Smart Growth

Smart Growth Links

• Bay Area Resources
• Bibliographies
• Federal Government Sites
• Networks and Non-Profit Organizations
• Newsletters and Journals
• Other Cities and Regions
• State and Local Government Alliances (National)
• Tools
• Transit-Oriented Sites
• Walking/Pedestrian Resources

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Bay Area Resources

bayareatod.com

www.growsmartbayarea.org

www.bayareavision.org

www.openspacecouncil.org

www.golden-lands.org

TransForm

TransForm works to create world-class public transportation and walkable communities in the Bay Area and beyond.

Greenbelt Alliance

Greenbelt Alliance promotes livable communities, with an emphasis on protecting farmlands, watersheds, and other open spaces. Most of its publications are available for order, but "Beyond Sprawl" and "Greenbelt Factsheets" can be viewed online in HTML.

Interregional Partnership

A cooperative of elected officials from five different Bay Area counties, plus three councils of governments (including ABAG), the IRP is aimed at improving inter-regional cooperation on transportation and growth-related issues. Its online resources (mostly in PDF format) include proposed legislation, the Local Government Checklist, and diagrams of transportation and jobs/housing in the inter-regional area.

Urban Ecology

Urban Ecology maintains programs for sustainable cities and community design, as well as a transportation curriculum project in the Oakland high schools. Its Web site also has information about its publications, including Blueprint for a Sustainable Bay Area.

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Bibliographies

Growth Management : An Annotated Bibliography for California Planners

Short list of guides for growth management, compiled by the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. The guides are not available online, but ordering information is provided.

Smart Growth Bibliographies from the Smart Growth Network

Extensive bibliography of publications pertaining to the creation and maintenance of livable communities. Works are organized by subject area, and are also available in alphabetical order. A few of the publications are available in PDF format. Title, author, publisher, and a short description of each work are provided.

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Federal Government Sites

Smart Communities Network

This site provides a toolkit of resources, a database of organizations and agencies, case studies and success stories, and extensive information on such issues as land use planning, transportation, green buildings, disaster planning, financing, and rural issues.

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Networks and Non-profit Organizations

California Building Industry Association

This non-profit corporation represents the interests of builders and developers in eliminating or altering building regulations to introduce "more flexibility into land use decisions." Its site contains facts and figures on California housing, press releases, and information on governmental affairs. Members receive access to networking services and information in over 500 topic areas.

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Although grounded in Chicago, this orgnanization was set up to work on a national level to help build prosperous, sustainable communities. Its Website contains information about its projects, and online or downloadable versions of its publications -- "Urban Sustainability" (in WordPerfect® 6.0 format) and "Hidden Assets."

Congress for the New Urbanism

Based in San Francisco, CNU takes its name from the Congresses it sponsors, annual gatherings which provide a forum to discuss issues related to the health and vitality of cities. CNU members are organized into nine task forces focused on such specific issues as education, finance and marketing, and the environment. Its Web pages provide information about its task forces and speakers' bureau, as well as a bibliography and some online resources, including a paper on charter schools and the new urbanism.

National Center for Appropriate Technology

Championing sustainable technologies and community-based approaches that protect natural resources and help people, especially the economically disadvantaged, in becoming more self-reliant

National Neighborhood Coalition

The NNC is a partner in the Smart Growth Network and was set up to be a "national voice for neighborhoods . . . providing a crucial link to Washington for neighborhood and community based organizations." Its Smart Growth Project page has links to its publication Neighborhood Principles for Smart Growth Concept Paper (in PDF format) and an online discussion forum on smart growth.

Partners for Livable Communities

PLC is a non-profit organization that works with community development organizations and city governments to increase the livability of communities around the nation. Its publications, in such subject areas as tourism, family and youth, amenity economics and livable design, can be ordered with a printable order form.

Sierra Club Challenge to Sprawl Campaign

A project of the Sierra Club, their anti-sprawl campaign site features reports and fact sheets (mostly in PDF format), a directory of state-specific information, a tool kit and communications manual on sprawl, and pages with "details and solutions" on livable communities and transit/roads. Bibliographies for further reading are also included.

Smart Growth Network

The Smart Growth Network helps create national, regional, and local coalitions to encourage metropolitan development that is environmentally, fiscally, economically and socially smart. Its home page has a list of issue areas, including Buildings, Communities, Environment, Financing, Infrastructure, Land Use, and Transportation, each of which has an explanation of the problems and concerns involved in that area, plus a lengthy set of links to online articles for further reading. The site also has state-by-state news reports and links to other resources.

Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse

This site provides synopses and links to recent news stories and articles on urban sprawl, as well as information on federal, state and local activities. It also has lists of resources, organized by subject category, that includes books, organizations and Web pages. Its "Best Practices" pages have case examples from various communities on the standard topics, as well as such subjects as "Prevention of Superstore Sprawl and Small Town Decline" and "Elimination of Subsidies that Fuel Sprawl."

Sustainable Communities Network

A network of community organizations, the SCN provides a Website with resources, reading materials and case studies on various categories and sub-categories related to sustainable communities. Some but not all of the readings are available online.

Urban Land Institute

Founded in 1936, the Institute's mission is to research, analyze, and encourage responsible patterns for long-term urban growth. With both members-only and public pages, it provides calendars of events, a bookstore, and information on issues such as housing, transportation, urban revitalization and smart growth.

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Newsletters and Journals

EcoIQ Magazine

This quarterly online journal bills itself as the "magazine for everyone interested in making decisions that are both economically and ecologically intelligent." Many of its articles specifically address sustainable community issues.

Growing Smart^SM Newsletter

News, information and articles from the American Planning Institute. Published approximately once a year on the Web.

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Other Cities and Regions

Atlantic Coast: Sustainable Development Institute

SDI was set up to address the environmental aspects of economic development in coast and tropical forest regions. Its pages contain a summary of the community planning efforts in St. Mary's County, Maryland; information on the Environmental Film Festival; the Institute's newsletter -- Atlantic CoastWatch; the Community Forestry project; and a list of related publications, with descriptions.

Pacific Northwest: Climate Solutions

Regional organization aimed at preventing global warming through (in part) reducing dependence on the automobile. Their publications, most of which are available online in PDF format, include "Smart Moves for Washington Schools" -- a school curriculum guide to sustainable transportation, and "Taking its Toll : the Hidden Costs of Sprawl in Washington State," as well as guides to bicycle commuting and increasing pedestrian travel.

Illinois: Metropolitan Planning Council

A non-profit organization established in 1934 to promote sensible planning and development strategies in Chicago, its home page currently includes the December 15, 1999, report on Sensible Growth in Illinois; a summary of the February 2000 conference on improving Chicago's freight transportation network; and information and online publications detailing current housing, transportation and development projects in the region.

Maryland: Smart Growth in Maryland

The Smart Growth initiative page for Maryland's Office of Planning, it contains a description of the plan, news and updates, local actions, and a list of resources (including a slide show of Maryland's growth maps).

Michigan: Michigan Land Use Institute

Home page of the MLUI, a nonprofit research, educational, and service organization. All of their publications are available online, including the Great Lakes Bulletin and the MCLUC Reporter. Newer publications are available only in PDF format. It also has links to model programs in 20 other states plus the District of Columbia.

Ohio: Ecocity Cleveland

The complete working paper for smart growth and livable communities in Ohio. Available in HTML or PDF format.

Oregon: Metro

Metro is an elected body in Portland, Oregon, dedicated to promoting livable communities. The site contains links to the Regional Affordable Housing Strategy Plan, the 2000 Regional Transportation Plan, and their Open Spaces Program.

Tennessee: Smart Growth for Tennessee Towns and Counties : A Process Guide (PDF)

This guide summarizes the smart growth planning process. It reviews techniques, analyzes computer-based tools, and discussess indicators for assessing community change. It also includes two short case studies and a list of both print and non-print resources.

Vermont: Vermont Forum on Sprawl

Vermont organization aimed at combatting sprawl. This site contains a lot of information online, including a very comprehensive research and recommendations section, strategies, and reports on its activities. The front page has an excellent animated graphic of sprawl in the making.

Canada: The Centre for Sustainable Transportation

The Centre for Sustainable Transportation was founded to promote sustainable transportation in Canada. Its publications, including the University Curriculum Project (the goal of which is to bring consideration of sustainability into university transportation programs) are available online, but only in PDF format.

Canada: Victoria Transport Policy Institute

This is the home page for VTPI, an independent research organization dedicated to developing tools for solving transportation problems. Its numerous documents, including reports on the subjects of Land Use and Parking Management, Automobile Dependency and Transportation Diversity, Pedestrian and Bicycle Issues, Public Transit, and even transit humor, are all avaiable online, in HTML, PDF or Word97 formats. They also feature an Online TDM Encyclopedia, currently in draft format.

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State and Local Government Alliances (National)

Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations

AMPO is a nonprofit, membership organization that serves the needs and interests of "metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs)" nationwide. Although membership in AMPO is restricted to MPOs, its Web site also provides some information to the general public, including a bibliography of suggested readings.

Center for Livable Communities

A project of the Local Government Commission, the Center for Livable Communities helps local governments and community leaders in their land use and transportation planning. It Web site contains a list of conferences and workshops, CLC publications, information on community image surveys, and a "matchmaking" program to bring developers and local governments together.

National Association of Counties

NACo maintains a Web page with information on NACo projects, activities and publications pertaining to county participation in creating and maintaining sustainable communities.

National Association of Regional Councils

NARC, which promotes cooperation among state and regional governments, has Web pages devoted specifically to clean air and transportation issues.

California Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Searchable Database

Access and search detailed information on 21 Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs) in California - also called transit villages - such as: land uses, site maps, implementation processes, financing, facilities, zoning, design features, pedestrian access, transit services, photos, travel benefits, contact information, and other valuable data.

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Tools

Hart Environmental Data : Indicators of Sustainability

This site contains a searchable database of indicators, a downloadable one-day training course on sustainable community indicators, and a list of resources to help measure "how well a community is meeting the needs and expectations of its present and future members."

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Transit-Oriented Sites

APTANet®

The home page for the American Public Transportation Association. Its Information Center contains links to APTA products, services, and publications, many of which pertain to public transit's role in creating livable communities.

Federal Transit Administration

The FTA's Web site contains documents on creating livable communities, as well as links to the National Transit Database and the FTA's own Bus Rapid Transit site.

Rail~Volution : Building Livable Communities with Transit

Rail~Volution is a national conference on building livable communities, with a focus on Transit-Oriented Development.

Transportation Air Quality Center

A division of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Transportation Air Quality (TRAQ) Center provides air quality regulators and transportation planners with "critical information regarding transportation and mobile source incentive-based programs and tools partnership opportunities, grant funding sources, useful contact names, and technical assistance."

Transportation Action Network (TransAct)

The EPA's Surface Transportation Policy Project is dedicated to ensuring that transportation policy helps conserve energy and make communities more livable. Their Web site --TransAct -- features articles, case studies, reports and papers on the transportation system and communities in the United States.

Urban Mobility Study

This site features research and reports, done in 1999 by the University of Texas, on transport in 68 urban areas, including cities in California, Colorado, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Texas. Reports are available online in PDF format. Some charts, graphs, summaries and underlying data are available in HTML.

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Walking/Pedestrian Resources

Partnership for a Walkable America

A project of the National Safety Council, this site has information aimed at providing accessible walking to all Americans. They feature a "Walkable America Checklist," to rate your community's pedestrian friendliness, plus a list of things you can do to improve its score.

Perils for Pedestrians

Perils for Pedestrians is a monthly television series promoting pedestrian safety. In addition to being shown on public television, the episodes are Webcast, and earlier episodes are also available for viewing on the Internet using RealPlayer G2 (which can be downloaded for free). The site also has information on spotting and reporting perils in your neighborhood.

Walkable Communities

Walkable Communities is a non-profit organization set up to encourage pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. Street guidelines, sample workshop agendas and sample brochures are available for download in PDF format. Videos and slidesets can be ordered. The site also has an extensive bibliography of recommended readings.

Walk Sacramento

Home page for the Sacramento-based organization dedicated to walkable communities. They have links to online articles on creating walkable/livable communities, the health benefits of walking, and pedestrian safety, as well as links to walking events, such as walks for charity.