Resources

Smart Growth Organizations | Reports and Publications

Smart Growth Organizations

Partnerships
The Smart Growth Network is a coalition of organizations working together to promote smart growth. The Web site features a calendar of events, legislative news, reports, links to partner organizations, and more. NOAA is a partner of the Smart Growth Network.

Related Organizations
American Farmland Trust works to stop the loss of farmland and to promote farming practices that lead to a healthy environment.

American Planning Association represents practicing planners, elected and appointed officials, and citizens involved in planning issues.

Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations assists Metropolitan Planning Organizations in coordinating federal highway and transit investments.

Center for Neighborhood Technology develops tools and methods for sustainable development.

Center for New Urbanism is a collaboration of professionals working to reform urban growth patterns.

The Conservation Fund is a national organization dedicated to protecting America's land legacy.

Environmental Law Institute works to overcome legal barriers to sustainable land use.

Glynwood Center is dedicated to advancing the field of community stewardship through programs such as the Countryside Exchange.

Growth Management Leadership Alliance is a federation of conservation promoting land use planning as a tool to address natural resource, housing, and transportation concerns.

International City/County Management Association represents administrators serving cities, counties, other local governments, and regional entities around the world.

Joint Center for Sustainable Communities is a collaboration between the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties supporting job growth, environmental stewardship, and social equity.

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy disseminates information about issues in land use and tax policy through professional development courses, research, and publications.

Local Government Commission offers education, training, and technical assistance to local areas seeking to implement sustainable land use patterns.

Maryland Governor's Office of Smart Growth was established by the Maryland state legislature to provide a "one-stop shop" on smart growth.

National Association of Counties works to improve public understanding of counties and provides counties with legislative, technical and public affairs assistance.

National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals represents local government officials responsible for ensuring environmental compliance and implementing environmental programs.

National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education at the University of Maryland provides education, training, and research on smart growth.

National Neighborhood Coalition advocates for programs that foster partnerships between neighborhood organizations, private sector institutions, and government agencies.

National Trust for Historic Preservation helps communities preserve their heritage and livability through advocacy, conferences, and technical assistance.

National Wildlife Federation's Smart Growth and Wildlife campaign protects and restores species and habitats threatened by sprawl.

Natural Resources Defense Council works to preserve the environment, protect the public health, and ensure the conservation of wilderness and natural resources.

NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management provides information on coastal resource and policy issues, including sustainable coastal communities, waterfront redevelopment, and public access to the coast.

Northeast-Midwest Institute is a research and educational organization that works to enhance economic competitiveness and environmental quality.

The Orton Institute seeks to engage and assist citizens of all ages in making informed decisions about economic, social, and environmental issues that affect their rural communities.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is a trails organization devoted to converting unused railroad lines to multi-use trails.

Scenic America is a national organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the scenic character of communities.

Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse makes available tools, techniques, and best practices to manage growth.

State of Maryland's Growth and Neighborhood Conservation initiative is a statewide effort to reverse the inefficient patterns of sprawl development.

Surface Transportation Policy Project is a coalition of organizations working to promote sustainable transportation policies.

Sustainable Communities Network offers resources to help make communities environmentally sound, socially equitable, and economically prosperous.

Trust for Public Land helps agencies and communities protect land for parks, open space, and other public purposes.

Urban Land Institute is a research and educational institute providing responsible leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment.

U.S. EPA, Development, Community and Environment Division works with states, communities, and the Smart Growth Network to find ways to grow while minimizing negative environmental and health effects.

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Reports and Publications

Visit the Smart Growth Resource Library for additional resources, including articles, films, presentations, reports, and more, compiled by the Smart Growth Network.

Aerial Photography on the Web: A New Tool for Community Debates in Land Use. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2000. Suggests how to make a portrait of a town's cultural landscape accessible to citizens, public officials, and land use planners.

Affordable Housing and Smart Growth: Making the Connection. Environmental Protection Agency, 2001. Identifies policies and approaches that help achieve both smart growth and affordable housing; provides case studies. Printed copies available by calling (202) 260-2750.

Best Development Practices: A Primer for Smart Growth. Smart Growth Network, 1998. Describes best practices for community development with illustrations and photographs. Printed copies available by calling (202) 260-2750.

Boom on the Beach. USA Today, 2000. Five-part series offers an in-depth look at population, growth, and development occurring along the nation's coast.

Case Studies: Getting to Smart Growth. Sustainable Communities Network, revised 2002. Profiles innovative projects and programs; links to web sites on initiatives that integrate environmental, economic and social goals.

Coastal Services. Bimonthly magazine for the nation’s coastal resource managers features numerous smart growth related articles.

Coastal Sprawl: The Effects of Urban Design on Aquatic Ecosystems in the United States. Pew Oceans Commission, 2002. Details the effects of urban development and land-use practices on coastal ecosystems in the U.S.

Developments and Dollars: An Introduction to Fiscal Impact Analysis in Land Use Planning. Natural Resources Defense Council, 2000. Provides citizens, planners, etc. with tools to examine the impact of development proposals on local taxes and municipal budgets.

The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space. Trust for Public Land, 1999. Describes how open space conservation is not an expense but an investment that produces important economic benefits.

Environmental Characteristics of Smart Growth Neighborhoods: An Exploratory Case Study. NRDC/Criterion Planners and Engineers, October 2000. Suggests that the environmental benefits of smart growth are real and can be measured.

Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation. International City/County Management Association and the Smart Growth Network, 2001. Provides policy options to achieve principles of smart growth; includes practice tips, case studies. Printed copies available by calling (202) 260-2750.

Greetings From Smart Growth America. Smart Growth America, 2000. Reports results of a survey on Americans’ attitudes towards sprawl and smart growth issues.

Growing Greener: Putting Conservation into Local Codes. Natural Lands Trust, 1997. Describes how municipalities can revise plans, ordinances, and the land development process to protect interconnected networks of open space.

Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook: Model Statutes for Planning and the Management of Change. American Planning Association, 2002. Outlines draft model planning and zoning legislation; describes tools to combat sprawl, protect farmland, promote affordable housing, and encourage redevelopment.

Growth at the Ballot Box: Electing the Shape of Communities in November 2000. Brookings Institution, 2001. Analyzes over 500 recent ballot measures relating to growth; includes a comprehensive listing by state of growth-related ballot measures.

Guide to Federal Brownfield Programs. Northeast-Midwest Institute, 2000. Summarizes federal agency programs that can support brownfield efforts; provides case studies, contact information. This site links to additional reports, including Brownfields Basics: An Issue Primer (2001).

Local Greenprinting for Growth. Trust for Public Land, 2002. Guides communities seeking to create a greenprint conservation program, a smart growth strategy that ensures quality of life, clean air and water, recreation, and economic health.

Open Space Protection: Conservation Meets Growth Management. Brookings Institution, 2002. Provides an overview of open space programs and describes how they affect the shape and form of metropolitan areas.

Our Built and Natural Environments. Environmental Protection Agency, 2001. Summarizes research on the link between the built and natural environments, development patterns, urban design, and transportation. Printed copies available by calling (202) 260-2750.

Planning Communities for the 21st Century. American Planning Association, 1999. Analyzes state planning statutes to determine how well they address contemporary planning issues.

Planning for Smart Growth: 2002 State of the States. American Planning Association, 2002. A comprehensive survey of state planning reforms and smart growth activity.

Smart Choices or Sprawling Growth. Sierra Club, 2000. Surveys 50 states and the District of Columbia on smart growth and sprawl with examples of each.

Smart Growth at the Frontier: Strategies and Resources for Rural Communities. Northeast Midwest Institute, 2002. Illustrates rural growth strategies that revitalize towns, link natural resource protection with development, maintain farms and forests, and coordinate regional development.

Sprawl Costs Us All. Sierra Club, 2000. Identifies common subsidies that create sprawl; provides examples and calculates the cost of sprawl.

State of the Coast: Population: Distribution, Density and Growth. NOAA, 1998. Includes national and regional population trends, pressures facing the coast, and local examples.

State of the Coast: Preserving Waterfronts for Water Dependent Uses. NOAA, 1998. Describes how state and local governments, in response to competing demands of the shoreline, have preserved water-dependent uses and traditional working waterfronts.

State of the Coast: Managing Coastal Resources. NOAA, 1998. Describes how state coastal management programs balance economic development with their trustee responsibilities to protect public coastal resources.

State of the Beach 2002. Surfrider Foundation, 2002. Reports results of the Surfrider Foundation’s annual survey of beach access, surf zone water quality, beach erosion, shoreline structures, etc. to assess the condition of our nation's beaches.

Testing the Waters 2002: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches. National Resources Defense Council, 2002. Presents results of the 12th annual survey of water quality monitoring and public notification programs at U.S. beaches.

Trends in U.S. Coastal Regions, 1970-1998. NOAA, 1999. Examines emerging trends shaping the coast, including population and settlement, economic activity, social values, resources, environmental quality, hazards, and governance and management.

Why Smart Growth: A Primer. International City/County Management Association and the Smart Growth Network, 1998. Explores how communities can achieve smart growth. Printed copies available by calling (202) 260-2750.

Electronic Newsletters

SGA Insider, Smart Growth America's biweekly e-mail newsletter covering smart growth issues in the nation's capital and across the country.

Smart Growth News is a bimonthly electronic newsletter of abstracts from newspapers, periodicals, etc. focusing on housing and development. Published by the Urban Land Institute.

Smart Growth State by State is a monthly summary of planning news, published by the Smart Growth Network.

Sprawl Watch, a list server and newsletter of the Sprawlwatch Clearinghouse.

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