BREAKING NEWS: NATIONAL

Defense Department Plans for More-Walkable Communities
Planning guidelines recently issued by the US Department of Defense will revise military construction standards to include smart growth principles. The guidance applies to all military installations worldwide, and represents the first thorough rewrite of DoD's policy in a quarter-century. The guidelines call for compact development that incorporates mass transit, energy conservation, and mixed uses with residential housing close to shops and other businesses.

Community Design a Factor in Personal Satisfaction
In a keynote presentation at the recent Congress for New Urbanism conference, author Richard Florida said that "quality of place" is the most important factor in personal fulfillment. According to Florida, four factors influence this quality — walkable and mixed-use community design; the value a community places on the arts; the integration of the built and natural environments; and the degree to which a community values its history.

Compact Urban Development Going Mainstream
A shift in housing development from suburban sprawl to compact urban housing is going mainstream, according to a recent article in USA Today. According to the article, "The housing bust and recession have prompted developers to set their sights inward. When property values drop, so does investment. And because values dropped the most on the outer edges of metro areas, developers are paying attention to sites they never considered before."

More National News on the Smartgrowth.org website

BREAKING NEWS: STATE

Arizona || Mesa’s Innovative Zoning to Create More-Walkable Community
A recent article by Smart Growth America describes how Mesa is planning to become more walkable and economically resilient by improving their zoning codes. The “form-based code” focuses on how buildings function and interact with the street and community, rather than their use. The final draft for the form-based code is complete, and will be voted on by the Mesa City Council in the coming months.

Florida || Alachua County Wins Smart Growth Award
The nonprofit organization 1000 Friends of Florida has selected Alachua County to receive its Better Community Award. The award is given annually for plans and projects that use the principles of smart growth to create livable, vital environments. Alachua County’s mobility plan combines land use with innovative transportation approaches to guide future development.

Illinois || Chicago Parking Strategies Can Support Community Livability
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning has issued a report titled Parking Strategies to Support Livable Communities. Parking is among the largest land uses in the Chicago area, and properly managing parking can be an effective tool that municipalities can use to promote livability.

New York || Smart Growth Advances in Farmingdale
The Farmingdale Board of Trustees has approved a smart growth development project that will help revitalize the municipality’s downtown. The new mixed-use development of apartments and retail businesses will sit near the community’s busy Long Island Rail Road station, and will include a promenade that connects the station to downtown.

More State News on the Smartgrowth.org website

NEW FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Captain Planet Foundation Grants
This grant program provides funding to engage youth in active, hands-on projects to improve the environment in their schools and communities. Grant proposals are due on March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31.

2012 Safe Routes to School Award—Call for Applications
The Safe Routes to School Award will recognize a school or community that has improved the safety or increased the number of students who walk and bicycle to school. The application deadline is June 28, 2012.

New Partners Conference Call for Session Proposals:
Proposals accepted through June 30
Kansas City, Missouri
The Call for Session Proposals for the February 2013 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Kansas City, Missouri runs through June 30, 2012. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a breakout, workshop or focused training for this event, go to www.newpartners.org/program/cfsp/

The Affordable Green Neighborhoods Grant Program
The 2012 Affordable Green Neighborhoods Grant Program is now accepting applications. The program, in its second year, awards a grant of $25,000 in technical assistance and educational resources to affordable housing developers committed to building sustainable communities through the LEED for Neighborhood Development program. The program is sponsored by the US Green Building Council and the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.
Deadline for Application is August 10, 2012

More Funding Opportunities on the Smartgrowth.org website

UPCOMING EVENTS

June 7, 2012
Symposium: Walking and the Life of the City
New York, New York
This symposium focuses on the distinctive role that walking plays in city life. Researchers will address walking from many perspectives, including social and economic factors, as well as walking’s integration with other modes of travel.

June 20, 2012
Green Communities: Bringing Smart Growth and New Urbanism into LEED
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Smart Growth and New Urbanism are two leading strategies for sustainable design that complement green design in the new LEED for Neighborhood Development certification system. This workshop will explore these two planning philosophies and how they can be implemented.

June 28, 2012
10:00 - 11:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time
Webinar: Livable Idaho
During this first of a series of monthly webinars, an Idaho community will present the work they’ve done to become more livable, and will share lessons they’ve learned about partnering, collaboration, leveraging resources, and obtaining funding for sustainability projects.

August 27-29, 2012
Louisiana Smart Growth Summit
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The Louisiana Smart Growth Summit is an annual convening of elected officials, engaged citizens, and experts in community planning and growth. The 2012 summit will focus on smart growth in rural and coastal communities, financing and transportation issues, and project implementation.

More Events on the Smartgrowth.org website

NEW RESOURCES

Local Leaders in Sustainability: Green Building Incentive Trends
According to this new publication from the National Association of Counties, the most attractive incentives for greening American communities are also the most basic—tax incentives, density/floor area ratio bonuses and expedited permitting. The simpler the policy, the more likely it is to be implemented successfully, the report concludes.

Citizen’s Guide to Urban Design
Published by the Foundation for Louisiana, this guide provides citizen engagement strategies that are essential to equitable growth and development. Written for Louisiana but applicable across the nation, the guide can be used to facilitate dialog between residents, planners, and policymakers on issues impacting the character and future of communities.

Planning Los Angeles
This new book from the American Planning Association Press explores the greener side of Los Angeles. Essays from almost three dozen writers cover LA’s progress in green space preservation, planning for diverse communities, and accommodating transportation in the rapidly growing region.

More Resources on the Smartgrowth.org website

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Capital and jobs follow people, and talent is mobile. And what that talent is looking for is quality of place — dynamic, diverse neighborhoods, whether in cities or suburbs."

Shaun Donovan
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
http://tinyurl.com/DonovanSpeechAIA

A National Conversation On the Future of Our Communities: What's your vision for the future of your community? The Smart Growth Network (SGN) invites you to join in the first national conversation about how neighborhoods and regions could be planned, designed, and developed to meet the needs of current and future generations. This national conversation will occur over the next 12 to 18 months in a range of media and include a compendium of emerging issues along with innovative new ideas. Open Solicitation Papers Are Due June 30th, 2012. SGN is seeking short papers that discuss a particular issue that communities will be facing in the next 15 years. More details can be found at www.smartgrowth.org/nationalconversation.

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