Miscellaneous Resources

American Planning Association
Growing Smart Initiative: States and their local governments now have new practical tools available to help combat urban sprawl, protect farmland, promote affordable housing, and encourage redevelopment. They appear in the American Planning Association's new Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook: Model Statutes for Planning and the Management of Change, 2002 Edition (Stuart Meck, FAICP, Gen. Editor). The Guidebook and its accompanying User Manual are the culmination of APA's seven-year Growing Smart project, an effort to draft the next generation of model planning and zoning legislation for the U.S.

APA Policy Guide on Smart Growth: In contrast to prevalent development practices, Smart Growth refocuses a larger share of regional growth within central cities, urbanized areas, inner suburbs, and areas that are already served by infrastructure. Smart Growth reduces the share of growth that occurs on newly urbanizing land, existing farmlands, and in environmentally sensitive areas. In areas with intense growth pressure, development in newly urbanizing areas should be planned and developed according to Smart Growth principles.

Congress for the New Urbanism
Extensive information, including a set of development principles in the Charter of the New Urbanism, is available on this site. New Urbanism is an urban design movement that burst onto the scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s. New Urbanists aim to reform all aspects of real estate development. Their work affects regional and local plans. They are involved in new development, urban retrofits, and suburban infill. In all cases, New Urbanist neighborhoods are walkable, and contain a diverse range of housing and jobs. new Urbanists support regional planning for open space, appropriate architecture and planning, and the balanced development of jobs and housing. They believe these strategies are the best way to reduce how long people spend in traffic, to increase the supply of affordable housing, and to rein in urban sprawl. Many other issues, such as historic restoration, safe streets, and green building are also covered in the Charter of the New Urbanism, the movement's seminal document.

Local Government Commission's Center for Liveable Communities
The Center for Livable Communities is a national initiative of the Local Government Commission (LGC). A nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization of elected officials, city and county staff, and other interested individuals throughout California and other states, the Local Government Commission helps local governments identify and implement solutions to today's problems.

The LGC, in collaboration with some of the country’s leading architects and planners, developed the Ahwahnee Principles for resource-efficient and livable communities. The Principles address key issues such as resource-efficient communities, economic development, efficient water use, and climate change.

National Association of Homebuilders
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is a federation of more than 800 state and local builders associations throughout the United States. The mission of this Washington, D.C.-based trade association is to enhance the climate for housing and the building industry, and to promote policies that will keep housing a national priority. Chief among NAHB's goals is providing and expanding opportunities for all consumers to have safe, decent and affordable housing. NAHB has adopted a Statement of Policy on Smart Growth, which includes the principles of:

• Meeting the Nation's Housing Needs
• Providing a Wide Range of Housing Choices
• A Comprehensive Process for Planning Growth
• Planning and Funding Infrastructure Improvements
• Using Land More Efficiently
• Revitalizing Older Suburban and Inner-City Markets

National Association of Counties - Link
A new publication, Local Tools for Smart Growth: Practical Strategies and Techniques to Improve our Communities is an extensive 60+ page document produced by NACO, the Joint Center for Sustainable Communities, and the Smart Growth Network.

National Center for Smart Growth Research (University of Maryland)
The National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education's Web site provides up-to-date research on smart growth currently being developed through the University of Maryland. The Center offers opportunities for both education and training, as well as a review of current research and publications being developed by the faculty and staff. Tools and services provided by the Center are designed to guide developers and policy makers towards "smarter" land use decisions.

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices
The Center is addressing the many faces of smart growth through a number of projects. The various aspects of suburban growth are being examined, including sprawl, infrastructure costs, transportation issues, environmental impacts, new community designs, connections to public health, and relationships to making communities more resistant to natural disasters. Other work focuses on the broad subject of urban revitalization as an important strategy to handle more future growth, including infill mixed-use projects, redevelopment of brownfields, preservation of historic buildings, smart building codes to facilitate rehabilitation of older structures, and housing and transportation issues. Another broad area is land and open space preservation that is used by states to serve a variety of purposes, including preserving farmland and other types of working lands, protecting natural habitats, providing improved protection of water and air quality, and maintaining a host of environmental amenities that are crucial to a high quality of life which in turn attracts workers and companies to places.

New Community Design to the Rescue: This report explains how states and communities can encourage New Community Design -- mixed-use, mixed-income, walkable development that is distinctly different from sprawl -- by eliminating institutional barriers in the marketplace. 

Natural Resources Defense Council
Through a range of projects, NRDC is working on smart-growth solutions that can help curtail sprawl and build more sustainable communities for the 21st century. Here are some key features of our smart-growth work:

• Developing resources and tools for smart growth.
• Promoting sensible federal policies to support smart growth.
• Creating a market incentive for living in smart-growth neighborhoods.
• Working on green-building design.
• Developing smart-growth tax credits.
• Controlling stormwater pollution through smart growth.

NRDC publishes books and other resources related to Smart Growth including Once There Were Greenfields and Solving Sprawl.

Smart Growth America
Smart Growth America is a nationwide coalition promoting a better way to grow; one that protects farmland and open space, revitalizes neighborhoods, keeps housing affordable, preserves scenic and historic resources, and makes communities more livable.

Greetings from Smart Growth America: This report begins with the results of nationwide poll we conducted in September, 2000, to determine Americans' support for alternatives to sprawl. The second chapter defines Smart Growth and how to achieve it. The third and fourth chapters describe Smart Growth solutions at work in communities around the country and make recommendations for action at the federal, state, and local levels, in the private sector and for citizens. 

Smart Growth Network
Set of development principles in an interactive format with case studies, etc. There is a very recent document, jointly published with the International City Manager's Association (ICMA), entitled Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation.

In 1996, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency joined with several non-profit and government organizations to form the Smart Growth Network (SGN). The Network was formed in response to increasing community concerns about the need for new ways to grow that boost the economy, protect the environment, and enhance community vitality. The Network's partners include environmental groups, historic preservation organizations, professional organizations, developers, real estate interests; local and state government entities.

Surface Transportation Policy Project
The Surface Transportation Policy Project is a diverse, nationwide coalition working to ensure safer communities and smarter transportation choices that enhance the economy, improve public health, promote social equity, and protect the environment.

The Trust for Public Land - Link
Greenprint for Growth: Greenprint for Growth is TPL's effort to promote land conservation as a smart growth strategy. Across the nation, hundreds of thousands of acres are lost each year to sprawl and inappropriate development. Conservation has become an important tool to stemming this loss, an equal partner with regulation and planning. TPL encourages communities to create a "greenprint" vision for future growth by setting aside land for quality of life, environmental protection and human well-being.

In 1999 and again in 2000, TPL singled out a half dozen communities as models in using greenprint conservation. Links to those "Greenprint Galleries" are found in this section of TPL's website, along with other conservation-for-smart-growth resources.

Urban Land Institute
The mission of the Urban Land Institute is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Extensive bookstore with publications on all aspects of development, including smart growth. The site has the publication Smart Growth Myth and Fact, a 22 page guidebook. ULI also publishes a free electronic bi-weekly newsletter titled Smart Growth E-News.