strategies for infill development, to produce a series of fact sheets on smart growth, and to identify barriers to financing New Urbanist development.

Connected and Sustainable Mobility

The Connected Bus is a landmark innovation and a key element of the Connected Urban Development program's Urban Transportation Technology framework. Begun in summer 2007, the pilot project is a collaborative effort involving Cisco IBSG -- the global strategic consulting arm of Cisco -- and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). They are jointly designing, developing, and delivering The Connected Bus pilot for the City and County of San Francisco.

Connecticut Brownfields Funding

The State of Connecticut Office of Brownfields Remediation (OBRD) website provides a list of financial assistance sources for brownfield redevelopment projects, including sources from the U.S. EPA, the State of Connecticut and other programs that serve specific towns and regions of the state. The OBRD partners with all of them.

Connecticut Brownfields Redevelopment Authority Grants

The Connecticut Brownfields Redevelopment Authority provides assistance for remediation and redevelopment of brownfields anywhere in Connecticut that will generate future incremental municipal property tax revenues.

Connecticut Environmental Assistance Programs

The Connecticut Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development (OBRD) provides a list of State of Connecticut Environmental Assistance Programs on its website.

Connecticut Urban and Industrial Sites Reinvestment Tax Credit Program

The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development offers an Urban and Industrial Sites Reinvestment Tax Credit Program. This economic development tool designed to drive investment to the state's urban centers and other economically distressed communities without depleting valuable state bond dollars.

Connecting Green Trail Packages

Portland, Oregon park providers, local cities and citizens have worked for decades to establish a network of trails linking parks to local communities and other area attractions. In April 2008 the Metro Council appointed a Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails to take the work the community has developed, evaluate where regional trails fit in the region's priorities and recommend potential strategies for expanding the region's trail network.

Connecting to the Grid Guide

The sixth edition of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's (IREC) Connecting to the Grid Guide is now available. This guide provides a comprehensive introduction to a span of topics that relate to grid-tied renewable energy sources.

The sixth edition has been revised to include information on IREC's recently updated model procedures, alternative billing arrangements for net metering, energy storage and several other emerging issues in the field. This guide is designed for state regulators and other policymakers, utilities, industry representatives and consumers interested in the development of state-level interconnection and net metering policies.

''Since the previous edition of this guide was published in 2007, there have been widespread advancements in renewable energy policy and technical considerations. This guide provides a clear look at those trends as well as the necessary background information needed to interpret them.'' Laurel Varnado, North Carolina Solar Center.

The report, co-authored by Laurel Varnado, policy analyst for the North Carolina Solar Center and Michael Sheehan, P.E., with the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, is part of IREC's Connecting to the Grid Project, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Connectivity Newsletter: Community Investing on the Move

Community Investing on the Move is the theme of The National Neighborhood Coalition's Summer 2005 issue of Connectivity. This issue examines the sources of capital investment in low income neighborhoods, and features information about socially responsible investing, CDFIs, CRA, and community credit unions.

Conservation Capital: Sources of Public Funding for Land Conservation

Conservation Capital: Sources of Public Funding for Land Conservation is a guide from the Wilderness Society that describes some of the resources available to people and organizations interested in protecting the many values of forestlands, with a special focus on the eastern United States.

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 Fund

The Conservation Fund is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting America's land legacy. The fund purchases and protects land--almost 2 million acres since 1985. It also assists local communities, private land owners, and government agencies with a variety of programs that balance conservation with economic development. Current efforts involve sustainable forestry, ecotourism, greenway development, battlefield protection, watershed sensitive design, and community visioning.

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.

Conserving the Green Network

Conserving the Green Network is a joint effort by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and American Farmland Trust to assess the condition of the Washington-Baltimore region’s open space assets, past and present attempts to conserve them, and the effects that a coordinated green network might have on future growth.

Conserving the Washington-Baltimore’s Green Network

Conserving the Washington-Baltimore’s Green Network is the result of a joint effort by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and American Farmland Trust to assess the condition of the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore area's open space assets; past and present attempts to conserve them; and the effects that a coordinated green network might have on future growth.

Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning

Planetizen announces the release of Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning, a new book featuring thought-provoking commentary and insights from the some of the leading thinkers and practitioners in the field.

Context-Sensitive Signage Design

Signs exist to communicate information, but in many communities the sign industry and planning profession currently do not have an effective means of communicating with one another. The core of any relationship between two interests is understanding each other's motivation.

Corporate Citizenship and Urban Problem Solving

Corporate Citizenship and Urban Problem Solving: The Changing Civic Role of Business Leaders in American Cities, a paper from The Brookings Institution, traces the shifting landscape of business-civic organizations in 19 U.S. metropolitan areas.

Counties and Local Food Systems

Counties and Local Food Systems from the National Association of Counties (NACo) contains four methods and case studies for how county governments can support their local food systems. Written with a focus on obesity prevention, this publication will also appeal to readers interested in the links between agriculture and economic development, environmental protection, and food security will also find the content useful.

County Government Approaches to Combating Youth Obesity, Encouraging Physical Activity, and Creating Healthy Communities

This report from NACo reviews what county officials have done to promote physical activity and provide healthy eating choices for their citizens, and what future steps need to be taken to assist officials to create healthier communities.

Creating a Regulatory Blueprint for Healthy Community Design

ICMA's consumer guide, Creating a Regulatory Blueprint for Healthy Community Design, is a road map for local government officials and their staff as they consider reforming zoning and development codes to encourage more physical activity in their areas.

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 a Vibrant City Center

This book from the Urban Land Institute will give you the key planning and design guidelines you need to create a lively, appealing city center in any metropolitan area.

Creating Communities of Learning: Schools and Smart Growth

This report describes two exemplary projects seeded by New Jersey's Community School Smart Growth Planning Grant program: A national design competition for a new high school in Perth Amboy, and an effort to engage large scale public engagement in a community school master planning process Plainfield.

Creating Community-Based Brownfield Redevelopment Strategies -- Resource List

The Creating Community-Based Brownfields Redevelopment Strategies Resource List from the American Planning Association contains books, articles, and government document citations. The list is part of a continuous process and may be considered a literature review as well as a resource list for the project.

Creating Great Neighborhoods: Density in Your Community

Creating Great Neighborhoods highlights the success of nine community led efforts to create vibrant neighborhoods through density. Building great dense places with good design is not just an abstract theory -- it is a practical approach to growth that is being used in diverse places across the country.

Creating Great Places

Creating Great Places is an initiative of the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) that helps governors design and implement state growth and physical development strategies that promote healthy, economically competitive and sustainable communities.

Creating Great Town Centers and Urban Villages

Creating Great Town Centers and Urban Villages from the Urban Land Institute (2008) is a book that describes the inside story and details on how town centers were developed, what makes them special, and provides facts on costs, rents, land uses, and more.

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 Livable Places

The Creating Livable Places website is provided by the Southern California Association of Governments to promote more livable communities. The site includes ten case studies of regional communities that have made efforts to become livable communities. The site also provides information and resources related to transportation planning, transit, and growth visioning. A calendar of events and list of related links are also available at the site.

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.

Creating the Future 2007 Awards

Creating the Future: The Academy for Sustainable Communities (ASC) Awards for Sustainable Communities is the theme of this event, to be held in London, England on June 7, 2007. Formerly the Deputy Prime Minister's Awards for Sustainable Communities, Creating the Future celebrates achievement in the public, private and third sectors.

Creating Walkable Places

Richly illustrated with color photographs, site plans, and diagrams, Creating Walkable Places: Compact Mixed-Use Solutions is a book from the Urban Land Institute that explains how to create pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use developments.

Crossroads Hamlet Village Town

Crossroads Hamlet Village Town broke new ground by offering specific design guidance to planners, developers, and others involved in laying out, regulating, and reviewing proposals for “traditional neighborhoods.'' This new 2004 edition addresses many particulars of residential site design and the use of open space, parks, squares, greenways, and greenbelts.

Crossroads Resource Center: Tools for Community Self-Determination

Crossroads Resource Center compiles and distributes data at the neighborhood level useful for community-based and asset-based initiatives in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota.

Cross-Sector Dialogue on the Impact of Housing/Land Use and Mobility

On June 22, 2006, the Center for Civic Partnerships organized and hosted a facilitated cross-sector dialogue in Glendale, California on land use, mobility and public health. The purpose of the meeting was to identify promising strategies and resource opportunities involving multi-sectored collaboration. Cross Sector Dialogue on Impact of Housing/Land Use and Mobility on Physical Activity and Older Adults is the final report from this event.

CUI Brownie Awards -- 2007 Award Winners

Winners of the Canadian Urban Institute's (CUI's) annual Brownie Awards were announced at a presentation dinner on October 18, 2007 during the 8th annual Canadian Brownfields Conference in Montreal.

CUI Brownie Awards 2005

The Canadian Urban Institute's annual Brownie Awards program recognizes leadership, innovation and environmental sustainability in brownfields redevelopment across Canada. Working with key industry and professional organizations, the Canadian Urban Institute presents its awards at its Brownfields conference, held in October each year.

CUI Brownie Awards 2006

The Canadian Urban Institute's annual Brownie Awards program recognizes leadership, innovation and environmental sustainability in brownfields redevelopment across Canada. Working with key industry and professional organizations, the Canadian Urban Institute presents its awards at its Brownfields conference, held in the fall of each year.

CUI Brownie Awards 2007

The Canadian Urban Institute's annual Brownie Awards program recognizes leadership, innovation and environmental sustainability in brownfields redevelopment across Canada. Working with key industry and professional organizations, the Canadian Urban Institute presents its awards at its Brownfields conference, held in October each year.

CUI's Urban Leadership Awards -- 2006

The Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) recognized 16 groups and individuals at their 2006 Urban Leadership Awards (ULA).

CUI's Urban Leadership Awards Nominations -- 2008

The Canadian Urban Institute's (CUI's) Urban Leadership Awards program honors those that have made a profound and lasting impact on the quality of urban life.

Cultivating Community Gardens

Cultivating Community Gardens: The Role of Local Government in Creating Healthy, Livable Neighborhoods is a fact sheet from the Local Government Commission (LGC) that offers case studies, best management practices, resources and tools for policymakers to develop creative, cost-effective solutions that reduce barriers and facilitate the creation of community garden programs.

Cultures of Cities: A New Online Data Bank

This online data bank gives a panorama of present transformations in European cities. The reports focus on the main themes discussed at the 4th Biennial of Towns and Town Planners in Europe.

D.C. Historic Preservation Grants

Beginning January 2007, District of Columbia homeowners within specific historic districts will be eligible to receive a grant valued at 35% of applicable D.C. income taxes toward the expenses of rehabilitating their homes.

D.C. Main Streets Program

The DC Main Streets program was created in 2002 to support the establishment and implementation of lasting, comprehensive revitalization initiatives in Washington, D.C.'s traditional neighborhood business districts. DC Main Streets' goal is to support retail investment in the District through the retention and expansion of existing businesses and the recruitment of new businesses.

Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE)

The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE) is a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and selected federal incentives that promote renewable energy.

December 2008 Getting Smart! Newsletter

The December 2008 issue of Getting Smart! is now available for all Smart Growth Network members in the Members Section.

Decisions for the Earth

This issue of World Resources focuses on environmental governance -- the processes and institutions used to make decisions about the environment.

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.

Delaware Food Exchange

The Delaware Food Exchange lets you sell, give away or trade things you don't want with people who do, like an online garage sale. There's lots of free stuff available, plus it's good for the environment. You can also post requests for items that you need.

Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance Project Recognition

Do you have a smart growth project on the horizon? Consider submitting an application for either preliminary or final recognition by the Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance.

To be eligible, the project must be located in Eastern or Central Pennsylvania (including Dauphin County), Southern New Jersey (including Mercer County and south) or Delaware, and not yet under construction.

The Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance is a collaborative initiative of more than 200 government, private sector and non-profit organizations in the tri-state region. We support and promote good smart growth projects at the earliest stages by helping them get approved at the local level. Each quarter, applications are reviewed by an independent jury of architects, planners, developers, builders, bankers, engineers, and other related disciplines. Projects recognized to be in compliance with the DVSGA's published smart growth criteria receive a letter of endorsement and an offer of testimony before local approval authorities.

DVSGA recognizes projects that will foster regional growth and redevelopment in a manner that achieves important economic, environmental and quality of life objectives. By highlighting the potential of smart growth projects to add value to the region, the DVSGA hopes to encourage developers, business organizations, citizen groups and elected officials to strive for smart growth solutions.

To date, the DVSGA has granted preliminary and/or full recognition to 26 projects, including most recently a group of affordable infill townhomes in downtown Norristown that will soon be under construction.

Download an application, as well as the criteria and the list of more than 200 supporting organizations and companies and examples of recognized projects, at the link below.

The application deadline for the current round is September 1, 2010.

Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance Recognized Project -- January 2009

The Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance jury provides on its website a list of project applications as good examples of smart growth development in the region. In January 2009 the Alliance recognized the West Chester Hotel of Pennsylvania.

Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance Recognized Project -- July 2008

The Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance jury provides on its website a list of project applications as good examples of smart growth development in the region. In July 2008 the Alliance recognized University Place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance Recognized Projects: April 2009

The Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance has added to its list of recognized smart growth projects: Kardon Ponds in Chester County, Pennsylvania; and Zurbrugg Mansion Redevelopment in Burlington County, New Jersey.

Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance Slide Show

The Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance (DVSGA), an initiative of various government, private sector and non-profit organizations in the Greater Philadelphia tri-state region, offers a free educational PowerPoint slide show on its web site.

Delaware Valley Smart Growth Coalition -- Application for Project Recognition

The Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance (DVSGA) is an initiative of various government, private sector and non-profit organizations in the Greater Philadelphia tri-state region encompassing Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware. The DVSGA promotes smart growth projects by recognizing proposed projects prior to development approval.

Delaware Valley Smart Growth Projects Recognized

The Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance jury provides on its website a list of project applications as good examples of smart growth development in the region. Projects recognized in 2006 include Bell Point in Sussex County, Delaware, and Pembroke North in Radnor Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Delmarva Farmland Strategy Project

American Farmland Trust (AFT) initiated the Delmarva Farmland Strategy Project to bring new tools to communities that are struggling with how to accommodate change and growth while retaining a profitable agricultural sector.

Design Assistance Program

The Design Center at the University of Minnesota's college of architecture and landscape architecture offers technical assistance to communities in a variety of ways. Throughout the web site you will find information, facts, and educational materials.

Design for Diversity: Exploring Socially Mixed Neighborhoods

Design for Diversity: Exploring Socially Mixed Neighborhoods offers detailed studies of socially diverse neighborhoods and evidence that such neighborhoods are better off than more homogenous neighborhoods. Author Emily Talen's analysis in this book shows planners and urban designers how their work can support diversity.

Design for Health Summit Report

The primary goal of the Design for Health Summit for Massachusetts Health Care Decision Makers was to bring together leading health care facility decision makers, discuss the arguments for and evidence supporting ''healthy design,'' and brainstorm initiatives and implementation strategies to achieve healthier hospitals—healthier for patients, healthier for staff, healthier for the environment and community, and healthier for hospital financial security.

Designing a Place-Based Plan for Stabilization

This website from StableCommunities.org will walk readers through eight steps that will lead to a plan for stabilizing a targeted neighborhood impacted by foreclosure.

The first three of the steps start the reader at the broad, citywide or regional geographic level in order to develop strategic partnerships, to understand regional and neighborhood market dynamics, and to group similar neighborhoods into a few general strategic approaches that match their current conditions and long-term market opportunities.

The remaining five steps narrow the reader’s focus to an individual neighborhood, and the process of engaging residents, defining specific outcomes for that neighborhood’s stabilization, choosing from a wide menu of individual strategies to effect change, funding the plan, and measuring progress toward stabilization outcomes.

StableCommunities.org is the centerpiece of NeighborWorks America’s Stable Communities initiative, a national response to the local challenges that arise when foreclosed homes remain vacant or abandoned.

Designing Activity into Our Lives

A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded study reports on the links between active living and health issues. Includes interactive features.

Designing and Building Healthy Places

The Centers for Disease Control offers this website on health and the built environment. Topics include children's and elders' health, accessibility, and physical activity.

Designing for Active Recreation

Designing for Active Recreation is a fact sheet that summarizes the current state of research into the way community design is related to whether people walk or bicycle to get to where they're going.

Designing Schoolyards & Building Community

Designing Schoolyards & Building Community is a report on the Boston Schoolyard Initiative, an effort dedicated to transforming Boston's schoolyards into dynamic centers for learning and community life.

Designs and Codes That Reduce Crime Around Multi-Family Housing

This four-page fact sheet from the Local Government Commission that discusses how zoning, codes, and designs have an immediate effect on the safety -- and security -- of multi-family dwellings and neighborhoods.

Designs for Walkable Neighborhoods

This 12-minute video provides an introduction to key design concepts of pedestrian friendly development including: compact, mixed-use development, pedestrian-oriented site design, and traditional neighborhood street design.

Desktop Tool for Revitalizing Planning

The Community Revitalization Desktop Guide is a new desktop computing tool created to help Pennsylvania communities plan revitalization efforts. This tool from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development provides a comprehensive model for community revitalization, and is based upon city and town revitalization efforts over the past thirty years.

Development of Excellence Awards

The Atlanta Regional Commission and the Livable Communities Coalition are joint partners in the promotion of the Developments of Excellence Awards program.

Development Principles and Ordinance Manual for Protecting Nature

The Chicago Wilderness coalition produces a variety of publications for the general public, teachers, decision-makers, scientists and land managers. Sustainable Development Principles: Protecting Nature in the Chicago Wilderness Region is one of their latest publications.

Directory of Federal Programs for Environmentally-Related Education

The Directory of Federal Grant-Making Programs for Environmentally-Related Education, published by Campaign for Environmental Literacy (CEL), is designed to help meet the need of the environmental education community for easily accessible and reasonably comprehensive information about federal funding programs. It also helps enable the Campaign for Environmental Literacy to track and analyze government grant-making trends, and to provide this information to Members of Congress.

Disadvantaged Communities Network: Brownfield Tools and Assistance

The Northeast-Midwest Institute has posted on its website presentations and audio archives from the EPA-sponsored Disadvantaged Communities Network events. The Network was launched in 2006 launched to provide brownfields tools and technical assistance to local communities that are seeking to overcome economic and neighborhood disadvantage.

Discovering Community Power

Discovering Community Power: A Guide to Mobilizing Local Assets and Your Organization's Capacity is a community-building workbook from the Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD Institute) School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University.

Diversity: Smart Growth for Inclusion

The Winter 2007 edition of On Common Ground focuses on inclusion and diversity. People who care about inclusion and diversity are viewing Smart Growth, which supports a greater diversity and connectivity in the physical pattern of growth, as one tool to bring people together across racial and class lines.

DOE Webinar: Sustainability Planning in El Paso

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Technical Assistance Project (TAP) for state and local officials is offering a Web seminar, and is titled ''Strategic Energy and Sustainability Planning in El Paso, Texas.” The webinar will take place on Wednesday, January 27, from 3:00 to 4:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

State and local officials can learn about the steps involved to create and implement a strategic energy plan. You will learn about the common steps that are used in many strategic energy plans. You will hear about the how the City of El Paso, Texas, developed its strategic energy plan, which included energy performance goals. Finally, you will also hear frank commentary on lessons learned from a recent sustainability summit held in El Paso.

Three speakers will present at the seminar:

• Alexander Dane, project manager at the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for the project to assist El Paso in developing its strategic energy plan
• Brian Levite, senior energy analyst at NREL
• Marty Howell, manager of the newly created El Paso, Texas, Sustainability Program

The Web seminar is free of charge, but you must register in advance to obtain a URL for the presentation and call-in phone number. You can register online, find information about the presenters, and read background materials at the link below.

Dollars and Sense II: Lessons from Good, Cost-Effective Small Schools

KnowledgeWorks Foundation's Dollars and Sense reports outline the economic and social arguments in support of small schools, and demonstrate that the true costs of large schools are enormous and the benefits dubious.

Downtown Planning for Smaller and Midsized Communities

''For so long we were floundering and taking ad hoc measures, but the minute I understood what a downtown plan really was I said 'We need one of those!' As it turned out, it was the most fantastic vehicle I've ever seen,'' said Susan Moffat-Thomas of New Bern, North Carolina. Her hometown got a much-needed shot in the arm from a good downtown plan. Does yours need a similar boost?

Philip L. Walker, an experienced downtown-planning consultant, offers practical tips for preserving a sense of place, improving fiscal efficiency, and enhancing quality of life in Downtown Planning for Smaller and Midsized Communities.

Planners and revitalization officials will learn how to address physical components of the downtown, as well as economic development. Walker, an experienced downtown-planning consultant, also explains how to develop an organization to implement a downtown plan; how federal, state, and local policies may influence the planning process; and how to fund a downtown revitalization effort.

Downtowns and Town Centers

The Planning Commissioners Journal is the nation's principal publication designed for citizen planners, including (but certainly not limited to) members of local planning commissions and zoning boards. ''Downtowns and Town Centers'' is an index of journal articles on downtown topics such as Farmers' Markets, Historic Preservation Ordinances, Public Buildings, Parking, and more.

Draft Report on the Environment

The U.S. EPA's Draft Report on the Environment is a report that describes current national environmental conditions and trends using existing data and indicators. The report identifies data gaps and research needs, and discusses the challenges government and our partners face in filling those gaps.

Draft Vermont Pedestrian and Bicycle Policy Plan

The State of Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) has developed a draft Vermont Pedestrian and Bicycle Policy Plan to promote bicycling and walking as an integral part of the overall transportation network in Vermont.

Driven to Action: Stopping Sprawl in Your Community

Driven to Action encourages communities to reshape urban areas by helping to set the rules and making plans for sustainable cities.

Earth Day TV

Earth Day TV is providing streaming video and topical programming for environmental awareness. Look for feeds and live events in the program guide.

Eco Kits Teach Ways to Save Water, Energy, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

If you’re looking for a way to reinforce your commitment to sustainability, consider providing key stakeholders with eco kits to learn firsthand how to save energy, water and greenhouse gas emissions. Eco Hatchery offers programs that engage employees, customers, and the community in sustainability initiatives and drive them to action. Core program components are:

• Eco Kits with conservation products, educational instructions and online customized home energy roadmaps ( www.ecohatchery.com/actionpack). Users can track improvement of their carbon footprint as they complete each of the kit activities. Kits can be co-branded with your organization's materials inside and shipped directly for events, incentives, and as holiday gifts.
• Web-based tracking and reporting of CO2e and energy savings. Create an online community, set a group goal, track, share, and report aggregate progress. A community can be, for example, a group of employees, customer segment, student body, membership base, or neighborhood. Members of the community can compare their results to the group average, as they work together toward a common goal.
• Carbon calculator enables users to learn how their energy use, commute, travel, recycling routines, and diet contribute to their environmental impact (www.ecohatchery.com/calculator)
  
  Learn more at the link below.

  EcoDensity -- Vancouver

  EcoDensity is a concept being discussed with the Vancouver community. In brief, EcoDensity is an acknowledgement that high quality and strategically located density can make Vancouver more sustainable, livable and affordable.

  EcoIndustrial Strategies

  Eco-industrial Strategies explores the key issues involved in eco-industrial development and identifies the stakeholders and their roles in such projects.

  Ecological Design Manual for Lake County, Florida

  The goal of this manual is to illustrate how development objectives and natural resource protection needs within a high-growth area can be addressed through the physical design of residential projects.
  
  Published December 2001. 42 pages; available online as a PDF document at the resource link below.

  Ecological Riverfront Design

  Ecological Riverfront Design puts forth a new vision for the nation's urban riverfronts and provides a set of planning and design principles that will allow communities to reclaim urban river edges in the most ecologically sound and economically viable manner possible.

  Ecological Urbanism

  What are the key principles of an ecological urbanism? How might they be organized? And what role might design and planning play in the process? These are the major questions addressed in Ecological Urbanism.

  Eco-Municipalities: A Model for Sustainable Communities in Wisconsin

  The Ecomunicipality: Model for Sustainable Community Change describes a systems approach to creating sustainable communities. Written by Torbjörn Lahti and Sarah James, and adapted and updated by Lisa MacKinnon, this document provides an overview of what an ecomunicipality is, how it functions, and what it can achieve.

  Economic Development and Redevelopment

  Economic Development and Redevelopment: A Toolkit on Land Use and Health is a toolkit designed for nutrition and other public health advocates who need additional resources, beyond zoning and general plan revisions, to improve the food access in low-income neighborhoods and are seeking a fundamental, introductory understanding of the economic development and redevelopment tools available, their use, and how to effectively participate in decisions about their use.

  Economic Development and Smart Growth

  Economic development success and smart growth can go hand-in-hand. The International Economic Development Council's (IEDC's) Economic Development and Smart Growth presents eight case studies on communities that incorporated smart growth principles in their development projects and have experienced economic development improvements in the form of increased tax revenue, more jobs, higher income levels, downtown revitalization, business growth, and other indicators of economic success.

  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.

  Economics, Equity and the Environment

  Economics, Equity, and the Environment, by Stephen M. Johnson, examines major economic incentive and market-based environmental protection programs that are being implemented by governments, including pollution taxes, pollutant trading programs, regulatory waiver programs, subsidies, grants, loans and favorable tax treatment, and deposit/refund systems.

  Edens Lost and Found

  Edens Lost & Found, a four-hour PBS series, showcases extraordinary stories of environmental rebirth in four very different American cities: Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Each one-hour program examines the unique environmental, economic and social issues that each of these great cities face.

  EDRA Places Awards -- 2007 Call for Nominations

  EDRA and Places journal's annual award program recognize good places and how people inhabit them. Awards are offered in Place Design, Place Planning, and Place Research.

  Education Campaign on Policy Barriers to Redevelopment of Vacant Properties (RFP)

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking proposals to educate critical state decision- and policy-makers on policy and practical barriers to the redevelopment of abandoned and other vacant properties. Proposals are due August 27, 2007.

  Eight Lessons to Promote Diversity in Public Places

  In the November 2007 edition of Making Places: News and Ideas from Project for Public Spaces, PPS discusses eight lessons to promote diversity in public places. These lessons represent the findings of a major PPS research initiative, ''Placemaking in a Pluralistic World: Using Public Spaces to Encourage and Celebrate Social Diversity,'' which was carried out during the summer of 2007.

  Elder Friendly Communities

  Elder Friendly Communities is the third component of the Successful Aging Initiative of the Cleveland Foundation, a multi-phased program that supports and promotes the assets and positive aspects of aging. The Successful Aging Initiative is focused on establishing elder-friendly communities, lifelong learning and development centers, and increased prospects for civic engagement, including meaningful volunteering and post-retirement employment opportunities.

  Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development

  This new book provides a refreshing look at how American cities are leading the way toward greener, cleaner, and more sustainable forms of economic development.
  
  In Emerald Cities, Joan Fitzgerald shows how in the absence of a comprehensive national policy, cities like Chicago, New York, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle have taken the lead in addressing the interrelated environmental problems of global warming, pollution, energy dependence, and social justice. Cities are major sources of pollution but because of their population density, reliance on public transportation, and other factors, Fitzgerald argues that they are uniquely suited to promote and benefit from green economic development. For cities facing worsening budget constraints, investing in high-paying green jobs in renewable energy technology, construction, manufacturing, recycling, and other fields will solve two problems at once, sparking economic growth while at the same time dramatically improving quality of life.
  
  Fitzgerald also examines how investing in green research and technology may help to revitalize older industrial cities and offers examples of cities that don't make the top-ten green lists such as Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio and Syracuse, New York. And for cities wishing to emulate those already engaged in developing greener economic practices, Fitzgerald shows which strategies will be most effective according to each city's size, economic history, geography, and other unique circumstances. But cities cannot act alone, and Fitzgerald analyzes the role of state and national government policy in helping cities create the next wave of clean technology growth.
  
  Lucid, forward-looking, and guided by a level-headed optimism that clearly distinguishes between genuine progress and exaggerated claims, Emerald Cities points the way toward a sustainable future for the American city.

  Emergency Response and Street Design

  The Congress of New Urbanism, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and fire marshals from across the country have come together to produce a new report on designing streets that are both safe for all modes of travelers and allow emergency responders to quickly get to their destinations. These two goals have traditionally been at odds with one another: safe streets for emergency responders are often wide and unsafe for pedestrians and other vehicles. Emergency Response and Street Design seeks to find a common ground between these two groups of road users, reducing fatalities while increasing the ability of emergency responders to get where they need to be.
  
  The report opens with statistics about how narrower neighborhood-oriented streets, most often found in traditional and new urbanist communities, contribute to a host of positive externalities including reducing storm water runoff, requiring less energy to construct, and facilitating other modes of transportation like walking and bicycling. The report goes on to note that fire-related civil deaths have declined from 7,395 in 1977 to 3,430 in 2007 and that the majority of emergency calls are not related to fire but rather responding to traffic accidents and medical emergencies. More than 41,000 people were killed in traffic collisions in 2007 and more than 2 million were injured.
  
  Currently, the International Fire Code, a document used by municipalities across the United States to determine street width for emergency vehicle access, requires an unobstructed width of at least 20 feet. This requirement forces streets to be wider than necessary and prevents developers, planners and engineers from creating well designed streets. Wide streets, the report shows, increase automobile speeds causing collisions that occur to be more deadly. Reducing the width of a street reduces the speed and frequency of vehicle collisions—a traffic study cited by the report revealed a 485 percent increase in accident rates per mile as street widths increased from 24 feet to 36 feet.
  
  The solution presented in this report is reconnecting streets to allow multiple routes for emergency vehicles and reducing the width of streets to decrease the number and severity of accidents. Case studies are used to show how communities that have gone back to a traditional connected street pattern have actually seen both a decrease in accidents and a decrease in emergency vehicle response times. Neighborhoods built with a high rate of connected streets and densities are not only cheaper to provide emergency services for but also that service often has a better response time. The report advocates that communities work with local fire departments instead of following the International Fire Code to come up with street widths that create the best combination of accessibility and livability.

  Enabling Source Water Protection

  Expressions of interest are being sought from states that can lead the country in developing and showcasing innovative ways to protect drinking water sources through improved coordination among state land use management and water protection programs.

  Energy and Smart Growth (Translation Paper #15)

  This translation paper from the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities contends there is much to be gained by expanding the smart growth movement to include greater attention on energy. Through greater use of energy efficient design and renewable energy sources, the smart growth movement could better achieve its goals of environmental protection, economic security and prosperity, and community livability.

  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 Efficiency Program Options for Local Governments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

  Washington, D.C. (December 23, 2009): In a new report released today, ACEEE presented profiles of over 40 municipal energy efficiency programs as a guide for cities and counties preparing to implement federally-funded energy efficiency and conservation plans.
  
  ''The passage of the ARRA economic stimulus package was the largest single investment in energy efficiency to date, and the first time federal money has been directed specifically to municipal energy efficiency efforts,'' said ACEEE policy researcher Michael Sciortino, referring to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). ''It is essential that local governments use proven program models like those featured in this report to ensure success.''
  
  Cities and counties have long been active developers of successful energy efficiency programs, and with the release of EECBG funds, local governments are poised to further their critical role. ACEEE's new report, Energy Efficiency Program Options for Local Governments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 examines a number of innovative energy efficiency programs implemented by American towns and cities prior to the passage of ARRA. The EECBG program will dispense more than 3 billion dollars to cities and states, creating jobs while improving U.S. energy efficiency through a variety of initiatives, including building retrofits, incentives, and audit programs. Some block grant recipients have already received funding to execute their chosen ''shovel-ready'' projects; however, many cities and towns are still waiting to put project plans into action. 
  
  ''The EECBG program is an opportunity for all municipalities to become leaders in energy efficiency,'' said Sarah Black, report lead author. ''This report provides concrete examples of how American towns and cities can take action now to launch innovative and meaningful programs that save energy and create jobs.''

  Energy Star Challenge

  The ENERGY STAR Challenge is a national call-to-action to improve the energy efficiency of America's commercial and industrial buildings by 10 percent or more. Whether you're associated with a small school or a large corporation, a local government or a national association, a community hospital or a hotel group, a manufacturing plant or an architecture firm -- you can be part of the ENERGY STAR Challenge and help improve the energy efficiency of America's commercial and industrial buildings by 10 percent or more.

  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.

  Enterprise at Home for Progress at Large: The Economics of Sustainability

  This new report focuses on economies in transition—economies that are threatened by the consequences of environmental changes. The report explores how key civic leaders, faced with the challenge of ensuring the future strength of their economies, have employed creative new agendas that not only help reverse the effects of environmental degradation but also leverage the occasion for valuable economic gain.
  
  While national debates rage over which production methods will lead to a stronger, more sustainable environment, and while research and development teams struggle to produce the next revolutionary technology, it is on the local level that incredible progress is being made in advancing sustainability measures beyond rhetoric. City governments and grassroots activists are often the most obvious players, but there is a powerful—and perhaps unexpected—player in the green arena that is leading the charge in cutting emissions and conserving energy while boosting regional economies: the business community.
  
  These activities are not wild expansions of their mission, but are essential to fulfilling it. Businesses that emit little emissions and consume fewer resources are the stronger, leaner and more agile businesses of America’s future and as the organizations that work to support economic development and improve local quality of life, many chambers of commerce have dedicated themselves to aiding in the success of green businesses. The ingenuity and forward thinking exemplified by the chambers highlighted here are the first bold steps toward a more sustainable and robust American economy.
  
  The report provides tells stories of entrepreneurship and success—stories of chambers of commerce throughout the country instituting green business recognition programs, working to attract clean industries, creating green jobs, and providing resources to local businesses to implement more sustainable practices.

  Enterprise Conference Presentations

  Conference presentations from Enterprise's Community Conference, held in Cleveland, Ohio, November 14-16, 2007, are now available at the Enterprise website.

  Enterprise Conference Presentations

  Presentations from Enterprise's annual conference, held November 14–16, 2007, in Cleveland, Ohio, are now available online.

  Enterprise Foundation Database

  This database from the Enterprise Foundation offers searchable categories from financing and housing to child care, workforce development, and community building. Visitors can browse by keyword or category.

  Enterprise MoneyNet

  Enterprise MoneyNet™ helps you find public and private funding resources to support your organization and its programs. Offered by The Enterprise Foundation, this growing database of more than 900 donors is updated daily.

  Enterprise Receives HUD Funding to Provide Technical Assistance

  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) named Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) as one of nine national organizations receiving funding to help local communities purchase, rehabilitate and resell foreclosed properties in especially hard-hit neighborhoods. The $7.1 million grant to Enterprise is part of a $50 million effort that HUD has launched to help state and local governments address the inventory of foreclosed properties, using the department's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

  Enterprise Resource Database

  The Enterprise Resource Database is an extensive library of community-based resources from the Enterprise Foundation. Database categories include regional and neighborhood planning, housing, community safety, finance, and community building.

  Enterprise Rose Fellows Announced for 2007

  Enterprise, a leading nonprofit provider of affordable housing nationwide, has announced recipients of the Frederick P. Rose Architectural Fellowship. This award offers promising young architects a unique opportunity to use their design skills in real-life situations by creating sustainable, affordable housing in underserved communities. The 2007 fellows will be based in the Bronx in New York City; Woodburn, Oregon; and New Orleans, Louisiana.

  Environment Education Grants

  The Grants Program sponsored by EPA’s Office of Environmental Education supports environmental education projects that enhance the public’s awareness, knowledge, and skills to help people make informed decisions that affect environmental quality.

  Environmental Assistance Grants -- Minnesota

  The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Environmental Assistance Grant Program is a competitive, two-stage application process to identify and assist projects that will be most beneficial in meeting the Agency's mission of working with Minnesotans to protect, conserve, and improve Minnesota's air, land and water resources.

  Environmental Characteristics of Smart Growth Neighborhoods

  This new study (also conducted for NRDC in cooperation with EPA) continues that research by comparing two neighborhoods in Nashville, Tennessee, and suggests that the combination of better transportation accessibility and a modest increase in land-use density can produce measurable benefits even when both sites are automobile-oriented and suburban in character.

  Environmental Design Awards

  The Environmental Design Research Association presents several awards annually for design competitions that recognize achievements in active place design, service efforts, and more.

  Environmental Education Funding

  The Washington State Environmental Education Initiative offers a section on Environmental Education grants on its website.

  Environmental Education Grants

  The Grant Program sponsored by EPA’s Office of Environmental Education supports environmental education projects that enhance the public’s awareness, knowledge, and skills to help people make informed decisions that affect environmental quality.

  Environmental Financial Tools

  The Environmental Finance Program (EFP) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides financial technical assistance to the regulated community and advice and recommendations to the Agency on environmental finance issues, trends, and options. Among the resources offered by the EFP are environmental financial tools: sources of potential funding solutions.

  Environmental Justice

  The Norman Foundation of New York offers grants for environmental justice and other areas on an annual basis.

  Environmental Justice Achievement Awards -- 2008

  The U.S. EPA's Environmental Justice Achievement Awards recognize organizations for their success in addressing environmental justice issues or by adopting the goals of environmental justice to positively impact their community.

  Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative

  The Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (EJCC) is a diverse coalition of U.S. environmental justice, religious, climate justice, policy and advocacy networks working for climate justice. This consensus-based coalition develops projects, programs and papers to educate policymakers and connect with thousands of people in communities across the country about the effects of climate change and environmental injustice.

  Environmental Justice Geographic Assessment Tool

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers the Environmental Justice Geographic Assessment Tool, an online searchable database that provides information for preliminary analysis of Environmental Justice areas of concern.

  Environmental Justice Grants

  The New York State DEC Office of Environmental Justice is now accepting grant applications from community organizations for projects that address environmental and related public health issues. Projects must address multiple harms and risks to communities and communicate project results to the community residents.

  Environmental Justice Small Grants Awards

  Fiscal Year 2009 marks the 15th anniversary of the U.S. EPA's Environmental Justice Small Grants Program (EJSG). Since its inception in 1994, the Program has awarded more than $20 million in funding to 1,130 community-based organizations, and local and tribal organizations working with communities who are facing environmental justice issues.

  Environmental Justice Small Grants Program -- 2008 Call for Applications

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published an Application Guidance document for its 2008 Environmental Justice Small Grants Program. Deadline for applications is June 30, 2008.

  Environmental Justice Small Grants Program -- Fall 2006

  The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) provides financial assistance for local community-based organizations through the Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) Program. Established in 1994, the purpose of this program is to provide financial assistance that will support and empower community-based organizations that are working on local solutions to local environmental and/or public health problems.

  Environmental Justice Small Grants Program -- Spring 2006

  The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) provides financial assistance for local community-based organizations through the Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) Program. Established in 1994, the purpose of this program is to provide financial assistance that will support and empower community-based organizations that are working on local solutions to local environmental and/or public health problems.

  Environmental Justice, Urban Revitalization and Brownfields

  ''Environmental Justice, Urban Revitalization, and Brownfields: The Search for Authentic Signs of Hope'' is a report on equitable development endorsed by the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) at its May 29-31, 1996 meeting in Detroit, Michigan.

  Environmental Justice: The Power of Partnerships

  Environmental Justice: The Power of Partnerships is a documentary film from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that tells the story of how one man, a local community organization called ReGenesis, and a handful of partners turned a downtrodden community around. It's about the process of discovering -- after being exposed to environmental contamination -- a public health problem, working together to envision broad solutions, bringing people together, and creating change. It's about a place that ''couldn't get any worse,'' according to one resident, that is now being transformed.

  Environmental Law Institute

  For nearly three decades, the Environmental Law Institute has played a pivotal role in shaping the fields of environmental law, policy, and management, domestically and abroad. Today, ELI is an internationally recognized, independent research and education center. The Environmental Law Institute (ELI) Sustainable Use of Land Program is an on-going collaborative program devoted to promoting the sustainable use of urban, suburban, and rural land at the state and local levels. ELI works in collaboration with partners to formulate and implement options for overcoming barriers to sustainable land use found in local,state, and federal law, while developing creative alternatives to promote sound economic, community, environmental, transportation, public infrastructure and other strategies.

  Environmental Law Institute's ''Sustainability and Resource Protection''

  Environmental Law Institute uses sustainability as an organizing principle to develop new strategies for the protection of land, water, and biological resources. ELI’s Sustainability and Resource Protection Programs improve our nation’s laws, policies, and institutions. Integrating environmental laws, tax laws, development laws, and other tools. ELI works with state, local, and federal agencies, citizen groups, non-profit organizations, and corporate partners to develop effective solutions to problems of land and resource use.

  Environmental Merit Awards -- New England

  For more than thirty years, EPA New England has honored those who have made outstanding contributions on behalf of the region's environment. EPA's Environmental Merit Award program has honored teachers, citizen activists, business leaders, scientists, public officials and others who have made outstanding contributions on behalf of the region's public health and natural environment.

  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 Research and Education Needs

  Environmental Research and Education Needs: An Agenda for a New Administration is report from the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), published in December 2008, that organizes the recommendations relating to research and education policy from NCSE's first eight national conferences (2000-2008). It identifies research needed to improve scientific knowledge, and education needed to improve public understanding, professional capacity and a strong workforce.

  Environmental Restoration Program -- New York

  Under the Environmental Restoration Program, the State of New York provides grants to municipalities to reimburse up to 90 percent of on-site eligible costs and 100% of off-site eligible costs for site investigation and remediation activities. Once remediated, the property may then be reused for commercial, industrial, residential or public use.

  Environmental Stewardship Awards

  The Virginia Environmental Stewardship Awards recognize innovative and effective stewardship activities that serve to protect and enhance local and state natural resources.

  EnviroTools: State Brownfield Programs

  EnviroTools is a website guide to involve your community in the cleanup of a polluted site. To help answer the question: ''How do we clean up this mess?'' EnviroTools has assembled a collection of educational materials on Superfund and Brownfields sites, along with sites cleaned up under state programs. The site also has a section on financing.

  Envisioning Better Communities: Seeing More Options, Making Wiser Choices

  Randall Arendt's work has shaped a generation of planners, designers, and landscape architects. In Envisioning Better Communities, he brings his insights to a broader public, with a profusely illustrated demonstration of how local officials, planning commissioners, and everyday citizens can work to make their communities more attractive, more habitable, and more sustainable.
  
  Despite the widespread acceptance of good design and planning principles throughout the professions, too many of our towns and rural areas remain needlessly ugly and inefficient. In side by side comparisons of similar places and kinds of buildings, Arendt shows that we need not live amid sprawling, characterless visual blight. Simple design choices and effective municipal decisions can have tremendous impacts on the quality of our communities.
  
  Written in Arendt's well-known clear, accessible, nontechnical style, this book creates a sense of hope for those who face the everyday challenges of working with developers and landowners to create places that make economic, environmental, and aesthetic sense. Arendt shows us that with diligence, thoughtfulness, and care, we can make our communities better in countless ways.

  EPA 6th Annual P3 Awards: Student Design Competition

  The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invite submissions to the 6th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability.

  EPA Accepting Nominations for Watershed Protection Initiative

  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting nominations for President Bush's Watershed Protection Initiative. Governors and Tribal leaders are invited to submit nominations for projects that would help promote and advance successes in up to 20 watersheds.

  EPA Announces New RFP: ''Smart Growth Streets and Emergency Response''

  A new grant RFP issued by the U.S. EPA's Development, Community, and Environment Division seeks to bring together emergency response officials, local government officials, transportation experts, and developers to engage in a problem-solving process around the issue of simultaneously meeting the needs for emergency response with the design of smart growth streets. The goal is to create a solution or set of solutions that have the endorsement of these multiple interests and will be applicable nationally across the U.S. and/or in significant regions of the country. The RFP will also support outreach efforts to educate relevant stakeholders nationally.

  EPA Announces Winners of the 2004 National Awards
  for Smart Growth Achievement

  On November 17, EPA announced five winners of the 2004 National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. This Award recognizes outstanding achievement in smart growth by tribal, local, or regional governments in five categories: Overall Excellence, Built Projects, Policies and Regulation, Community Outreach and Education, and Small Communities.

  EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grants

  The U.S. EPA offers brownfields cleanup grant opportunities that provide funding for a grant recipient to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites.

  EPA CARE Grants 2006 -- Reduce Risks from Toxics

  The US EPA announces availability of funds for its Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Program. Proposals are being sought to meet financial assistance needs for eligible entities through the new CARE program.

  EPA CARE Grants 2008 -- Reduce Risks from Toxics

  The U.S. EPA announces availability of funds for its Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Program. Proposals are being sought to meet financial assistance needs for eligible entities through the new CARE program.

  EPA P3 Awards 2006

  The P3 Award program is a national student design competition for sustainability focusing on people, prosperity, and the planet. Closing date for the 2006 competition is February 20, 2006.

  EPA Region 2 Environmental Quality Awards -- 2006

  The EPA's Region 2 Environmental Quality Awards honor non-profit, environmental and community groups, individual citizens, environmental education and business organizations and members of the news media.

  EPA Region 3 Brownfields Grants -- EPA Region 3 (Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia)

  The U.S. EPA’s Brownfields Program provides direct funding for brownfields assessment, cleanup, revolving loans, and environmental job training. To facilitate the leveraging of public resources, EPA’s Brownfields Program collaborates with other EPA programs, other federal partners, and state agencies to identify and make available resources that can be used for brownfields activities. In addition to direct brownfields funding, EPA also provides technical information on brownfields financing matters.

  EPA’s Pollution Prevention Grant

  EPA created the P2 grant program under the authority of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. The grant program provides matching funds to state and tribal programs to support P2 activities across all environmental media and to develop state programs. EPA believes state-based environmental programs have the best opportunity to promote P2 because states have closer, more direct contact with industry and are more aware of local needs.

  EPA-NOAA Coastal Community Development Partnership

  The EPA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have agreed to work together to help coastal communities grow in ways that benefit the economy, public health, and the environment.

  EPA's 6th Annual Clean Air Excellence Awards

  Entries are currently being accepted for EPA's sixth annual Clean Air Excellence Awards. The Clean Air Excellence Awards Program is open to both public and private entities in the United States.

  EPA's Brownfields Job Training Grants

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers job training grants to teach environmental-cleanup job skills to individuals living in low income areas near Brownfields sites. Grants go to non-profit organizations, educational institutions, community colleges, tribes, and state and local governments.

  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.

  EPA's Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Program

  The U.S. EPA's Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Program (SGIA) is an annual, competitive solicitation open to state, local, regional, and tribal governments (and non-profits that have partnered with a governmental entity) that want to incorporate smart growth techniques into their future development.

  EPA's Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Program: 2007 Communities

  EPA developed the Smart Growth Implementation Assistance (SGIA) program in response to communities' requests for help in achieving their development goals. Through this program, EPA provides technical assistance from private-sector experts to help communities find the best tools and resources to plan for growth in ways that sustain environmental and economic progress and create a high quality of life.

  Equitable Development Funding

  FOCUS is a regional incentive-based development and conservation strategy for the San Francisco, California Bay Area. FOCUS unites the efforts of four regional agencies -- ABAG, MTC, the Air District, and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) -- into a single program that encourages future growth in areas near transit and within the communities that surround the San Francisco Bay.

  Equitable Development Toolkit

  PolicyLink offers the Equitable Development Toolkit, a comprehensive set of policy options to advance economic and social equity.

  Equitable Renewal: Ten Points to Guide Rebuilding in the Gulf Coast Region

  Equitable Renewal: Ten Points to Guide Rebuilding in the Gulf Coast Region is an outline of steps from PolicyLink to help ensure that restoration of hurricane-damage communities is fair and just.

  Equity Capital Competition for Sustainable Businesses

  The Parkside Business & Community In Partnership, Inc. (PBCIP) is requesting proposals for its Equity Capital Competition for sustainable businesses. Winners may receive up to $30,000 in start-up/expansion funding, plus other incentives and supportive services.
  
  The purpose of the contest is to attract sustainable and community-based businesses to Haddon Avenue in Camden's (New Jersey) Parkside neighborhood. This competition is one of PBCIP's many green initiatives, which include a planned 24,000 square foot, three-story LEED certified building with retail, restaurant and office space.
  
  The competition runs through January 31, 2010.

  Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Urban and Suburban Zoning Codes

  Across the country, local governments are searching for ways to create vibrant communities that attract jobs, foster economic development, and provide attractive places for people to live, work, and play. But many are discovering that their own land development codes and ordinances often get in the way of achieving these goals, and they may not have the resources or expertise to make the specific regulatory changes that will create more sustainable communities.
  
  In response to this need, EPA's Smart Growth Program convened a panel of national smart growth code experts to identify the topics in local zoning codes that are essential to creating the building blocks of smart growth. The resulting document, Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Urban and Suburban Zoning Codes, presents the panel's initial work. This document explores 11 ''Essential Fixes'' that address the most common barriers local governments face in implementing smart growth. These actions are organized as modest adjustments, major modifications, or wholesale changes -- giving communities options based on their political will, financial resources, and organizational capacity.
  
  This tool does not include model language, codes or ordinances. It can, however, help communities evaluate their existing codes and ordinances and apply that information to create more sustainable comunities. It is an evolving document that will be regularly revised and updated, and is intended to spark a larger conversation about the tools and information local governments need to revise their land development regulations.

  Estimating the Jobs Impact of Tackling Climate Change

  The new report Estimating the Jobs Impact of Tackling Climate Change suggests that tackling climate change will be a major net job creator for the U.S. economy. According to the report, aggressive deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency can net up to 4.5 million new U.S. jobs by 2030 and provide the greenhouse gas emission reductions necessary to tackle climate change.
  
  According to the analysis, renewable energy and energy efficiency deployment costs would be revenue neutral (or better), as costs to implement the technologies are offset by savings from lower energy bills, making total net costs near zero.
  
  “The twin challenges of climate change and economic stagnation can be solved by the same action—broad, aggressive, sustained deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency,” said Brad Collins, ASES’ Executive Director, “the solution for one is the solution for the other.”
  
  This jobs report offers the most detailed analysis yet on the potential role of the new energy economy in tackling climate change. It suggests that policy can play a significant role in both generating jobs and mitigating carbon emissions.
  
  “For job growth the status quo is no match for innovation,” said Mr. Collins. “Congress can help get the economy back on track with smart energy policy - reduce energy consumption in buildings by 50%; adopt an aggressive national renewable portfolio standard; commit to end dependence on foreign oil by 2025; and implement an upstream cap and auction system to manage greenhouse gases at the points where they first enter the energy economy.”
  
  This report analyzed the job potential of improving energy efficiency in buildings, transportation, and industry, and assessed six renewable energy technologies: concentrating solar power, photovoltaics, wind power, biomass, biofuels, and geothermal power. Estimates in this report refer to net jobs since advancing new energy technologies can both create new jobs and displace jobs from less efficient industries. This report suggests that, in total, more than 4.5 million more jobs can be created by tackling climate change than would be lost.

  European Prize for Urban Public Space

  The European Prize for Urban Public Space is a biennial competition that recognizes and encourages activities aimed at recovering and creating spaces of cohesion in cities.

  European Urban Knowledge Network

  The European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN) shares knowledge and experience on tackling urban issues. Fifteen EU Member States, EUROCITIES, the URBACT Programme and the European Commission participate in this European initiative.

  Evaluation of Smart Growth on the Ground

  ''Smart Growth on the Ground'' is an innovative program to change the way that development is done in British Columbia by creating real, built examples of smart growth. This unique program helps BC communities to prepare more sustainable neighborhood plans -- including land use, transportation, urban design, and building design plans. Extensive follow-up ensures that the plans become reality.

  Everyday Democracy

  Everyday Democracy (formerly the Study Circles Resource Center) is a national organization that helps local communities find ways for all kinds of people to think, talk and work together to solve problems. The organization works with neighborhoods, cities and towns, regions, and states, helping them pay particular attention to how racism and ethnic differences affect the problems they address.

  Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education Awards -- Massachusetts

  The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs is now accepting applications for the 2008 Secretary's Awards for Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education.

  Excellence in Green Building Education Awards -- 2009

  The U.S. Green Building Council's Excellence in Green Building Education Awards Program recognizes outstanding curriculum and teaching methods that incorporate the built environment to teach sustainability.

  Excellence in Urban Journalism Award

  Presented in partnership with The Freedom Forum, the Annual Excellence in Urban Journalism Award encourages and recognizes quality reporting on major issues facing the nation's urban populations.

  Excellence on the Waterfront Awards Program -- 2007

  The Waterfront Center is inviting entries for its Annual Awards Program, a juried competition to recognize top-quality urban waterfront projects, comprehensive waterfront plans, and outstanding citizen efforts. New in 2007 will be recognition of student waterfront work.

  Expanding Housing Opportunity in Washington, DC

  Expanding Housing Opportunity in Washington, DC: The Case for Inclusionary Zoning uses data compiled from hundred of localities where inclusionary zoning has made a critical difference in providing affordable housing to low- and moderate-income families.

  Exploring Sustainability in Agriculture

  Exploring Sustainability in Agriculture from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) defines sustainable agriculture by providing snapshots of different producers who apply sustainable principles on their farms and ranches.

  Facing the Future

  Facing the Future believes in the transformative power of widespread, systemic education to improve lives and communities, both locally and globally. The organization's positive, solutions-based programming is designed by and for teachers, and effectively brings critical thinking about global issues to students in every walk of life.

  Facing the Urban Challenge: Reimagining Land Use in America's Distressed Older Cities-The Federal Policy Role

  Recently released by Alan Mallach, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program of The Brookings Institution, this paper touches on the history of economic decline of American cities, noting that while many urban areas enjoyed a significant resurgence during the 1990s, others, such as Detroit and Cleveland, have continued to struggle.
  
  By focusing on five keys areas (strategic planning, reutilizing urban land, investing in transformative change, revitalizing neighborhoods, and addressing affordable housing) Mallach identifies how federal lawmakers can play a major role in shaping the future success of older industrial cities.

  Fair and Healthy Land Use

  Fair and Healthy Land Use, a report from the American Planning Association's (APA's) Planning Advisory Services, explains how the principles of environmental justice can be incorporated into land-use planning processes.

  Fall 2007 Walking School Bus Program -- Columbia, Missouri

  The Columbia, Missouri, PedNet Coalition is hosting a Walking School Bus Program at seven area public elementary schools during the Fall 2007 semester.

  Fannie Mae Foundation Grants -- 2005

  The Fannie Mae Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations that create affordable homeownership and housing opportunities in cities, towns, and rural areas across the United States. These organizations are recognized for building healthy, vibrant communities.
  
  The Foundation awards most of its grants by soliciting proposals from organizations with the demonstrated ability to create strong partnerships with the Foundation. A limited amount of grant funding to be awarded through a competitive process is also available. The next application deadline will be in early 2005, and more information will be available on the Foundation's website by December 31, 2004.
  
  For more information please visit the resource link below.

  Fannie Mae’s Annual Housing Survey

  Fannie Mae's 2003 National Housing Survey finds that, while most Americans view homeownership as a safe investment with a lot of potential, four critical ''gaps'' must be addressed in order to reach the underserved and close the minority homeownership gap.

  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.

  Farm to Table New Mexico

  Farm to Table, a Santa Fe, New Mexico non-profit organization, focuses on linking local food and fiber production to local needs by improving communities' access to nutritious, affordable, locally grown and culturally significant foods.

  Farmers Market Promotion Program Grants -- 2009

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for competitive grants targeted to helping increase consumption of agricultural commodities by expanding direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. This is the fourth year of the grant program, the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP), which was authorized by the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976 and amended by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the Farm Bill).

  Farming on the Edge

  American Farmland Trust's Farming on the Edge conference brings together people from all across the country who want to create a sustainable future for America's working lands. It provides a forum for planners, land trusts, conservationists, farmers, ranchers and others to network and share their expertise and experience.

  Farmland Information Center

  The Farmland Information Center (FIC) is a clearinghouse for information about farmland protection and stewardship. It is a partnership between the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and American Farmland Trust.

  Federal Funds for the National Historic Preservation Program

  The Advisory Council for Historic Preservation (ACHP) publishes on its website an overview of Federal Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) grants-in-aid for State, tribal, and local government programs.

  Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credits

  The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program is one of the Federal government’s most successful and cost-effective community revitalization programs. The Preservation Tax Incentives reward private investment in rehabilitating historic properties such as offices, rental housing, and retail stores.

  Federal Policy Ideas for Community Revitalization

  Federal Policy Ideas for Community Revitalization is a report from the Northeast-Midwest Institute that explores ways that federal policy can help older core cities and close-in suburbs with community revitalization challenges.

  Fertile Ground

  Fertile Ground is a report on the first year of Green Communities, a five-year, $555 million initiative to build more than 8,500 environmentally healthy homes for low-income families. The report states that the initiative exceeded expectations in its first year, as a diverse array of partners embraced the initiative’s holistic, cost-effective approach to sustainable development in low-income communities.

  Fever of Development, Frontier of Recovery: Securing the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Region

  Fever of Development, Frontier of Recovery: Securing the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Region is a July 2007 report from the Michigan Land Use Institute (MLUI) and the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance that provides guidance in understanding and responding to the purchase of 402 acres of Lake Michigan shoreline at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River in Saugatuck Township by an Oklahoma City energy company executive.

  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

  Financing Greenways

  The Environmental Finance Center (EFC) at the University of Maryland features a web resource that includes trail-building cost estimates from several Virginia communities as well as techniques to help partner with community members, raise funds, and seek grants for greenway programs.

  Five Star Restoration Awards -- 2007 Call for Entries

  The National Association of Counties, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Wildlife Habitat Council, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and its newest partner, Southern Company, invite applications for the Five-Star Restoration Matching Grants Program.

  Florida Brownfields

  The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) maintains a website on the state's brownfield program, including information on state and federal initiatives, locations of active projects and designated brownfield areas, and more.

  Florida Chapter -- APA Awards

  The 2006 Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association (FAPA) Awards showcase comprehensive and high-quality plans and regulations -- along with innovative approaches to planning issues -- as models and resources for other Florida communities.

  Florida Department of Health -- Smart Growth Presentation

  The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) offers a smart growth presentation that provides an overview of smart growth in the context of public health. This resource emphasizes the connection between public health and the built environment, and how following Smart Growth principles can benefit Florida.

  Florida Parks in the 21st Century: 2008 Report

  Florida Parks in the 21st Century 2008, a report from Trust for Public Land (TPL) that is based on data provided directly from city and county park departments, suggests that the need for local parks in Florida is growing. Local park departments have documented $10.5 billion they'll need to acquire land for new parks and maintain existing parks.

  Florida Smart Growth Advocates

  1000 Friends of Florida has compiled this list of local advocacy groups that are dealing with the impacts of growth on a daily basis. This online resource contains contact information for more than a dozen organizations.

  Focusing Our Vision: Planning for Sustainability in the San Francisco Region

  The Vision was created in 2002 by individuals and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area who believe that the region's population growth can be accommodated in a sustainable way. The Vision calls for the Bay Area to develop as a ''network of neighborhoods,'' where future growth is concentrated near transit and in the existing communities that surround the San Francisco Bay. Focusing Our Vision is the most recent effort to realize the Vision. Referred to as FOCUS, the program's nickname is fitting because it requires a FOCUS of efforts, resources and housing development in areas that will promote the long-term sustainability of the region.

  Food, Markets, and Healthy Communities

  Food, Markets, and Healthy Communities, a new report from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), discusses how food markets can affect low-income neighborhoods and provides several strong case studies that illustrate their significant impact, emphasizing that the presence of a high-quality food market is a critical component to a community’s physical and economic health.

  For the Greener Good: Public Lecture Series

  For the Greener Good is a public series that affirms the National Building Museum's commitment to environmental sustainability. It calls on experts from diverse backgrounds to investigate links between environmental sustainability and design, public health, energy policy, bioscience, infrastructure, education, and even popular culture.

  Foreclosure Response

  Foreclosure-Response.org is a website offering resources intended to help states and localities respond to the foreclosure crisis. This site is maintained by the Center for Housing Policy, KnowledgePlex, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and the Urban Institute.

  Foreclosure Response: Web Resources for States and Localities

  Foreclosure-Response.org is a website offering resources intended to help states and localities respond to the foreclosure crisis. The site is maintained by the Center for Housing Policy, KnowledgePlex, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and the Urban Institute.

  Form-Based Codes: Implementing Smart Growth

  Form-Based Codes: Implementing Smart Growth from the Local Government Commission is an eight-page fact sheet that discusses this innovative approach to regulating development and includes case studies and tips for preparing and administering a form-based code.

  Forum on Children and Nature

  The National Forum on Children and Nature is a diverse group of public and private leaders dedicated to reconnecting kids with nature. Hosted by The Conservation Fund hosts and comprised of four governors, three mayors, corporate CEOs, parks officials and others, the Forum's goal is to improve children's health and overall well-being, while encouraging them to rediscover America's landscape.

  Four Ways to Genuine Prosperity

  New Jersey Future has developed the Four Ways to Genuine Prosperity policy guide for state leaders committed to New Jersey's long-term prosperity. Featuring nearly two years worth of research and policy analysis, the guide also reflects the expertise and advice of many contributors and financial supporters.

  Fresh Food Financing Initiative Award

  The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, a public-private financing program that provides innovative financing solutions to supermarket operators in underserved communities to improve access to healthy and affordable food, was named one of the Top 50 Government Innovations for 2006 by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

  Friends of the High Line

  Friends of the High Line (FHL) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and reuse of the High Line, a 1.5-mile-long historic elevated rail structure on the West Side of Manhattan.

  From Brownfields to Housing

  Brownfield redevelopment -- the cleanup and reuse of abandoned properties with real or suspected contamination -- offers communities a range of housing opportunities, especially where market factors or a property's size or location restrict possibilities for commercial and industrial reuse.

  From Rags to Riches: Innovations in Petroleum Brownfields

  Almost every city and town contains a site with an underground storage tank (UST) that is affected by petroleum contamination or impacted by the perception that contamination exists. From Rags to Riches: Innovations in Petroleum Brownfields from the Northeast/Midwest Institute, describes the progress states and communities have made in addressing UST situations.

  From Wall Street to Your Street: New Solutions for Smart Growth Finance

  Commissioned by the Funders' Network, From Wall Street to Your Street: New Solutions for Smart Growth Finance reassess the current methods for smart growth finance and sketches out two different ''fixes'' for the problem of financing smart growth.

  Frontera Farmer Foundation Grants -- 2009

  The Frontera Farmer Foundation is committed to promoting small, sustainable Midwestern farms serving the Chicago area, by providing them with capital development grants. Small local farms, which often struggle financially, are more likely to promote biodiversity by planting a wide range of produce and operate using organic practices. By their artisanal approach to agriculture, the freshness of their product and the variety of their offerings, these farmers insure the highest quality food while they add immeasurably to the fabric of their local rural community.

  FTA Grant Programs

  A major way FTA helps communities support public transportation is by issuing grants to eligible recipients for planning, vehicle purchases, facility construction, operations, and other purposes.

  Funders' Network Publishes Health and Smart Growth Translation Paper

  The Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities has published its most recent translation paper: Health and Smart Growth: Building Health, Promoting Active Communities.

  Funders' Network: Looking Back

  To acknowledge and celebrate its 10th Anniversary in 2009, the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities commissioned Looking Back: Influencing, Networking, Facilitating, a retrospective on the efforts undertaken by the Network and its members over the past ten years.

  Funders' Network: Looking Forward

  To acknowledge and celebrate its 10th Anniversary in 2009, the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities Looking Forward: Perspectives on Future Opportunities for Philanthropy, a compilation of essays from leading thinkers in the movement for smarter growth policies and practices that challenge philanthropy to think about its role over the next ten years.

  Funding Brownfield Redevelopment

  The Community/School Partnership for Brownfields Development offers an online guide to funding brownfields redevelopment. The guide is part of the school curriculum developed by the Purdue EPICS team for the ''Our Town Project'' (OTP).

  Funding Resources for Farmers Markets

  The Farmers' Market Project promotes awareness among farmers' market managers of the increasing attention farmers' markets are receiving from private foundations, national-level non-governmental organizations, and new and existing opportunities for assistance from federal agricultural programs. The Project website includes a funding resources page, which provides information on financial assistance for local markets.

  Funding Search Database

  The Red Lodge Clearinghouse Funding Search resource is a searchable database of funding sources. Search options include by State, Interest, Type, or Funder, with subcategories for most options.

  Funding Sources -- Trails and Greenways

  National Trails Training Partnership has added a list of funding sources for trails and greenways proponents to the resources and archives section of its website.

  Gardening with Kids Awards

  Kids eat better and develop positive attitudes towards fruits and veggies when they grow and prepare these healthful foods themselves. The Wild Oats Gardening with Kids award will give 10 schools and youth organizations supplies to establish kitchen gardens, and provide tools and training for preparing nutritious meals with the resulting produce.

  Genius of Common Sense: Jane Jacobs and the Story of the Death & Life of Great American Cities

  Here is the first book for young people about Jane Jacobs, a heroine of common sense, a woman who never attended college but whose observations, determination, and independent spirit led her to far different conclusions than those of the academics who surrounded her. Illustrated with almost a hundred images, including a great number of photos never before published (with many by Robert Otter), this story of a remarkable woman will introduce her ideas and her life to young readers, many of whom have grown up in neighborhoods that were saved by her insights. It will inspire young people - and readers of all ages - and demonstrate that we learn vital life lessons from observing and thinking, and not just accepting what passes as ''conventional wisdom.''

  Geographic Information Systems: A Tool for Improving Community Livability

  This fact sheet from Local Government Commission contains examples of how communities have used GIS to improve the livability of their communities.

  Getting Density Right

  Getting Density Right from the Urban Land Institute is a book that describes tools used to better support compact development, including visioning, planning, and new regulations. Case studies profile the experiences of eight communities, the policy tools they used to encourage compact development, and the development projects built using the new regulations.

  Getting in Step: A Guide to Conducting Watershed Outreach Campaigns

  Nonpoint source pollution is our nation’s largest remaining water quality problem. This guide offers advice on how watershed groups, local governments, and others can maximize the effectiveness of public outreach campaigns to reduce nonpoint source pollution and protect the lakes, rivers, streams, and coasts that we treasure.

  Getting It Done: New Tools for Communities

  ''Getting It Done: New Tools for Communities,'' a conference by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation/Chicago (LISC/Chicago), drew more than 900 individuals from 24 Chicago neighborhoods and 56 cities for workshops, tours, and more.

  Getting It Together: Connecting Local Neighborhoods and National Advocates

  Getting It Together: Connecting Local Neighborhoods and National Advocates highlights the experience of organizations that have built complementary relationships between local practitioners and national advocates.

  Getting on Message: Making the Biodiversity-Sprawl Connection

  This message kit is a resource for outreach by nonprofits on issues related to biodiversity and sprawl.

  Getting Real about Urbanism

  How do you create a flourishing, livable place appealing to residents and visitors of all ages, incomes, and backgrounds? Offering a ground-breaking alternative to uniform, ''cookie-cutter'' urban designs, Getting Real About Urbanism is a book that describes techniques for creating ''Real Urbanism'' -- designing places with personality that reflect what is distinctive and original in a neighborhood, district, city, or region.

  Getting Smart about Climate Change

  Addressing climate change is a key component of creating more sustainable communities, and smart growth offers practical guidelines for communities looking to develop sustainably: it addresses new growth and development in a way that reduces their impact on the environment and their contributions to global climate change while supporting economic development and social equity–related goals.
  
  This report outlines nine strategies for successfully applying smart growth principles to climate concerns on the local and regional levels.
  
  The report can be downloaded free at the link below.

  Getting Started: A Guide for Creating School Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms

  Getting Started is a free 51-page guide designed and published by the Center for Ecoliteracy in collaboration with Life Lab Science Program, a national leader in garden-based education.

  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 the Message Out: Promoting Active Living

  This PowerPoint presentation examines ways to promote active living and pedestrian-friendly elements within communities.
  
  Using examples from Colorado communities, the presentation shows how a vision for active living can be defined in the comprehensive plan, and what language may be used to build these features into local government codes.
  
  Available online at the resource link below.

  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.

  Getting to Work: Reconnecting Jobs with Transit

  Getting to Work: Reconnecting Jobs with Transit from New Jersey Future reports that New Jersey residents spend more time getting to and from work than their counterparts in 48 of the 50 states -- but the state could reduce the stress and frustration of commuting, and advance several important public policy goals, by employing strategies to link job sites with public transportation, according to a research report released today by New Jersey Future.

  Getting Youth Involved in Planning

  The Active Living Resource Center offers this two-page fact sheet on getting youth involved in community planning.

  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.

  Global Development Awards

  The Global Development Network is accepting submissions for the Eighth Annual Global Development Awards and Medals Competition 2007. Carrying prizes in cash and travel worth nearly $240,000, this is the largest international competition on development research.

  Global Planners Network

  Recognizing that planners and their organizations throughout the world provide leadership in addressing many societal issues, the Global Planners Network was initiated to further the goal of globally connecting planning groups to assist each other and share best practices.

  Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes

  The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes honors outstanding young leaders who have made a significant positive difference to people and our planet.

  Glynwood Harvest Awards -- 2005

  Glynwood Center created the Harvest Awards program in 2003 to highlight work by individuals and organizations who are doing an exceptional job of supporting local and regional agriculture in order to inspire others to take action within their own communities. The Awards help to identify and disseminate “best practice” ideas which will inspire others to take action within their own communities and build urban/rural coalitions in support of responsible farmers.

  Glynwood Harvest Awards 2007

  Glynwood Center is preparing for the 5th Annual Harvest Awards which recognize innovative farmers, organizations, and businesses that are supporting sustainable regional food systems. The Center seeks your help in recognizing outstanding work by nominating someone whose work you admire.

  Go Green Winston Salem

  Celebrate with the City of Winston-Salem as they highlight the city's growing ''Green'' influence in everything from transportation to business, in a week-long celebration. A series of events is planned for September 15-19, including several elementary school presentations with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system, three unique forums focusing on ''Greening Your Business,'' ''Green Building and Sustainable Community,'' and ''Transportation.''

  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.

  Going to Town: New Urbanism Arrives in Northwest Michigan

  Going to Town: New Urbanism Arrives in Northwest Michigan, a new report from the Michigan Land Use Institute (MLUI), discusses a new approach to residential and commercial development that is saving tax dollars, protecting the environment, and increasing prosperity and quality of life in northern Lower Michigan.

  Golden Lands, Golden Opportunity: Preserving Vital Bay Area Lands

  Ridges and farms, watersheds and forests in the San Francisco Bay Area provide vital public benefits -- but many are still unprotected. Golden Lands, Golden Opportunity is a landmark report on the region's green infrastructure by hundreds of Bay Area land use leaders that calls for action to fully protect its greenbelt.

  Goldman Environmental Prize -- 2007 Awardees

  An Irish farmer jailed for his work in opposing Shell Oil's natural gas pipeline through his land and an Icelandic entrepreneur saving North Atlantic wild salmon by brokering innovative fishing rights buyouts with North Atlantic governments and commercial interests are among the winners of the 2007 Goldman Environmental Prize.

  Goldman Prize

  The Goldman Environmental Prize, established in 1990 by San Francisco civic leader and philanthropist Richard N. Goldman and his late wife, Rhoda H. Goldman, is the world's largest prize honoring grassroots environmentalists. Now in its 17th year, it has been awarded to 113 people from 67 countries. Prize winners are selected by an international jury from confidential nominations submitted by a worldwide network of environmental organizations and individuals.

  Golf Course Environmental Principles

  A group of leading golf and environmental organizations have jointly developed a set of principles that seek to produce environmental excellence in golf course planning and siting, design, construction, maintenance and facility operations.

  Good Design: The Best Kept Secret in Community Development

  Good Design, from Local Initiatives Support Corp., describes what good design is, why it’s essential to affordable housing that works, and who’s responsible for making it happen.

  Governor’s Awards for Downtown Excellence -- 2006 Nominations

  The Colorado Governor's Awards for Downtown Excellence is an annual program that recognizes the progress being made in revitalizing Colorado's historic downtown and neighborhood business districts and the contributions these districts are making to Colorado's quality of life and economy.

  Governor’s Awards for Downtown Excellence -- 2006 Presentations

  The Colorado Governor's Awards for Downtown Excellence is an annual program that recognizes the progress being made in revitalizing Colorado's historic downtown and neighborhood business districts and the contributions these districts are making to Colorado's quality of life and economy. The awards ceremony for 2006 will be held during the Colorado Community Revitalization Association's (CCRA's) annual meeting, scheduled for September 27-29, 2006 in Greeley, Colorado.

  Governor's Award for Downtown Excellence -- 2007 Nominations

  The Governor's Awards for Downtown Excellence is an annual awards program that recognizes the progress being made in revitalizing Colorado's historic downtown and neighborhood business districts and the contributions these districts are making to Colorado's quality of life and economy.

  Governor's Award for Downtown Excellence -- 2008 Award Winners

  The Governor's Awards for Downtown Excellence is an annual awards program that recognizes the progress being made in revitalizing Colorado's historic downtown and neighborhood business districts and the contributions these districts are making to Colorado's quality of life and economy. Winners in the 2008 competition are featured in this document.

  Grants Available for Community Forestry Projects

  Preproposals for Community Forestry Projects grants are due by December 10, 2002. More information on the program that will award grants in the categories of Promotion of Livable Communities through Urban and Community Forestry, Creative and Innovative Urban and Community Forestry Research and Technology Development is available at http://www.treelink.org/nucfac

  Grants for Educators -- S.F. Bay Region

  The Watershed Project is the sponsor of the Teacher Action Grants (TAG) program, which has distributed almost $380,000 to San Francisco Bay Area educators who have taken Kids in Creeks, Kids in Gardens, and Watching Our Watersheds workshops. By providing seed money in amounts up to $2,000 to cover direct expenses for classroom-based environmental studies, gardening, and restoration projects, Teacher Action Grants have educated and involved tens of thousands of students in local watershed-based projects, and increased awareness about natural resources in Alameda and Contra Costa counties for thousands of residents.

  Grants to Promote Farmers Markets

  U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced 20 grants totaling $900,000 to establish, expand or promote local farmers markets, roadside stands, and similar agricultural ventures under the new Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP).

  Grants/Loans Listing

  NextStep offers a Grant and Loan program listing that includes dozens of grant and loan programs focused on sustainability.

  Great American Main Street Awards -- 2009

  The National Trust for Historic Preservation has announced winners of its 2009 Great American Main Street Awards (GAMSA). In 2009, the five GAMSA winners range from a colorful mid-Atlantic beach town with year-round appeal, to a Baltimore neighborhood with a seafaring past and a bright future, to California wine country's best-kept secret.

  Great Cities Initiative

  The work of Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is grounded in on-site analysis and offers a unique community-based approach to revitalization. PPS's Great Cities Initiative assembles these services into a step-by-step program that any town, city, or region can systematically apply to improve its neighborhoods place by place.

  Great Lakes Coastal Planning

  The Great Lakes Coastal Communities webpages provide links to institutions addressing coastal resources planning as well as to links for general resources by topic.

  Great Plans, Great Communities

  Looking to illustrate the connection between planning and great places? APA's Community-Wide Audio/Web Conference Great Plans, Great Communities provides a striking introduction to planning and makes the case for the importance and wide-ranging benefits of planning.

  Greater Lansing Go Green Initiative

  The Greater Lansing Go Green! Initiative is working to promote environmental and economic health for all those who live, work, and play in Greater Lansing.

  Greater Washington 2050

  Greater Washington 2050 is a new regional initiative to improve the quality of life for Washington area residents in the next 50 years by fostering stronger regional awareness, leadership and action today and in the next few years.

  Green and Healthy Homes

  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requests proposals for the Green and Healthy Homes and Technical Studies Program. Through this RFP, HUD seeks to improve knowledge of the effects residential green construction has on both indoor environmental quality and occupant health, with a particular focus on children and other sensitive populations. It is expected that benefits would be most likely observed for respiratory health outcomes and reductions in irritation-related symptoms.
  
  Some $2.4 million expected to be available, up to 7 awards anticipated.
  
  Responses are due November 17, 2009.

  Green Apple Awards -- 2007

  The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) recognized notable leaders of high performance school building at the Greentools for Healthy Schools Conference awards luncheon, held September 27, 2007, in San Francisco, California. The Green Apple Awards were distributed to outstanding California school districts, school projects and industry leaders for their contributions to the green school movement.

  Green Building

  In the last few years, there has been a greater recognition within the green building field that sustainability is not just about buildings, but includes a focus on where and how we site our buildings, how the buildings are served by transportation, and the overall health of the communities that these buildings shape.

  Green Building Competition -- NYC

  The New York City Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning & Sustainability, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 are co-sponsors of the New York City Green Building Competition. Previously co-sponsored by the Office of Environmental Coordination in 2004 and 2006, this competition has attracted professionals and students from across the nation to present their innovative green building design projects and ideas for New York City.

  Green Building Grants -- Illinois

  The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation invests in clean energy development and land preservation efforts, working with communities and citizens to improve environmental quality in Illinois.

  Green Building Pages

  Green Building Pages is a sustainable building materials web database for the environmentally and socially responsible designer, builder and client.

  Green Building/Healthy Homes

  The Housing Assistance Council helps local organizations build affordable homes in rural America by providing below-market financing, technical assistance, research, training and information services. HAC's programs focus on local solutions, empowerment of the poor, reduced dependency, and self-help strategies.

  Green Buildings for All

  The City of Portland, Oregon's Office of Sustainability has developed this ''G/Rated'' website, a depository of green building technologies, case studies, specifications, and other technical resources.

  Green Communities Developer Incentives

  Green Communities is designed to help developers, investors, and builders make the transition to a greener future for affordable housing. Led by Enterprise, The Enterprise Social Investment Corporation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, Green Communities provides a package of financial incentives and other resources to affordable housing developers across the country.

  Green Communities' Green Tour

  Take a Green Community Tour with Enterprise's Green Communities. Trolley Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a 40-unit building that incorporates both retail and residential space. The location and neighborhood were chosen to minimize the building's environmental impact as well as to make the best use of available natural light and passive heating and cooling opportunities. The City of Cambridge identified Trolley Square, located on the site of a former trolley storage facility, as a critical location in the revitalization of the neighborhood.

  Green Communities News -- October 2008

  New opportunities in green affordable housing, sustainable Green Communities projects, and how HUD is promoting energy efficiency are all topics of discussion in the October 2008 Green Communities newsletter from Enterprise.

  Green Communities Newsletter -- July 2008

  News about winners in the first annual Sustainable Cities Awards program, a call for Congress to pass the Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods Act of 2008, and Rebuilding a Greener New Orleans are all topics of discussion in the July 2008 Green Communities newsletter from Enterprise.

  Green Communities Program

  Green Communities is a web-based toolkit and planning guide from the U.S. EPA that is designed to help communities access the tools and information to help them become more sustainable, Green Communities.

  Green Community: Essays on Community Health

  Based on the National Building Museum's exhibit, Green Community is a collection of thought-provoking essays that illuminate the connections among personal health, community health, and our planet's health.

  Green Government Initiative

  Launched in 2007, the NACo Green Government Initiative provides comprehensive resources for local governments on all things green, including energy, air quality, transportation, water quality, land use, purchasing and recycling.

  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 Ground Zero International Design Competition

  The WTC site in New York City is focus of the Green Ground Zero International Sustainable Design Competition. Entries should focus on ways to ''green'' the buildings that will surround the memorial on the World Trade Center grounds.

  Green Health Care

  Hospitals in the Premier healthcare alliance are taking the lead in helping healthcare organizations advance environmental sustainability to lower costs, promote quality and preserve the communities they serve. These efforts have been recognized for since 2004 by Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), now known as Practice Greenhealth.

  Green Infrastructure Case Study Series

  The Conservation Fund offers on its website the Green Infrastructure Case Study Series, a collection of reports from throughout the U.S. on efforts to promote smart land conservation that allow for both future growth and the protection of significant natural resources.

  Green Infrastructure Maps

  Natural Connections has produced a website offering a database of Green Infrastructure Maps that covers 14 counties extending out from the greater Chicago region, including the counties bordering the Wisconsin-Illinois and Illinois-Indiana state lines.

  Green Infrastructure: A Framework for Smart Growth

  This resource introduces the key elements of Green Infrastructure, the network of natural lands, open space, waterways, and smart growth design measures that form the framework for healthy and sustainable communities.

  Green Infrastructure: A Strategic Approach to Conservation

  Green Infrastructure is our nation's natural life support system -- an interconnected network of protected land and water that supports native species, maintains natural ecological processes, sustains air and water resources and contributes to the health and quality of life for America's communities and people.

  Green Maps

  The Green Map® System promotes inclusive participation in sustainable community development worldwide, using mapmaking as our medium.

  Green Metropolis

  Just about everything you think you know about the environment is wrong. Solar panels, electric cars, ethanol, big urban parks, and locavorism aren’t green; traffic jams, congestion, office towers, and crowded cities are. Green is not the country home in Vermont with the compost heap and the photovoltaic panels; it’s the concrete high-rise in New York City.
  
  In a persuasive and provocative challenge to established environmental thinking, David Owen’s Green Metropolis: What the City Can Teach the Country About True Sustainability challenges much of the conventional wisdom about being green and shows how the greenest place in the United States isn’t Portland, Oregon, or Snowmass, Colorado, but New York, New York.
  
  Owen—a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1991—states that while most Americans view congested cities as environmental calamities, with their pollution, garbage, and gridlock, residents of dense urban environments individually drive, pollute, consume, and throw away less than other Americans. Residents of New York City—the most densely populated community in the U.S.—consume less electricity than the average inhabitants of any other part of the country, generate greenhouse gases at a level far below the national average, and rank last in gasoline consumption and first in use of public transportation.
  
  New York City’s environmental efficiencies are the result of its extreme compactness: being forced to live in small spaces sharply reduces opportunities to be wasteful; gridlock and a scarcity of parking spaces makes driving prohibitive while proximity simultaneously renders walking, bicycling, and public transportation viable means of getting around. Put simply, it’s easier to be green in a crowded city. The ecological innocuousness of leafy exurban areas long favored by environmentalists is an illusion—spreading people thinly across the countryside may make them feel greener, but in fact it increases their damage to the environment. In the face of rapidly dwindling nonrenewable resources, we should not look to the country, but to the dense metropolis as a model of true environmentalism.
  
  In a radical departure from environmentalist dogma, David Owen’s Green Metropolis redefines what it means to be green, and offers vital insights into how to make our way to a more sustainable future. In this eye-opening and meticulously researched polemic, Owen argues that sustainability doesn’t depend on the acquisition of fancy new “green” gadgetry or the advent of new energy-related technologies, but on lo-fi solutions already at work in dense cities around the globe. We already have a good idea of what we need to do, or at least how to get started.
  
  Publisher: Riverhead Books. ISBN: 978-1-59448-882-5

  Green Playbook

  The Playbook, a web-based resource, provides strategies, tips, and tools that cities and counties can use to take immediate action on climate change through: Green building, green neighborhoods, and sustainable infrastructure. The Playbook is designed both for communities that are considering making the first steps toward these, as well as for those who want to take existing efforts to a new level.

  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.

  GREEN reModel Initiative

  As part of the Earth Day Network's Green Schools Campaign, the GREEN reModel Initiative will carefully select five public low-income, urban schools and transform them into national models of high performing and sustainable schools over the next five years.

  Green Scene: Eco-Friendly Building Design for Schools

  ''Green Scene: Students Appreciate Sustainable, Eco-Friendly Building Design'' is a feature on the Edutopia website that looks at how students at a Texas elementary school don't just study textbooks to learn about the environment and sustainability. They're surrounded by it.

  Green Schools Fact Sheet

  Earth Day Network's Green Schools Campaign, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and The Clinton Foundation, aims to green all of America's K-12 schools within a generation. This Green Schools Fact Sheet provides information on why green schools make sense.

  Green Schools Funding -- City of San Jose

  The City of San Jose, California, maintains a web page on Funding for Green Schools on the Environmental Services pages of its website.

  Green Schools Grants -- Massachusetts

  The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) manage the Green Schools Initiative, a funding program that helps communities conserve energy and use clean energy technologies to power school projects approved for construction by the MSBA.

  Green Schools Toolkit

  Southface's Green Schools Toolkit is a web-based resource designed to provide K-12 schools with resources specifically geared for school designers and builders, energy and facility managers, superintendents and boards of education, as well as teachers, students and parents.

  Green Space Funding -- Atlanta, Georgia

  The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation aims to help develop a system of ''Great Parks'' in Atlanta, tied to the larger vision of how public space connects the entire community. By providing support, the Foundation wants to help create parks and ensure that they are high quality, well-maintained and protected. Most of all, they must be accessible and available to all the citizens.

  Green Squad

  An interactive website that outlines steps for reviewing practices in and around schools and their effects on health and the environment. This program is suited for both youth and adults.

  Green Wall Design Award -- 2008

  Green Roofs for Healthy Cities recognized the Vancouver Aquarium in its 2008 Awards of Excellence with a Green Wall Design award.

  Greenbelt Alliance Wins Award for Smart Growth Scorecard

  Greenbelt Alliance received the 2007 Education Project Award for its Bay Area Smart Growth Scorecard from the California chapter of the American Planning Association (APA).

  GreeNetwork Update eNewsletter -- Iowa

  The GreeNetwork is a free electronic newsletter that is sent out every 4-6 weeks by staff of the Iowa Department of Economic Development's Community Development Division.

  Greenfield Development Without Sprawl

  Greenfield Development Without Sprawl: The Role of Planned Communities is the second in a series of papers by noted authors on land use policy and practice issues of pressing concern to ULI members and the broader real estate and land use community.

  Greening America's Capitals

  Greening America's Capitals is a project of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities between EPA, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to help state capitals develop an implementable vision of distinctive, environmentally friendly neighborhoods that incorporate innovative green building and green infrastructure strategies. This program will assist three to four communities per year, with the first projects beginning in the fall of 2010.
  
  EPA will offer technical assistance by funding a team of designers to visit each city to produce schematic designs and exciting illustrations intended to catalyze or complement a larger planning process for the pilot neighborhood. Additionally, these pilots could be the testing ground for citywide actions, such as changes to local codes and ordinances to better support sustainable growth and green building. The design team and EPA, HUD, and DOT staff will also assist the city staff in developing specific implementation strategies.
  
  The assistance may include, but is not limited to, the following issues:

  • Brownfield or infill redevelopment
  • Aligning transportation and housing choice
  • Climate change response planning
  • Engaging disadvantaged communities
  • Public art and civic design strategies
  • Green and energy efficient building strategies
  • Green infrastructure for multiple community benefits

  EPA is providing this design assistance to help support sustainable communities that protect the environment, economy, and public health and to inspire state leaders to expand this work elsewhere. Greening America's Capitals will help communities consider ways to incorporate smart growth strategies into their planning and development to create and enhance interesting, distinctive neighborhoods that have multiple social, economic, and environmental benefits.
  
  This design assistance is being made available to all 50 state capital cities, plus the District of Columbia. EPA is soliciting letters of interest from mayors of state capitals. Any city department, office, or agency may submit the letter of interest, but only one proposal should be submitted on a city's behalf.

  Greening the World's Capital Cities

  How do some of the world's best-known national capitals contribute to creating an environmentally and socially sustainable world? And how do they build successful support for sustainable development? Learn what capital cities are doing to lead the way to a greener planet in this report from the Capitals Alliance.

  GreenSpace Partners

  GreenSpace Partners is a program of the Green Institute, a Minneapolis organization whose goals are to restore a healthy environment and create economic opportunity through sustainable community development.

  GreenWorks Grants: Fall 2009

  GreenWorks! grants engage educators and their students with their local community in ''learning-by-doing'' environmental projects. Student leadership, service-learning, and community participation are the cornerstones to GreenWorks! projects. These grassroots action projects enable schools and youth organizations across the country to make a positive impact on their communities. Applications are now open for Fall 2009.

  Greyfields into Goldfields: From Failing Shopping Centers to Great Neighborhoods

  This report reveals how abandoned or obsolete shopping centers are ideal sites for transit-oriented, mixed-use development.

  Groundswell: Stories of Saving Places, Finding Community

  Published by the Trust for Public Land, Groundswell: Stories of Saving Places, Finding Community celebrates the role of land conservation in preserving community character and connecting people to the land and to each other.

  Growing by Choice or Chance

  Growing by Choice or Chance details how South Carolina communities have an opportunity to direct their growth through more efficient land use that decreases the amount of land developed to accommodate population growth, and offers more variety in how people live, work and shop.

  Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change

  In Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, a 2007 book published by the Urban Land Institute, a team of leading urban planning researchers report that the key to mitigating climate change is less auto-dependent development, and that key changes in land development patterns could help reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.

  Growing Economy, Shrinking Emissions: A Transit-Oriented Future for Connecticut's Capital Region

  This new report illustrates a strategy for growth in Greater Hartford that expands housing and transit options while reducing our transportation-related carbon emissions. At the May 2009 Redesigning the Edgeless City workshop, a diverse group of planners, environmentalists, community advocates, and business people met in Hartford to discuss the link between transportation and development and to test how coordinated land use and transportation policies could impact Greater Hartford. RPA has analyzed existing zoning regulations of each town in the CRCOG region and found that housing and commercial development produced by current policies would raise emissions by 22% without even meeting the anticipated needs of our residents or supporting pending public transit investments. The report documents alternative transit-based scenarios developed at the May meeting which would reduce the projected growth in emissions by 11% and provide access to transit necessary to reduce our dependence on automobiles, saving the average household in the region approximately $360 each year in gas cots alone.
  
  Growing Economy is a template for the type of regional planning that will be supported by the recently announced HUD/DOT/EPA Sustainable Communities initiative--planning which combines economic development, housing supply and demand, environmental quality, and transportation needs of a region into an integrated and achievable vision. As Tisha Ferguson of Connecticut Fund for the Environment tells us, Growing Economy is ''a blueprint for making the right choices to reconnect the urban and outlying communities, creating a vibrant urban hub and realizing Hartford's potential for regional economic leadership.''
  
  The report was prepared in recognition that the Hartford region is about to invest in two transformative transit projects: the New Britain-Hartford busway, expected to receive a full-funding grant agreement later this year from the federal New Starts program, and the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter rail, now completing its environmental assessment. RPA estimates that transit-oriented development can reduces miles driven by the average Hartford-area household by 2,400 miles per year, reducing the need for a second or third car. Given the challenges faced in shifting to renewable energy, more efficient cars, and more efficient buildings, transit-oriented development represents a strategy to harness private investment to achieve the State of Connecticut's carbon emissions reduction goals of 10% below 1990 levels by 2020.
  
  Growing Economy was produced with the support of Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in cooperation with Capitol Region Council of Governments.

  Growing Green Awards

  The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is honoring leaders in the field of sustainable food through the Growing Green Awards.

  Growing Power: Developing Community Food Systems

  Growing Power, a national nonprofit organization and land trust, transforms communities by supporting people from diverse backgrounds and the environments in which they live through the development of Community Food Systems.

  Growing Smarter at the Edge

  Growing Smarter at the Edge, a new publication from the Sonoran Institute, reviews and evaluates urban edge development associated with large-scale planned communities, or master-planned communities.

  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.''

  Growing Together: City/County Smart Growth Profiles

  Joint Center for Sustainable Communities. 1999. This report highlights six case studies where multiple jurisdictions teamed up to create solutions to common land-use problems.

  Growing Together: Consensus Building, Smart Growth and Change

  Many communities are finding the issue of how to grow a divisive one. Growing Together: Consensus Building, Smart Growth and Change from the New England Environmental Finance Center is a film that offers an alternative to the discord and stalemate that too often occurs over how to approach change as a community -- ''consensus building.''

  Growing with Less Greenhouse Gases

  This National Governors Association report cites expanding transportation choices, conserving greenspaces, and promoting new community designs as effective smart growth strategies for reducing greenhouse gases.

  Growth Management for Florida’s Future

  Growth Management for Florida’s Future is a position paper from 1000 Friends of Florida that analyzes the growth management practices the state has used for the past two decades, and offers recommendations for how the state can be more instrumental in helping to build better communities.

  Growth Management, Smart Growth, and Affordable Housing

  This discussion examines why an emphasis on affordable housing is critical to the success of growth management and smart growth.

  GSA Regional Studies Grants: Envisioning the Future of the Federal Workplace

  In order to promote a guiding vision for the future of federal work in the Washington region, the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Public Building Service will award competitive grants in the range of $50,000 to $500,000 for coordination, planning, and research efforts that explore fundamental questions related to the form, location, and design of federal offices over the next 10 to 50 years in the National Capital Region. The maximum aggregate value of the grants is $500,000.

  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.

  Guidelines for Walking School Bus -- Spanish

  The Atlanta Bicycle Campaign offers a Walking School Bus Guidelines fact sheet in Spanish. This two-page fact sheet is part of an educational program package designed to promote alternative means for children to get to school.

  Guides and Manuals of “Better Practice” -- UK

  This three-part essay discusses the general national planning situation in Britain, specifically dealing with that in force in England. Urban Design Issues, Planning Tools, and Planning Guidelines are discussed in the context of recent British development trends.

  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.

  Hard Lessons: Michigan’s School Construction Boom

  The Michigan Land Use Institute (MLUI) presents this report on new school contruction in Michigan. Hard Lessons asks whether building bigger, newer schools is always best for students and communities. The report concludes that new school construction is raising tax, economic, and community stability issues with long-term consequences.

  Harvard Green Campus Initiative: Vision 2020 Event Resources

  The ''Harvard Vision 2020: A Bridge to Campus Sustainability'' Conference featured three days of discovery and discussion involving prominent keynote addresses, interdisciplinary panels of faculty, staff, students and alumni, corporate and government leaders, workshops, special events and networking opportunities. Resources from this event are now available online.

  Health Issues, Access to Healthy Foods Are Focus of November 2006 Getting Smart! Newsletter

  The latest issue of Getting Smart! is now available for all Smart Growth Network members in the Members Section. This edition of Getting Smart! brings health issues front and center, with a particular focus on access to healthy food. Featured articles include ''Linking Land Use Planning and the Food Environment'' and ''Food Policy Councils: Access to Healthy Foods as an Element of Smart Growth.''

  Healthy and Sustainable Food Policy for San Francisco

  On July 9, 2009, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom Issued an Executive Directive 09-03: ''Healthy and Sustainable Food for San Francisco.'' In this directive the city ''declares its commitment to increasing the amount of healthy and sustainable food.''

  Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice

  The Conservation Law Foundation's (CLF's) Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice Program works to ensure that New England's communities are vibrant and healthy places for people of all ages, regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic status, today and in future generations.

  Healthy Communities Initiative

  The Regional Plan Association Healthy Communities Initiative, supported by the Centers for Disease Control, the Milbank Memorial Fund, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, restores the historic relationship between the disciplines of town planning and health science.

  Healthy Community Design

  Healthy Community Design: Success Stories from State and Local Leaders profiles the notable efforts of elected and appointed government leaders who are supporting healthy community design across the nation. Some of these efforts stem from a desire to support economic development, others to decrease environmental degradation or improve residents’ quality of life. But all of the policy changes and programming efforts have a positive effect on health because they support community design that provides more opportunities for people to engage in routine physical activity.

  Healthy Community Design Video

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have posted a streaming video, Healthy Community Design, that discusses the benefits of walkable communities as they relate to health, the environment, and social interaction. Dr. Howard Frumkin, Director of the National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR), hosts the video.

  Healthy Community Grant Program

  The Healthy Community Grant is a competitive program funded by Ward Edwards to encourage creative solutions for existing environmental problems, plant seeds for innovation in stewardship, and recognize tangible efforts that lead to long-term sustainable benefits. Ward Edwards will invest up to $10,000 in projects that promote or improve environmental sustainability in coastal South Carolina and Georgia.

  Healthy Food, Healthy Communities

  Healthy Food, Healthy Communities: Improving Access and Opportunities through Food Retailing, is a PolicyLink report that outlines how the lack of local access to healthy, affordable food affects what people eat, and ultimately threatens both individual and community vitality -- residents risk obesity and other poor health conditions, and communities suffer. this issue and provides solutions. Healthy Food, Healthy Communities highlights three of the most promising strategies: developing new grocery stores, improving the selection and quality of food in existing smaller stores, and starting and sustaining farmers’ markets.

  Healthy Kids Healthy Communities

  The Local Government Commission (LGC) offers Healthy Kids Healthy Communities, a brochure that provides examples of cities, counties and school districts working together to address childhood obesity. It offers ideas and guidance that will help local government officials leverage community resources and identify opportunities for collaboration, and also provides resources and references to assist policy-makers in developing and implementing new initiatives.

  Healthy Living Resource Guide

  This website from the Michigan Department of Community Health and the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness is designed to help communities promote healthy physical activity.

  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.

  Healthy Streets Campaign

  The goal of the Healthy Streets Campaign is to make physically active transportation safe, convenient and fun. The Campaign is working to redesign streets around the needs of people rather than motor vehicles alone. The Healthy Streets Campaign aims to effect a balanced transportation environment that more wisely allocates resources and space to encourage walking, bicycling and public transit -- and re-creates streets to better serve all aspects of community life.

  Healthy Transportation Network

  The Healthy Transportation Network website provides walking and bicycling safety information -- doing it safely, for everyday transportation, and in supportive environments.

  Heart and Soul Community Planning -- 2008 Request for Proposals

  The Orton Family Foundation has issued a call for proposals for the 2008 Heart and Soul Community Planning award, open to communities in select New England and Rocky Mountain states. This is a partnership opportunity for four communities to receive funding and technical assistance on major community visioning and planning projects.

  Heritage Dividend

  English Heritage (with EEDA & the HLF) has recently launched the results of research into the regeneration impact of heritage investment in the East of England. Included in the report are 11 case studies showing local success stories.

  Heritage Preservation Fund Grants

  The National Park Service offers grants through their Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). Since 1968, over $1 billion in grant funds has been awarded to 59 States, territories, Indian Tribes, local governments, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

  Hidden in Plain Sight: Capturing the Demand for Housing Near Transit

  Hidden in Plain Sight: Capturing the Demand for Housing Near Transit, a new study by Reconnecting America’s Center for Transit Oriented Development, shows that demand for compact housing near transit is likely to more than double by 2025.

  High Performance Schools School Planning Kit

  The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS, often pronounced ''chips'') aims to increase the energy efficiency of schools in California by marketing information, services, and incentive programs directly to school districts and designers. The Collaborative offers a School Planning Kit promoting the design of high performance schools: environments that are not only energy efficient, but also healthy, comfortable, well lit, and containing the amenities needed for a quality education.

  Higher-Density Development -- Myth and Fact

  Higher-Density Development -- Myth and Fact from the Urban Land Institute examines eight widespread misconceptions about higher-density development and dispels them with well-researched facts and examples of quality, compact developments.

  Historic Neighborhood Schools Success Stories

  Preservation success stories are crucial tools for Americans trying to keep historic schools as vital parts of their communities. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, supported in part by the National Center for Preservation Training and Technology, has compiled Historic Neighborhood Schools Success Stories, showing how people across the country are preserving architectural landmarks, holding onto neighborhood anchors, and creating uniquely enriching educational settings.

  Historic Preservation -- Disaster Response

  Disasters, natural and otherwise, can be devastating to historic properties. The American Council on Historic Preservation website includes a list of federal disaster relief programs that focus on providing financial assistance for structural rehabilitation after a disaster, or proactive efforts to reduce or prevent future potential damage.

  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 Preservation and Sustainability

  The National Trust for Historic Preservation has created a webpage that focuses on how historic preservation can help the environment, and is part of the organization's Sustainability Initiative that will demonstrate how older buildings can ''go green.''

  Historic Preservation Funding

  The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a partner in the Smart Growth Network, maintains a page on its website focusing on Nonprofit Organization and Public Agency Funding for nonprofit organizations and federal, state, or local government agencies.

  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.

  Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction

  Following five regional competitions, 15 Award-winning projects will now compete in the first global Holcim Awards competition for sustainable construction projects. The global phase of the competition showcases the best entries from more than 1500 submissions from 118 countries, and encourages innovative, future-oriented and tangible approaches within the building and construction industry.

  Holding The Line: Urban Containment In The United States August 2002

  Policies designed to deliberately control the spread of urban areas are increasing in popularity throughout the United States. Several states, and many local governments in the west, are adopting urban growth boundaries and other containment measures in their land-use planning laws and legislation. Whatever the primary purpose, it is clear that the precise impacts of containment policies are not well understood. This paper reviews the research on urban containment generally, and also examines the experience of such policies in particular metropolitan areas. It discusses some lessons learned and raises relevant research questions for practitioners as well as policymakers at the state and local level.

  HOME House Winners

  The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) has announced the 25 HOME House Project Award Winners for 2005. SECCA challenged designers and architects to propose new designs for single family housing for low-and moderate-income families using Habitat for Humanity's basic three-and-four bedroom house as a point of departure.

  Housing Affordability

  Housing Affordability is the focus of ICMA's October 2007 Management Perspective white paper. It includes tools, resources, and strategies that local government leaders can use to expand and support home ownership in their communities.

  Housing and Transportation Affordability Index

  The Housing and Transportation Affordability Index, a pilot pilot project led jointly by Reconnecting America's Center for Transit-Oriented Development and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, integrates housing and transportation costs into a single measure, correcting a pervasive information gap. The index will help local and regional planners understand the housing costs and ''location costs'' of building housing and transportation. Potential home buyers and renters, finance agencies, public and private-sector real estate developers, housing lenders, and secondary market actors can use the index to better understand the full cost of the homes they purchase.

  Housing Strategies for Houston

  Houston, one of America’s largest and fastest growing cities, faces a daunting challenge: by 2025, the city’s population is expected to double with an additional two million citizens. Housing Strategies for Houston: Expanding Opportunities outlines recommendations of a team of national experts for realizing a new vision.

  Housing Toolkit

  The National Trust for Historic Preservation has created a toolkit that shares their work and the work of others in the three critical areas that affect Housing: Public Policy, Financing, and Housing Practices.

  Houstonians Discuss Growth: 3-Part Video

  Shaping Our Future Growth, a local, town-hall-meeting-style discussion on improving quality of life in Houston, Texas, is available for video streaming online. This three-part series was aired by Houston 8 PBS television on their ongoing local issues show, ''Houston Have Your Say.''

  How Architects Can Become Advocates for Livable Communities

  How Architects Can Become Advocates for Livable Communities is the new advocacy guide from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) offering architects the tools they will need to advocate for livable communities.

  How Cities Use Parks

  The City Parks Forum has begun an initiative to produce a series of briefing papers on ''How Cities Use Parks For ...'' to provide information on how healthy parks are fundamental to many aspects of community prosperity.

  How Does Your Garden Grow? Brownfields Redevelopment and Local Agriculture

  How Does Your Garden Grow? Brownfields Redevelopment and Local Agriculture is a fact sheet from the U.S. EPA that highlights the work of communities that have turned brownfield sites into community gardens and farmers markets.

  How Green is My Town

  ''How Green Is My Town?'' is a project of Grassroots Environmental Education, a non-profit organization based in Port Washington, New York. It began with a simple question from one of the organization's board members: ''How do I know if my town is really green?''

  How Have Recent Rezonings Affected the City's Ability to Grow?

  In the fall of 2009, the Bloomberg Administration celebrated its 100th rezoning, a significant milestone in an unprecedented series of rezoning actions that have affected more than one fifth of New York City. Despite the intense scrutiny that has accompanied many individual rezonings, no analysis had been done to look at the cumulative impact that these actions have had on the City's capacity to accommodate new residential growth. A new report by NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy fills that gap.
  
  The report examines the rezonings that took place between 2003 and 2007, and finds that of the 188,000 lots that were included in a City-initiated rezoning action, 23 percent were downzoned, 14 percent were upzoned, and almost 63 percent were subject to a contextual-only rezoning (a term for a rezoning that does not significantly change the buildable capacity but otherwise limits the kind of building allowed). Despite the small share of upzonings, on net, these actions increased the City's capacity for new residential building by 1.7 percent, or roughly 100 million square feet of residential capacity.
  
  ''Given the scale of rezoning activity during this time, it is critical to take a step back and ask: 'what is the net impact on the City’s capacity to accommodate new growth?''' said Vicki Been, faculty director of the Furman Center. ''While we find that on paper, the upzonings have added more capacity than the downzonings have taken away, we also find reason to doubt that all of this new capacity will be built out for residential use, and it remains unclear whether we are on track for creating enough new residential capacity to accommodate the one million new New Yorkers that are expected to live in the City by 2030.''
  
  The report finds that different areas of the City have not received equal shares of the new capacity for future growth: Queens and Manhattan had the biggest increases in residential capacity (2.8 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively); Staten Island and Brooklyn had more modest gains (1.4 percent and 1.2 percent gains, respectively); and the Bronx had no net change. The report also finds that capacity changes from rezonings varied widely from neighborhood to neighborhood.
  
  Because there are competing development pressures in the mixed-use areas where new residential capacity has been added, the report questions how much these rezonings will result in new housing units, and cautions that these rezonings alone will not be enough to generate housing to accommodate expected growth.
  
  The report also looks at the distributional implications of where capacity was added and where it was lost. First, it looks at the socio-economic characteristics of rezoned neighborhoods. The report finds that upzoned lots tended to be located in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of black and Hispanic residents than the median neighborhood in the City. On the other hand, downzoned and contextually-only rezoned lots were more likely to be located in tracts with a higher share of white residents, and smaller shares of black and Hispanic residents than the City median. In addition, the report finds that contextual-only rezoned lots tended to be in areas with much higher median income than that of the City as a whole, while upzoned and downzoned lots were in areas with median incomes lower than the City.
  
  ''There is no general agreement on whether it is good or bad for one's neighborhood to be upzoned or downzoned,'' commented Been. ''On the one hand, upzonings can bring needed investment and economic development. On the other, they can lead to congestion and additional strain on a neighborhood’s infrastructure. The variation in the pattern of rezonings among communities with different socio-economic characteristics calls for a larger conversation about how the benefits and burdens of development should be shared across the City. We hope this analysis will spur new discussions about ways to ensure the City’s land use processes result in efficient, sustainable and fair zoning changes.''
  
  The report also looks at the relationship between the rezonings and the transit accessibility of the neighborhoods that gained and lost capacity. Consistent with the City’s announced goal of channeling growth to transit rich neighborhoods, it finds that the vast majority of new residential capacity was added in transit rich areas (those within a half-mile walk of a rail entrance). However, the report also finds that a majority of downzoned lots were located in transit rich areas, raising questions about whether rezoning decisions are sufficiently coordinated with infrastructure planning. Accordingly, the report encourages enhanced coordination between the Department of City Planning and the agencies responsible for the City's infrastructure and neighborhood planning.
  
  Finally, the report points to the need for a better understanding of the impact of contextual-only rezonings. A large majority of all rezonings enacted over this time period were contextual-only, yet little is known about the effect these rezonings will have on the cost of building or the kind of development that will take place in rezoned communities. The Furman Center plans to tackle these questions in future research.

  How Portland Does It.

  The Atlantic Monthly, November 1992. A city that protects its thriving, civil core.

  How Shall We Grow: Creating a Shared Vision for Central Florida

  As Central Florida faces the opportunities and challenges associated with the projected doubling of our population from 3.5 million citizens in 2006 to 7.2 million in 2050, the region has been given the opportunity to be the first in Florida to create a shared vision to answer the question, ''How Shall We Grow?''

  How to Create a Vibrant Waterfront

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  How We Live: A NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

  The first installment of a new series examining issues affecting people's daily lives. Ray Suarez has the first report which looks at urban sprawl in Atlanta, Georgia.
  
  Available in transcript, streaming video, and RealAudio.

  HUD Announces Awards Program for Removing Regulatory Barriers

  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) presents a new national award award to recognize communities that have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in eliminating regulatory barriers to housing affordability.

  Hudson River Valley Greenway Grants -- New York

  The Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council provides community planning grants and technical assistance through the ''Greenway Communities Grant Program'' to help communities develop a vision for their future and tools to achieve it by balancing economic development and resource protection objectives.

  Humanitarian Award

  American Farmland Trust (AFT) has been named the winner of Bon Appétit magazine’s Humanitarian Award for 2004. AFT Board Chairman Doug Wheeler is one of 12 American Food & Entertainment Award winners featured in the October 2004 issue of the leading culinary magazine.

  ICLEI Case Studies Available Online

  The ICLEI Case Studies series is now available online. The Series dates back to the late 1990s and chronicle locally-based projects that support sustainability. Each study documents:

  • the local context of the project
  • the anatomy of the project
  • results
  • lessons learned
  • the project's replication potential
  • budgeting and financial

  ICLEI Local Initiatives Awards

  You are invited to apply for the 2006 ICLEI Local Initiatives Awards. The 2006 ICLEI Local Initiatives Awards consist of two types of awards: the Cities Enjoy Bicycles Awards, which focuses on non-motorized vehicle use in urban transportation and the Judy Walker Memorial Prize, which focuses on Member-to-Member cooperation and exchange. The application deadline for these awards is October 31, 2005.

  ICMA 2006 Community Sustainability Award

  The Municipality of Mosman, New South Wales, Australia, and Vivian H. R. May, general manager, earned a Community Sustainability Award in the population category of 10,000-49,999 for their Community Environmental Contract at the 92nd Annual Conference of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), held in September 2006.

  ICMA to Host Urban Forestry Webcast; Free to First 100 Registrants

  On May 18, 2004, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) will host a webcast, Seeing Green with Trees The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Urban Forests, to provide an overview of how trees have been used by local governments to meet their regulatory requirements, save money, and improve community quality of life.

  ICMA TV

  ICMA TV is a web television channel dedicated to covering the events and issues of importance to International City/County Management Association (ICMA) members. The channel is regularly updated with new films, features and coverage on topics which emerge at home and overseas.

  Idaho Grow Smart Awards

  Idaho Smart Growth created the Grow Smart Awards program in 2005 to recognize exemplary efforts in planning and development that keep our communities vibrant and our lands healthy.

  Idaho Smart Growth Awards

  Idaho Smart Growth announced winners of its 2007 Grow Smart Awards at a ceremony held Novermber 15, 2007.

  Idaho Smart Growth Awards -- 2008

  Now in its fourth year, Idaho Smart Growth's statewide ''G