Category: Partnership and Main

A redevelopment site in Denver, Colorado is seeking to create healthy lifestyles through healthy environments. The project, called Mariposa, featured in the New York Times this week, has gone to great lengths to improve the quality of life for its residents.

New Orleans, LA has received a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities grant to investigate beginning a bikeshare program. New Orleans is one of five grants funded by the EPA focusing on planning bikeshare programs.

The town of Brattleboro, Vermont has received a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Building Blocks Sustainable Communities grant to aid in incorporating smart growth principles into local codes. Brattleboro is among 43 communities nationwide to receive a grant, and one of nine grants to focus on Sustainable Strategies for Small Cities and Rural Areas.

In advance of President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight, we’re taking a look at the state of the administration’s work on development in the United States.

2012 saw a number of stellar advancements in federal policies that coordinate land use, housing and transportation. A number of federal programs as well as improvements to existing ones are helping communities across the country develop in ways that are cost efficient and promote broader economic growth.

The ongoing work of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities is the foremost example of this. The Partnership is an innovative program that helps communities more effectively coordinate federal housing, transportation, water, and other infrastructure investments. This work helps make neighborhoods more economically resilient, allows people to live closer to jobs, saves households time and money, and supports municipal budgets.

Aerial photos of New Jersey coastline in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Photo by DVIDSHUB via Flickr.

Three months after Superstorm Sandy crippled coastal communities along the East Coast, Congress passed a $50.5 billion package on Monday to aid victims of the storm and accelerate re-building efforts.

The largest portion of the spending bill includes $16 billion for the Housing and Urban Development Department’s Community Development Block Grants program (CDBG). Of that, about $12.1 billion will be shared among communities directly affected by Sandy as well as those from other federally declared disasters in 2011-2013.

An architect’s rendering of the future Spectrum Health Services building. Image via Spectrum Health Services.

Cleaning up contaminated land – known to environmental regulators as “brownfields” – has a long list of health benefits as a result of cleaner air, water and soil. Now, a cleaned up brownfield site might fix your sprained ankle, too.

The Partnership celebrates three years of work. Image via “Three Years of Helping Communities Achieve Their Visions for Growth and Prosperity.”

We’re doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the fourth of twelve installments.

In July, we celebrated the three year anniversary of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a groundbreaking collaboration between the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America (left) with representatives from seven communities honored with the 2012 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement.

On Wednesday evening in a hearing room on Capitol Hill, the winners of this year’s National Award for Smart Growth Achievement gathered to discuss how their projects are helping their communities become better places to live and work.

The awards this year went to projects that have improved streets, redeveloped historic buildings, built new homes and stores in the heart of downtown, created better transportation choices and more. And though the projects are all very different from one another, none would have been possible without community support and collaboration.

“That’s the word of the day, partnerships,” said Kenneth Chandler, former City Manager of the City of Portsmouth, VA. Portsmouth’s comprehensive overhaul of the city’s development and land use regulations won it the Programs and Policies award. Portsmouth’s new codes are already creating a more livable and pedestrian-friendly city with opportunities for economic development and reinvestment.