The Smart Growth Leadership Institute is releasing new tools to assist communities with issues related to implementation of smart growth strategies and sustainable urban development. The new Smart Growth Implementation Toolkit, developed through a four-year technical assistance program and a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is intended to help communities with issues such as building support, identifying problematic policies, and other issues. An online discussion of the new toolkit hosted by the Institute and Knowledgeplex Experts is scheduled for Dec. 12, 2007, at 2 p.m. EST. For more information, link to Introducing the Smart Growth Implementation Toolkit. (12-7-07)

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The Environmental Protection Agency is requesting proposals for organizing a national smart growth conference to be held in early 2009. The agency plans to award a cooperative agreement for a multi-disciplinary event that focuses on a wide range of smart growth issues; attracts a diverse group of smart growth practitioners, researchers, and policymakers; and is cosponsored by numerous associations, organizations, and government entities interested in smart growth issues. The deadline for proposals is Jan. 11, 2008. For more information, link to the Request for Proposals. (12-3-07)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has announced the recipients of its 2007 National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement. The agency recognized the state of Vermont; the Housing Authority of Portland, Ore.; the Seattle Housing Authority; the town of Barnstable, Mass.; and Manhattan for innovative community development projects that use smart growth strategies to protect the environment, preserve community identity, and expand economic opportunity. For more information, link to EPA’s National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement website. (11-14-07)

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The Conservation Fund has posted on its website the Green Infrastructure Case Series, a collection of eight reports highlighting efforts around the country to promote land conservation that allows both for future growth and protection of significant natural resources. Examples of case studies in the collection include Maryland’s Green Infrastructure Assessment and GreenPrint Program to identify and fund the preservation of the state’s most ecologically valuable lands, and the Mountains to Sound Greenway project in Washington to protect and enhance a 100-mile corridor of open space lands along Interstate 90 from Seattle to the Cascades. For more information, link to the Green Infrastructure website. (11-13-07)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a total of $3 million in grants to cities and universities for projects under its Collaborative Science and Technology Network for Sustainability (CNS) program. Grants were awarded to 12 projects in the areas of Communities and the Built Environment and Industrial Ecology and Organizational Behavior. Examples of CNS projects include predicting the impact of housing development on nearby water resources or developing methods for urban planners to build sustainability into land development and transportation infrastructure. For more information, link to the CNS program website. (11-8-07)

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A report published by a traffic safety expert at the request of the Maryland State Highway Administration reviews two industry-sponsored studies released by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America in July 2007 that concluded that digital billboards are no more likely to cause traffic accidents than conventional billboards. The report is critical of both the findings and methodology of the two studies, which have been cited as evidence that digital billboards pose no safety risk to motorists. For more information, link to A Critical, Comprehensive Review of Two Studies Recently Published by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. (11-7-07)

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A survey sponsored by the National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America found that 75 percent of Americans believe that smarter development patterns and improving public transportation are better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads. The 2007 Growth and Transportation Survey also found that most of those polled believed new communities should be designed to reduce driving, opposed the privatization of public roads and highways, and preferred redevelopment of existing urban and suburban areas to new development in the outer suburbs. For more information, including links to the full survey questionnaire and graphics and tables, link to the 2007 Growth and Transportation Survey. (10-25-07)

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Guidance on how best to integrate land use and transportation in rural communities is provided in a report published by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). The report, which is the result of research under NCHRP Project 08-52, also focuses on programs and investment strategies designed to support community development and livability while providing adequate transportation capacity. For more information, link to NCHRP Report 582: Best Practices to Enhance the Transportation-Land Use Connection in the Rural United States. (10-17-07)

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A report published by the research group Resources for the Future examines local programs for using the transfer of development rights (TDR), which is a market-based approach allowing for development rights to be transferred from one area to another, as a planning tool for achieving land preservation goals. The report finds that while over 140 local jurisdictions have programs for TDRs, successful implementation has often been difficult. The report focuses on 10 different local programs addressing land-use goals such as farmland preservation, protection of environmentally-sensitive lands, and control of sprawl, and includes a comparison of two long-running and successful TDR programs in Calvert and Montgomery counties, Maryland. For more information, link to Transfer of Development Rights in U.S. Communities: Evaluating Program Design, Implementation, and Outcome. (10-10-07)

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The American Planning Association has designated the first 10 Great Streets and 10 Great Neighborhoods under its “Great Places in America” initiative to annually designate streets, parks, public spaces, and neighborhoods “of exceptional character, quality, and planning.” The designated neighborhoods and streets are defined by characteristics such as good design, functionality, sustainability, and community involvement. For 2008 the program will be expanded to include a Great Public Spaces category. For more information, link to Great Places in America. (10-2-07)

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The Federal Highway Administration issues a guidance memorandum confirming that changeable electronic variable message signs (CEVMS) – including digital or light emitting diode (LED) displays – “are acceptable for conforming off-premise signs” if such signs are consistent with existing federal/state agreements and state regulations. The guidance specifies that such signs “do not violate a prohibition against ‘intermittent’ or ‘flashing’ or ‘moving’ lights” as those terms have been used in federal/state agreements. For more information, link to Guidance On Off-Premise Changeable Message Signs. (9-25-07)

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The Eastman Kodak Company, the Conservation Fund, and the National Geographic Society have announced 31 nonprofit and other organizations as recipients of the 2007 Kodak American Greenways Awards. The program provides small grants intended to stimulate the planning and design of local greenways, trail, and open space projects throughout the country. For more information, link to the 2007 Kodak American Greenways Awards announcement. (9-19-07)

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An annual report published by the Texas Transportation Institute finds that traffic congestion continues to worsen in U.S. urban areas of all sizes, costing the economy $78 billion annually in lost hours and wasted fuel. The 2007 Urban Mobility Report, which is based on the most current data from 2005, expands on estimates of the effect of congestion for all 437 U.S. urban areas, provides detailed information for 85 specific urban areas, and addresses problems associated with irregular events such as crashes and works zones that contribute to congestion. The report finds that worsening congestion is reflected in longer trips; congestion affecting more hours of the day, weekend travel and rural areas, and personal trips and freight shipments; and increasingly unreliable trip travel times. The report also describes several solutions to the congestion problem, such as maximizing existing infrastructure, adding road and transit capacity in critical corridors, and diversifying development patterns. For more information, link to the 2007 Urban Mobility Report. (9-18-07)

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A national pilot program to create a system for rating and certifying sustainable ``green’’ neighborhoods has signed 238 new developments to participate since it was launched in February 2007, according to the Council for the New Urbanism (CNU). The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Neighborhood Development, launched jointly by CNU, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is designed to encourage developers, planners, and local governments to construct sustainable, compact neighborhoods. The pilot system rates neighborhoods based on four categories: location and linkage; compact, complete, and connected neighborhoods; green construction and technology; and innovation and design. For more information, link to the LEED for Neighborhood Development. (8-14-07)

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The Environmental Protection Agency announced that communities in six states will receive technical assistance with incorporating smart growth techniques into their future development. Each community will receive approximately $45,000 in direct assistance from a private sector team of national experts in policy analysis or public participation. The following communities were chosen: the Atlanta Regional Commission; California DOT; Denver; Greensboro, N.C.; Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky; and Valley Metro Transit with the cities of Phoenix and Mesa, Ariz. For more information, link to EPA’s Smart Growth Implementation Assistance website. (7-12-07)

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The Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities has published an updated second edition of a paper on strategies for linking parks and public greenspace with community development, public health, and social justice. The document also describes opportunities for funders and examples of innovative local partnerships. For more information, link to Parks, Public Greenspace, and Smarter Growth: Opportunities for Linking Land and People. (7-10-07)

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The Environmental Protection Agency presented developer Forest City Enterprises, Inc. with an Environmental Achievement Award for its redevelopment of the former Stapleton International Airport site in northeast Denver into an environmentally-friendly, mixed-use community. The agency cited the 4,700 acre development as a model sustainable community because of its use of compact, mixed-use development; pedestrian friendly neighborhoods; energy-efficient buildings; innovative stormwater management; parks and open space; recycling; and light pollution mitigation. For more information, link to the press release. (6-8-07)

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The Eastman Kodak Company, the Conservation Fund, and the National Geographic Society are accepting applications for the 2007 Kodak American Greenways Awards program. The program provides small grants intended to stimulate the planning and design of greenways in communities throughout the country. Eligible applicants include local, regional, and statewide nonprofit community organizations. Applications for the 2007 awards are due June 15, 2007. For more information and to apply online link to The Conservation Fund's Kodak American Greenways Award Website. (6-6-07)

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The National Resources Defense Council has posted on its website a policy fact sheet on smart growth alternatives to conventional transportation. The fact sheet identifies problems with outdated transportation planning models that undervalue smart growth alternatives to traditional methods, and provides recommendations for building more livable communities. For more information, link to If You Build It, They Will Come. (6-5-07)

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The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy has launched a website to provide planners with a library of visual representations for communicating planning ideas. The website includes an indexed set of examples of visual tools accessible by subjects, scopes in time and space, and planning processes and tasks. The featured application in the library is based on planning in the Gulf Coast region after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but the templates are intended for use in planning practice generally. For more information, link to the Visual Tools for Planners website. (6-5-07)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has announced an awards program to recognize outstanding examples of community planning that implements smart growth and active aging principles. The agency will present the Commitment Award to communities that have developed and begun to initiate a plan to implement smart growth and active aging principles, while the Achievement Award will be given for “overall excellence in building healthy communities for active aging.’’ For more information, link to the Excellence in Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging awards website. (5-24-07)

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The American Planning Association has launched a new “Great Places in America” initiative to annually designate streets, parks, public spaces, and neighborhoods “of exceptional character, quality, and planning.” For 2007, APA requests suggestions of 10 Great Streets and 10 Great Neighborhoods to be recognized by the association during National Community Planning Month in October. In 2008 the program will be expanded to include Great Parks, Great Public Spaces, and Great Endangered Places. For more information, link to Great Places in America. (5-15-07)

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The Environmental Protection Agency issued a request for grant proposals to fund cooperative agreements between emergency response and local government officials, transportation experts, and developers seeking to design smart growth neighborhoods that meet both the needs for emergency response and smart growth street design principles. EPA expects to award $150,000 for Phase 1, with the possibility of additional funding of up to $500,000 over five years. Proposals are due June 15, 2007. For more information, link to the Smart Growth Streets and Emergency Response Request for Proposals. (4-30-07)

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