Partnership for Sustainable Communities

New Partners for Smart Growth Conference

Join us and smart growth professionals from around the country in Kansas City, MO, on February 7-9, 2013, for the 2013 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference. Don't miss the Equitable Development Pre-Conference Workshop on Feb. 6. Register today at www.newpartners.org.

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USDA Farmers Markets Grants

On Sept. 21, USDA announced over $9 million in grants to organizations across 39 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to initiatives that bolster the connection between agricultural producers and their consumers while improving access to healthy food and strengthening local economies.

Read more information about the projects here.

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EPA Partners with State Capitals on Green Design

On September 12, EPA announced the capital cities of Kentucky, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana and Indiana were awarded design assistance from EPA to create healthy, prosperous communities through green development. EPA’s Greening America’s Capitals program will help these capital cities stimulate economic development, provide more housing and transportation choices, and reduce infrastructure and energy costs.

Governors’ Institute on Community Design

On July 31, the Partnership agencies announced launch of the Governors’ Institute on Community Design to provide enhanced technical guidance to governors seeking to tackle housing, transportation, environmental, and health challenges facing their states. DOT Deputy Secretary John Porcari joined EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe and current and former governors from around the country for the launch of this exciting partnership.

Click here for a summary of the event posted on the DOT FastLane blog and here for more information on the Institute.

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Code for Livability Rocks On

Building on the success of the first Code for Livability event earlier this year, on July 28, 2012 a follow up event was held in Denver, Colorado. This civic hacking event brings together diverse and non-traditional stakeholders to build web and mobile applications and other products to help improve communities.

Read more on the White House Open Government blog.

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Sustainable Communities

Sustainable communities are places that have a variety of housing and transportation choices, with destinations close to home. As a result, they tend to have lower transportation costs, reduce air pollution and stormwater runoff, decrease infrastructure costs, preserve historic properties and sensitive lands, save people time in traffic, be more economically resilient and meet market demand for different types of housing at different prices points. Rural, suburban, and urban communities can all use sustainable communities strategies and techniques to invest in healthy, safe and walkable neighborhoods, but these strategies will look different in each place depending on the community’s character, context, and needs.

Developing more sustainable communities is important to our national goals of strengthening our economy, creating good jobs now while providing a foundation for lasting prosperity, using energy more efficiently to secure energy independence, and protecting our natural environment and human health. Three federal agencies came together to create the Partnership for Sustainable Communities to help places around the country develop in more environmentally and economically sustainable ways. To guide its work, the Partnership developed six livability principles:

Provide more transportation choices.
Promote equitable, affordable housing.
Enhance economic competitiveness.
Support existing communities.
Coordinate and leverage federal policies and investment.
Value communities and neighborhoods.

White House Discussion with HUD, DOT, and EPA Representatives

-July 15, 2010