This day-long session will explore the role of health professionals in influencing community design to help create health-promoting live, work, and play environments for their patients and families. Environmental causes of the nation’s obesity crisis and the supporting research will be reviewed. Interactive and role-playing sessions will help participants learn skills for working both inside and outside the clinical setting to contribute to environmental and policy changes. This is a unique opportunity to interact with physicians, planners, local government officials, and other partners to uncover effective ways to collaborate around creating communities with increased physical activity opportunities and access to healthy food.

• Esteban Cruz, MD, Kaiser Permanente
• Scott Gee, MD, Kaiser Permanente
• Loel Solomon, PhD, National Director, Community Health Initiatives and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente
• Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, Adjunct Professor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, School of Public Health
• Phil Wu, MD, Kaiser Permanente Northwest
• James F. Sallis, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University; Director, Active Living Research Program
• Paul Zykofsky, AICP, Director, Transportation and Land Use Programs, Local Government Commission
• Dan Burden, Senior Urban Designer, Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Lopez Rinehart
• Mark Horton, MD, California State Public Health Officer
• Lisa Feldstein, JD, Senior Policy Director, Public Health Institute
• Supervisor Kathy Long, Ventura County, CA
• Supervisor Josie Gonzalez, San Bernardino County, CA
• Randall Lewis, Executive Vice President, Director of Marketing, Lewis Operating Corp.
• Janet Ruggerio, Community Development Director, City of Citrus Heights, CA
• Christine Maulhardt, MPH, Director, Obesity Prevention, California Medical Association Foundation

As smart growth becomes a more mature movement, the range of activity increases in depth and breadth while sources of funding for smart initiatives evolve. Old funders are moving to other issues, new funders seek more diverse portfolios, and all have insights into what is working and what is not. Join panelists to explore the current world of smart growth funding as seen through the eyes of the funders themselves. This interactive discussion will consider lessons learned, possible models for the future, and how smart growth practitioners might think about initiatives and trends for the future.

• Moderator: Julia Seward, Director of State Policy, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
• Ben Starrett, Executive Director, Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities
• Jon Jenson, Senior Program Officer, George Gund Foundation
• Diane Forte, Director of Sustainability Programs, Environment Now

Congestion, the lack of affordable housing, and the migration of immigrants from across the globe to Southern California has created a landscape of urban innovations. The changing economic conditions, lack of land for development and deterioration of the environment makes individuals creative in solving their own spatial needs in the existing built environment. People bring with them what they know from other countries and retrofit the physical landscape to create innovative development patterns. As a result Southern California becomes a complex urban environment not always easy to read or plan. From the ubiquitous illegal street vendors to gentrification of neighborhoods the living, business and movement patterns of residents is always shifting. Southern California has become a region of urban innovations from the ground up with or with out the help of government. As good, bad or indifferent how we fill toward these urban innovations we need to learn to understand and appreciate the Southern California urban laboratory.

• Moderator: Lewis MacAdams, Friends of the LA River
• Mott Smith, Principal, CIVIC ENTERPRISE
• John Kamp, Planning Department, City of Los Angeles, CA
• Robert Gottlieb, Professor, Urban & Environmental Policy Institute, Occidental College

Local governments and community development organizations are searching for new tools and strategies to preserve and maintain an aging housing stock — both as one of the few meaningful opportunities to provide affordable homes and to prevent these properties from becoming public nuisances. Through its national technical assistance program, the National Vacant Properties Campaign has identified two complementary strategies that assist communities in preserving and protecting aging housing stock: civil receivership and systematic rental inspection programs. Hear from experts about how these programs have successfully been led by government entities, nonprofits, and tenant organizations.

• Moderator: Jennifer Leonard, National Vacant Properties Campaign Director, Smart Growth America
• Co-Moderator: Joseph Schilling, Professor in Practice, Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech
• Elissa Barrett, Esq., Bet Tzedek Legal Services & Tenant Rights
• Diane Silva-Martinez, Head Deputy City Attorney, Code Enforcement Unit, Office of the City Attorney, City of San Diego
• Domingo Sauceda, Los Angeles Housing Department

Ever feel overwhelmed by the financing options that make smart growth happen? What will be the most effective? Which will provide the most return on investment? What steps can I take to ensure that the tools that I use can encourage smart growth? This session will explore some of the most common, but at times, misused and misunderstood resources from the tax toolbox. Hear from national experts who can break down Tax Increment Financing, New Markets Tax Credits, and the Local Income Housing Tax Credits and show how they can be most effectively applied.

• Moderator: Kevin Nelson, Senior Policy Analyst, U.S. EPA
• Toby Rittner, EDFP, Executive Director, Council of Development Finance Agencies
• Monika B. Elgert, Vice President, Acquisitions, Western Region, Tax Credit Syndication, Enterprise Community Investment, Inc.
• Robert Poznanski, Director, New Markets Initiative, Local Initiatives Support Corporation

As communities across the United States grapple with growth and development, metropolitan planning organizations are learning to effectively use unique and innovative planning and implementation tools to integrate transportation and land use at the local and regional level. Join us in hearing how award-wining communities have used these tools to bring consensus through "cooperatively addressing growth, transportation and environmental quality planning." From voluntary urban growth boundaries, intergovernmental agreements to implementation, and comprehensive multi-modal corridor visions to consensus building through branding, photo-realistic renderings and video documentation, there is something in this session for everyone.

• Moderator: Effie Stallsmith, Community Planner, Office of Systems Planning, Federal Transit Administration
• Co-Moderator: Robert Ritter, Office of Planning, Federal Highway Administration
• Supervisor Steve Kinsey, Marin County, CA
• Thomas Thomson, PE, AICP, Executive Director, Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission
• Larry Mugler, AICP, Denver Regional Council of Governments

Many urban areas are dealing with vacant and abandoned properties while at the same time experiencing booming land prices. Beyond using eminent domain or tax liens, most cities do not have the capacity to acquire property and hold it for redevelopment at the right time. Learn how entrepreneurial nonprofits are working with financial institutions and foundations to create long-term acquisitions funds that help reclaim vacant, abandoned or underutilized land in urban areas. These funds allow nonprofits to build new affordable homes where existing infrastructure is in place as well as retain needed green space. This session also will examine how groups with different agendas (i.e. conservation, open space, development) can work together to build mutually beneficial acquisition funds. These funds can take the pressure off of cash-strapped municipalities that need development to boost their economies and still create livable, sustainable communities.

• Moderator: Lori Chatman, Vice President, Chief Credit Officer, Enterprise Community Loan Fund
• Chuck Laven, President, Forsyth Street Advisors LLC
• Noreen Beatley, Sustainable Communities Advocate, Innovative Consulting

SAFETEA-LU authorizes the Federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit for the 5-year period 2005-2009. In SAFETEA-LU, metropolitan and statewide transportation planning processes are continued; however, a number of changes have been made in the planning processes for surface transportation; some of these changes add flexibility and efficiency, while others add new consultation and environmental planning requirements. This session will explore the opportunities and requirements for incorporating land use, environmental stewardship and mitigation, public participation and community values in the transportation planning and project development processes.

• Moderator: Robert Ritter, Team Leader, Office of Planning, Federal Highway Administration
• Effie Stallsmith, Community Planner, Office of Systems Planning, Federal Transit Administration
• Shari Schaftlein, Team Leader, Office of Project Development & Environmental Review, Federal Highway Administration

The challenge to achieve smart growth faced by urbanizing agricultural counties has resulted in a new generation of strategies for farmland protection. Participants in the session will explore the key elements and approaches communities can use to successfully link smart growth and planning for agriculture. Panelists who spearheaded nationally recognized projects in California, Pennsylvania and Maryland will highlight: utilizing urban lands as efficiently as possible while protecting strategic farmland; recognizing the importance of agriculture to both the local economy and environment; and the need to elevate decisions that effect agriculture to the same level as decisions about the built environment.

• Moderator: Julia Freedgood, Director, Technical Assistance Services, American Farmland Trust
• Mike Nelson, San Diego Farming Program Coordinator
• Stephen Hammond, Principal, Director of Planning, Wallace, Roberts and Todd LLC

Smart growth looks at where we build and attempts to curb the sprawl that's become prevalent across the U.S. But to really grow smartly we need to look at not just where we grow, but how we grow. The built environment plays a major impact on our environment — the building sector consumers 40 percent of all the world's energy and material resources. Buildings in the U.S. are responsible for more CO₂ emissions than any other country in the world except China. Building "green" maximizes building performance while minimizing environmental impacts. Moreover, the benefits of green building accrue across the community. Learn how to increase the performance of the buildings in your neighborhood schools, healthcare facilities, homes, etc., to ensure Smart Growth holistically across your community. Hear how high performance buildings not only curtail energy usage and save precious resources, but also improve our health and productivity. Children living and studying in green buildings get sick less and perform better in school. Green hospitals increase recovery periods. Green retail sells more products. This session will examine how creating high performance building throughout our communities takes smart growth one level higher. Speakers will come from the across a wide variety of sectors — from healthcare to education to housing.

• Moderator: Noreen Beatley, Director, State and Local Policy, Enterprise Community Partners
• Kollin Min, Senior Program Director, Enterprise Community Partners
• Reid Ewing, Ph.D., Research Professor, National Center for Smart Growth, University of Maryland/LI>
• Todd Jersey, Owner, Todd Jersey Architects

Officials and planners are discovering street design as an effective route towards healthier, sustainable communities. By asking if planned and existing streets are complete for all users they are getting at the root of much more evasive issues such as economic growth, optimizing mixed-use and accessibility for all residents and visitors. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit users of all ages and abilities enjoy traveling along and across complete streets. Complete streets policies require that all of these users are accommodated in all transportation projects. Come learn from others and share your experiences in this interactive workshop that will give you the tools you need to complete the streets for your communities.

• Moderator: David Goldberg, Communications Director, Smart Growth America
• Barbara McCann, Principal, McCann Consulting
• Sue Knaup, Executive Director, Thunderhead Alliance
• Tracy Newsome, Transportation Planner, Charlotte Department of Transportation
• Dave Snyder, Director of Program Development, Thunderhead Alliance

Walking and bicycling to school is about as American as mom and apple pie. Creating a Safe Routes to School program offers you an opportunity to partner with many different constituencies to create a more walkable and bikeable community with political ease. Learn how to start a Safe Routes to School program in your community from the national experts. Learn more about the 5 E's: engineering, encouragement, education, enforcement, and evaluation. Find out about the $612 million SAFETEA-LU federal funding program and how you can make the program work in your state. Learn the specific engineering tools that apply to Safe Routes to Schools.

• Facilitator: Wendi Kallins, Founder & Program Director, national model Safe Routes to Schools program in Marin County, CA
• Paul Zykofsky, AICP, Director, Land Use and Transportation Programs, Local Government Commission
• Deb Hubsmith, Coordinator, Safe Routes to School National Partnership
• Diane Wigle, Chief, Safety Countermeasures Division, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

The SmartCode is a comprehensive form-based zoning and planning approach that incorporates Smart Growth and New Urbanism principles to help organize the human habitat. It is based on the idea of the Transect, which defines a continuum of urbanized conditions ranging from the permanently rural and undeveloped, to the dense, intensely urbanized city centers. Developed over the past decade by Andres Duany of Duany Plater-Zyberk, with input from professionals around the country, the SmartCode is receiving increasing attention nationwide. It has been particularly well received in many Mississippi gulf coast communities looking to rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

In this session, Andres Duany will present an overview of the SmartCode and highlight ways in which it can be successfully applied to communities across the nation. This session will be particularly applicable to those professionals and public sector officials who have some preliminary knowledge of the SmartCode and are interested in learning how to successfully implement it in their communities.

• Robert Alminana, LEED AP, CNU, Director of Town Planning, HDR Inc.
• Andrés Duany, FAIA, Principal, DPZ

California has always been for dreamers, and Los Angeles is the city making those dreams a reality. Over the past two years, issues about growth and quality of life have risen to the top of the Mayoral agenda, with cornerstone themes of increasing the supply of affordable housing, providing transportation choices and creating vibrant mixed-use urban neighborhoods that inform a smart planning policy. Michael Woo, one of Mayor Villaraigosa's appointees to the City Planning Commission and the first trained urban planner elected to the L.A. City Council, will discuss how the evolution of the city into a dense yet sustainable metropolis will provide opportunities of affordable housing and good jobs for its residents. Investment in core services such as housing, parks and transportation help stabilize and grow neighborhoods but also sets forth an agenda for community vitality consistent with those who dream of economic and environmental prosperity.

• Michael Woo, City Planning Commissioner, City of Los Angeles, CA

• Councilmember Jake Mackenzie, City of Rohnert Park, CA; LGC Board Member

Smart Growth is about quality of life and the ability for all people to have access to decent livable communities. For some, this is inherent in their daily lives. For many others, especially those in the middle and lower classes, choices and options for safe and healthy living are few. This discussion will focus on strategies smart growth advocates employ to ensure greater access to opportunity, and provide safe, economically attainable, livable neighborhoods. In doing so, these communities are models of healthy lifestyles and practice. We will hear from Robert K. Ross, the President and CEO of The California Endowment who will expound on the Endowment's efforts to strengthen communities and provide opportunities for its residents.

• Robert K. Ross, MD, President and CEO, The California Endowment

Pioneered by the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, Community Benefits Agreements have now become a nationally recognized tool for promoting equity in urban redevelopment. CBAs are project-specific contracts between community coalitions and developers to provide for community benefits such as local hiring, affordable housing set-asides, living wages, open space, environmental amenities and/or space for services such as child care or health care. CBA projects embody smart growth standards such as density, transit access, and mixed use; they also address the increasingly salient issues of displacement and gentrification by enabling area residents to capture more value from redevelopment. This session will use a Los Angeles case study — the Staples Center expansion — to provide practical advice on how a CBA is structured and negotiated; it will also include lessons learned from how it has been implemented to date.

• Moderator: Donald Cohen, Executive Director, Center on Policy Initiatives
• Madeline Janis-Aparicio, Executive Director, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy
• Jerilyn Lopez Mendoza, Policy Director, Environmental Defense

The Western US is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation; it also has some of the scarcest water resources. Accommodating growth while ensuring sufficient and reliable water is a critical challenge facing the region. This session will connect smart growth strategies to managing water supplies in the rapidly growing West. It will illustrate why smart growth development is less water resource intensive than conventional development patterns. Examples of communities in the West that are counting the water supply benefits of smart growth in their land use strategies will be highlighted. Strategies for implementation and overcoming barriers will be included.

• Moderator: Martha Davis, Executive Manager of Policy Development Inland Empire Utilities Agency
• Susan Spegar, Special Project Manager, City of San Antonio, TX
• John Norris, Founding Principal, Norris Design
• Laura J. Huffman, Assistant City Manager, City of Austin, TX

This session will feature: 1) strategies that have either emerged or evolved since January 2006 in the service of increasing access to healthy foods and improving health in urban centers, 2) recent or current policy and programmatic efforts to support local sustainable agriculture work, and 3) a case illustration of how one community is working to both increase food access and support a local food system with multiple strategies. Speakers will focus on providing implementation strategies and current examples of how this work can be done in local communities.

• Andy Fisher, Executive Director, Community Food Security Coalition
• Leslie Mikkelsen, MPH, Managing Director, Prevention Institute
• Phil McGrath, McGrath Family Farms

As many communities across the country struggle with the social and environmental consequences of suburban sprawl and unmanaged urban growth, a new trend in school design that addresses a range of community problems is emerging. Joint-use schools that create partnerships with other community resources including libraries, parks, health clinics, youth programs, and even farmer’s markets. These partnerships can reverse the trend of sprawl, attract more people to live and raise families closer to the core of the city, and make efficient use of scarce materials and land. This session will explore some of the major challenges and opportunities facing joint-use school-based development and will look at several success stories and the lessons learned from these experiences.

• Moderator: David Abel, Managing Director, New Schools Better Neighborhoods
• John R. Dale, AIA, LEED AP, Associate Principal, K-12 Schools Studio, Harry Ellis Devereaux
• Randall Lewis, Executive Vice President, Director of Marketing, Lewis Operating Corp.
• Gail Goldberg, Planning Director, City of Los Angeles, CA

Many land use policies and development decisions are fraught with conflict and controversy. Caught in the middle of a firestorm of irate residents and frustrated developers, local officials, civic leaders, and community groups often need help in how to strategically frame issues and define terms to avoid impasse and enhance understanding about the real versus perceived impacts of a development project or a change to the communities' comprehensive plan or zoning ordinance. This session will initially examine essential communication strategies for project managers, department heads, elected officials, and executive directors of non profit organizations. As former chief of staff for Los Angeles City Councilmember Ruth Galanter and former Executive Director of Heal the Bay, Adi Liberman has worked with government officials and community leaders on framing land use and environmental issues. He will explore strategies they can use to minimize miscommunications and enhance trust and credibility. For the second half of the session, Donna Silverberg, former director of Oregon's Office of Dispute Resolution will share her experience designing and facilitating multi-party, public policy consensus building processes along with specific mediation and negotiation techniques and skills.

• Facilitator: Elizabeth Schilling, Principal, Urban Associates
• Adi Liberman, President, Adi Lieberman & Associates
• Donna Silverberg, Principal, DS Consulting

Ventura County has urban growth boundaries to protect agricultural land and open space. Now, the City of Ventura is pursuing urban infill as the alternative to suburban sprawl. Hear the exciting and inspiring Ventura story from three national leaders in smart growth.

• Moderator: Rick Cole, City Manager, City of Ventura, CA
• Bill Fulton, President, Solimar Research; Councilmember, City of Ventura, CA
• Supervisor Steve Bennett, Ventura County, CA

Cities across the country are working to be the next light-rail star as they build entire lines and systems seemingly overnight. But these same places are making tragic mistakes and missteps in preparing the market for TOD to sprout around each new rail station. Public agencies rarely see that they are intrinsic players in the success or failure of TOD along their rail lines. With current drops in the residential market, more TOD plans are at stake. This session features discussion about cities that are becoming the Good, the Bad and the Indifferent at doing the deal for TOD to succeed in the marketplace.

• Moderator: Ilana Preuss, Senior Policy Analyst, U.S. EPA
• Katherine Perez, Vice President of Development, Forest City Development
• Dena Belzer, Principal, Strategic Economics

This session will uncover key opportunities, responsibilities and challenges for the health sector in designing and building facilities that promote community health. Past and current strategies in designing healthcare facilities to be "healthy buildings" have focused on environmental sustainability and environmental health issues, such as the siting of buildings and the use of "green" materials. Given the current understanding about the impact of the built environment on health, designers, architects, and facilities executives can leverage their knowledge and successes in building "green" facilities to build or renovate healthcare facilities so that they also promote public health by encouraging physical activity. This includes strategies such as linking the campus to a bus or metro stop, creating welcoming stairwells and providing walking trails on campus to promote walking. Speakers from three different fields (public health, healthcare facilities, and design/architecture) will discuss the key responsibilities, opportunities and challenges in this work. Small group breakouts will give participants a chance to interact and brainstorm ways to address problems encountered in building healthcare facilities that promote health. This session is geared towards facilities executives, planners, public health professionals, and clinical champions interested in making healthcare facilities a source of prevention and wellness.

• Moderator: Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, Adjunct Professor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, School of Public Health
• John Kouletsis, National Director of Strategy, Planning, and Design, Kaiser Permanente
• John Pangrazio, FAIA, FACHA Partner, NBBJ Architects
• Michael Hrast, Project Director, NFS Capital Projects Modesto

Historically, rural America solved a generations-old transportation problem with a distinct land use and development pattern. Post WWII, the market, transportation technology, and advances in agriculture production all changed, altering the character of the rural landscape and the clear connection between the rural economy and the rural development pattern, especially in fast growing rural areas. Many rural communities across the country are meeting the challenge of how to grow while at the same time keeping their quality of life. Some communities have adopted smart growth strategies as a way to accommodate growth and maintain rural character. This panel will address various policy options related to rural land use, access to healthy food choices, transportation, conservation, public health, and the environment. The moderator will provide a short overview of smart growth in rural America. The panelists will discuss their current work on food access, rural transportation and land use, and the connection between conservation and land development patterns outside of public and private forests.

• Moderator: Matt Dalbey, Policy Analyst, U.S. EPA
• Judith Bell, President, PolicyLink
• Dan Emerine, Livable Communities Team, International City and County Management Association
• Claire Harper, U.S. Forest Service

Ask an environmental advocate how they engage their constituency in policy and political action and their answer will be very different from how a low-income or community development advocate engages their constituency. We know that spawl has significant negative social, economic, and environmental consequences for low-income and immigrant communities, yet we often lack these communities' voices and input in the Smart Growth discussion. This session will examine the type of outreach needed to engage low-income and immigrant communities in the planning discussion and development stages. Panelists will address how to turn conversations with city officials around to ensure that the entire community is engaged, how to work with local residents to help them understand why their input and advocacy matters, and how to ensure that the smart growth movement is also a social equity movement. The session will highlight two cases studies and include public outreach consultants that worked with the community as well as community residents that are part of the process.

• Moderator: Will Cipes, Interim Executive Director, Transportation Land Use Collaborative of Southern California
• Monica Villalobos, Community Outreach Director, Transportation & Land Use Collaborative of Southern California
• Vice Mayor Maria Davila, City of Southgate, CA
• Ramon Trias, AICP, Principal, Trias and Associates
• Elise Rollins, Resident, Ft. Pierce, FL

Over 20 years and three ballot initiatives, San Diego's labor leaders moved from opposition to smart growth to neutrality to enthusiastic support. How that change occurred is a telling microcosm of how unions are coming to see urban revitalization to be strongly in their self-interest and are seeking common ground with environmentalists and other smart growth advocates. The Building Trades in Oregon (unlike some other states), have long understood the value of Urban Growth Boundaries, and see UGBs as integral to the revitalization of cities like Portland and to the strength of their unions. With San Diego and Portland as case studies, this session will also explain how the national AFL-CIO came to officially denounce sprawl and provide practical insights for anyone seeking ways to recruit their local labor movements into smart growth efforts.

• Moderator: Donald Cohen, Executive Director, Center on Policy Initiatives
• Jerry Butkiewicz, San Diego-Imperial Counties Central Labor Council
• Bob Shiprack, Oregon Building and Construction Trades Council

Service providers, architects and developers can ensure that homeless housing projects are well designed and managed showing that special purpose housing projects can be, and often are, the most attractive and well maintained buildings on the block. The learning objectives from this inquiry will yield tools for assisting elected officials and communities in providing innovative and distinctive architectural solutions for homeless projects that integrate planning and community outreach to work with neighbors to build long lasting community support. Come learn about innovative examples from Santa Monica and other Westside Cities projects.

• Councilmember Richard Bloom, City of Santa Monica, CA
• John Maceri, Executive Director, OPCC
• Jeffrey Kalban, Principal, Jeffrey M. Kalban & Associates Architecture, Inc.

In one session, this high energy, 3-screen presentation will concurrently tie together the multi-disciplinary fabric of smart growth for professionals of all backgrounds and experience levels. Based on the success of this session at the 2006 New Partners Smart Growth in Denver, conference participants will be provided with a fresh, thought-provoking understanding of how key smart growth principles contribute, simultaneously, to important quality of life issues. Wherever possible, the presenters — an economist, a public health practitioner, and an urban designer — will include both empirical and anecdotal support for each smart growth principle. This session is a must-attend!

• Al Zelinka, AICP, Principal, RBF Consulting’s Urban Design Studio
• Tina Zenzola, Director, Safe and Healthy Communities Consulting
• Marie Jones, Principal, Marie Jones Consulting

Groups across the country are using a range of techniques and tools to involve citizens in visioning and scenario-building efforts for their communities. What tradeoffs did the tools force between deeper public understanding vs. broader public involvement and impact? What are the logistical, time and resources implications of various tools and techniques? And how do different tools and techniques play out in the media and political environments? Hear from a diverse panel of experts reporting on some of the most ambitious and extensive leading-edge work in the country. Learn about a variety of tools and techniques for visioning and scenario planning including PlanMaster, Google Earth, CommunityViz, Wikis, WorldKit mapping, keypad polling, SketchUp and more. Learn how to better choose tools and techniques, confront challenges of complexity and data availability, and incorporate tools more effectively into official planning activities.

• Facilitator: Uri Arvin, Practice Leader, Regional Growth Management, PB PlaceMaking
• Chris Haller, eParticipation.com
• Ken Snyder, Orton Family Foundation
• David Hawkins, Facet Decision Systems

This dynamic workshop with feature renowned parking expert Don Shoup, UCLA Urban Planning professor and author of "The High Cost of Free Parking." He will share his latest research and highlight innovative parking strategies (car sharing, shared parking, unbundling parking from residential units, stacked, automated) that are being successfully used to create more efficient and cost-effective parking options in urban environments.

• Donald Shoup, Ph.D., Professor of Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles

Growth and land conservation are often seen as two opposing forces. This session will explore a new paradigm where development and conservation are compatible and complimentary. The Forest Service will moderate a discussion of three strategic and collaborative approaches to managing growth and conservation along the rural/urban gradient.

Jerry Moles from the New River Land Trust in rural Grayson County, VA will discuss the work that the Trust has modeled on the Australian Landcare Program. The New River Trust is developing markets for local agriculture and forest products. Landowners use tax credits for development rights, or sell them to people, or corporations with large tax obligations. Dan Reuter from the Atlanta Regional Commission will discuss several projects that integrate development with forest conservation, including a regional forest assessment and a conservation easement program. Don Outen, a Baltimore County planner, will describe how the County is using the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators framework in a county that has successfully managed growth for 40 years.

• Moderator: Susan Mockenhaupt, National Program Manager, Urban & Community Forestry Program, US Forest Service
• Don Outen, Natural Resource Manager, Baltimore Co. Dept. Environmental Protection & Resource Management
• Claire Harper, U.S. Forest Service
• Dan Reuter, Land Use Chief, Atlanta Regional Commission
• Jerry Moles, NWFW Grant, Consulting Director of Land Stewardship, New River Land Trust

Local governments across the country are looking to sustainable development practices to preserve the quality of life and promote greater environmental stewardship. This session highlights two tools that can assist local governments in guiding development in a more sustainable direction.

Jennifer Henry of USGBC and Jessica Millman of the Coalition for Smarter Growth will present an overview of LEED for Neighborhood Development, a new rating system designed by the U.S. Green Building Council, the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The rating system, which is currently being piloted with a limited number of projects, has been developed to recognize and encourage smart growth, more walkable and/or transit-oriented neighborhood design, and green building by certifying development projects that meet specific criteria in these areas. LEED for Neighborhood Development's potential value to developers, planners, smart growth advocates, and municipalities will also be discussed.

Walker Wells of Global Green will outline a new step-by-step guide for developing municipal green building programs. Participants will learn how cities can accommodate new development and building activity while still protecting the natural environment by implementing green building programs and linking them to a commitment to smart growth principles.

• Jennifer Henry, Program Manager for LEED for Neighborhood Developments, U.S. Green Building Council
• Walker Wells, AICP, Program Director, R.E.S.C.U.E., Global Green
• Jessica Millman, Maryland Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita slammed into the Gulf Coast more than a year-and-a half ago, causing devastation never before seen in the history of the United States. Fully recovering from this disaster will take time, resources, and a dedicated commitment to planning and community development that recognizes and incorporates the needs of Gulf Coast residents, particularly low-income households, in all facets of rebuilding.

Along with all levels of government, national, state, and local nonprofit organizations have partnered together to help provide a comprehensive policy response, investments, and other assistance to rebuild healthy neighborhoods and vibrant communities throughout the region for all area residents. This session will explore where the redevelopment efforts stand from the perspectives of these multiple partners, highlight current opportunities, and address the challenges that remain in the quest to revitalize and strengthen Gulf Coast communities.

• Moderator: Chris Morton, Director of Policy and Consulting, Fannie Mae Foundation
• Evelyn Brown, Senior Vice President, LISC Gulf Region Rebuilding Initiative
• William Stallworth, Director, East Biloxi Relief, Recovery and Redevelopment Center
• Kay Fernandez, Senior Associate, PolicyLink
• Representative Cheryl A. Gray, Louisiana House of Representatives
• Nadine Jarmon, Ph.D., Vice President of Community Development, Providence Community Housing

Atlantic-based hurricanes are in a high occurrence cycle, the planet's temperature is rising, conventional development patterns are still the overwhelming norm and vehicle miles traveled increasing throughout the country. Interest in climate change and the relationship between growth patterns and their impacts is increasing. No matter the nuances of the issues, smart growth provides a means for changing travel and land use strategies to curtail negative impacts to the climate with anticipated results in environmental protection and increased healthy lifestyles. This panel of national experts will connect the dots of land use and climate change from health to transportation to the insurance industry and illustrate how policy changes at the local state and national levels can be implemented to preserve our economic, social, and environmental health.

• Keynote: Assemblymember Fabian Núñez, 46th District; Speaker, California State Assembly

Panelists:

• John Geesman, Commissioner, California Energy Commission
• Reid Ewing, Associate and Research Professor, National Center for Smart Growth, University of Maryland
• Tim Wagner, Director, Nebraska Department of Insurance
• Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, Adjunct Professor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, School of Public Health

This two-hour workshop will examine cutting-edge regional transportation plans that are making a difference in what gets funded and what gets built. These regional plans and programs move beyond looking at transportation-in-a-silo and employ new tools to allow the multiple aspects of land use to be considered in the planning process. Their innovative use of transportation dollars is helping to make that all-important transportation/land use link. There will be ample opportunity for attendees to participate in the discussion.

• Moderator: Supervisor Steve Kinsey, Marin County, CA
• Mike McKeever, Executive Director, Sacramento Area Council of Governments
• Mayor Christopher Cabaldon, City of West Sacramento, CA
• Paul Richardson, Planning & Redevelopment Director, City of Roseville, CA
• Larry Mugler, AICP, Planning Services Manager, Denver Regional Council of Governments

There is a growing need to align land use planning strategies with efforts to protect and manage water resources. Smart Growth development accommodates more growth in less area so important areas of watersheds can be protected, and encourages mixed-use, walkable communities that reduce automobile dependence. Site-specific LID techniques aim to reduce and treat runoff within developed areas. Implementing these strategies together will help communities protect watershed health, improve water quality, recharge groundwater supplies, reduce localized flooding, while meeting regulatory requirements, accommodating growth and achieving other community goals. Speakers will stress the importance of integrating regional and site-scale strategies. Selected case studies will highlight smart growth developments that have incorporated effective site-specific stormwater techniques, and discuss common programmatic and policy barriers that can preclude implementation.

• Moderator: Tom Liptan, Environmental Specialist, Bureau of Environmental Services, City of Portland, OR
• Clark Wilson, Associate Principal, Community Design + Architecture
• Milt Rhodes, Director, Planning & Program Development, North Carolina Smart Growth Alliance
• Christopher Kloss, Senior Environmental Scientist, Low Impact Development Center

Smart growth advocates are making impressive progress in revitalizing our downtowns; cutting-edge developers are providing us with some excellent models for greenfield developments; even some industrial areas are being transformed into hip, lively places to live. But what to do about that auto-dominated, look-alike, declining strip development found in communities all over the country? Freedman will provide an engaging overview of design and restructuring strategies for transforming some of the most unlivable places into community assets.

• Michael Freedman, FAIA, Principal, Freedman, Tung and Bottomley

Infill development is a common goal of comprehensive plans and Smart Growth strategies across the country but widely acknowledged as a challenge. The Annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference has tackled many of the first generation barriers, such as neighborhood resistance, financial barriers and zoning obstacles. This session will highlight a new round of surprising obstacles, and techniques for addressing them. The first example is getting buy-in for infill and redevelopment among staff members. The City of Greensboro was faced with this situation after adopting their first comprehensive plan in 2003. A group of city staff was charged with identifying barriers to infill development in the city spent over a year and a half on this effort with very surprising results for the organization and the development community. Houston Texas conducted a similar exercise at the regional level. The second set of barriers is even more surprising. The pendulum swing towards "Green design" is welcome among builders and environmentalists alike; however, the implementation of a new green code is throwing up unforeseen barriers for redevelopment. Addressing these, and other, barriers to infill and redevelopment require a new set of skills in anticipating conflicts and preparing stakeholders throughout the process.

• Facilitator: Lisa Nisenson, President, Nisenson Consulting
• Sue Schwartz, FAICP, Neighborhood Planning Manager, Housing & Community Development, City of Greensboro, NC
• Jeff Taebel, AICP, Director of Community and Environmental Planning, Houston Galveston Area Council

This Workshop — the first session on this topic at a smart growth conference — will discuss the increasingly important issue of how the growth being experienced at a number of military installations can be carried out with sustainability and community planning in mind. The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process is bringing about a major increase in new missions and troops at certain bases as well as the need for new off-base military housing. The total population increase in a given community near a base can be much larger than the announced troop increase, with the impacts of base growth being felt throughout a region. Find out more about the challenges and opportunities of such mission growth for communities. Learn from and interact with several top DoD officials, as well as a leading private developer of military housing and local government official who is working with a major installation on growth issues.

• Moderator: Jan Larkin, Outreach Coordinator, Department of Defense Range Sustainment Initiative, U.S. Department of Defense
• Mike Davis, Associate Director, Office of Economic Adjustment, U. S. Department of Defense
• Rick Flansburg, OSD  Housing and Competitive Sourcing, U. S. Department of Defense
• Neal Payton, Torti Galles and Partners
• Rick Jones, AICP, Director of Planning, Columbus Consolidated Government

Mixed-income transit-oriented communities are the most sustainable and equitable, and our ability to create and preserve them is at the core of our economic competitiveness and quality of life. But the barriers seem insurmountable: from high land prices to onerous parking requirements to neighborhood opposition to density and development. The Center for TOD studied five regions to ID the best tools for ensuring that affordable housing is part of the TOD mix. And, because affordability is never just about housing - since the cheapest housing often requires the costliest commute - looking at the combined housing and transportation costs can provide a persuasive argument for locating density and affordability near transit. Hear about the best strategies, see the affordability numbers, and brainstorm about new ways to keep TOD mixed-income.

• Moderator: Mariia Zimmerman, Vice President for Policy, Reconnecting America
• Effie Stallsmith, Community Planner, Office of Systems Planning, Federal Transit Administration
• Dena Belzer, Principal, Strategic Economics
• Barbara Lipman, Research Director, Center for Housing Policy
• Jeanne DuBois, Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation
• Jeanne DuBois, Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation
• Joe Carreras, Lead Regional Planner, Southern California Association of Governments

Across the country, the state of the built environment — the design of neighborhoods and man-made structures such as buildings, roads and sidewalks — is having detrimental effects on the public's health. Residents who live in low-income areas are at particular risk because these neighborhoods are often of poor quality. Housing, schools, and other structures in these areas are often unsafe and dilapidated. These communities often lack access to affordable fresh foods and good social services. Pollution sources, such as mass transit and industry are more often than not located in these areas. Further, people who live in these communities are typically minorities. It is not surprising that leading health issues such as asthma, obesity and heart disease (all health issues that are now understood to be linked to the built environment) are more prevalent among these disparate populations. This session will look at how building healthier communities, can help address existing health disparities, with a focus on California.

• Moderator: Earl Johnson, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer, California Works for Better Health, The California Endowment
• Larry Cohen, MSW, Executive Director, Prevention Institute
• Andrea Hricko, MPH, Associate Professor of Preventative Medicine University of Southern California, & Director, Community Outreach & Education, Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center>
• Antronette "Toni" Yancey, MD, MPH, Co-Director, Center to Eliminate Health Disparties, UCLA School of Public Health

With each passing generation, the City and County of Los Angeles experience significant changes in transportation infrastructure. These transformations result in new developments in urban design and the social and cultural make up of the city. Through this process of continuous change, Los Angeles has been portrayed and perceived in many ways. From the desert cow-town frontier of the late 1800's with a population of less than 20,000 people, to a bustling city in the 1920's with 1000 miles of electric trolleys serving a population of 500,000 inhabitants. Later, when the electric trolley system was dismantled, Freeways became the primary mode of transportation while public transit was carried on a much-reduced network of buses, and Los Angeles became the poster child of the automobile and freeway city. Not until the 60's would some transportation planners begin realize that reliance on the automobile, as the only mode of transport was an environmentally and financially unsustainable approach to move people and maintain a healthy and livable city. In this workshop you will learn about the new transit system in Los Angeles and the foundation for the new urban form of the Los Angeles of the 21st Century.

• Diego Cardoso, Director, Central Area Planning Team, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
• Rex Gephard, Director, Regional Transit Planning, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

This session is a behind-the-scenes look at emerging and innovative policies, programs, and practices employed by an increasing number of Governors and legislatures, working collaboratively and cross-functionally with state agencies, local government representatives, and non-governmental organizations, to build sustainable communities from the inside out. Panelists will explore strategies that prioritize and target state investments in existing communities before utilizing resources to develop open space on the exurban fringe. Goals are accomplished through incentives and state agency restructuring that align and elevate housing, economic development, transportation, and other initiatives into a coherent and comprehensive strategy.

Learn from real world players about the opportunities and challenges of a comprehensive, integrated approach to state development — gaining policy support, realigning state investments, and improving efficiency and coordinated planning to strengthen communities and create a sustainable quality of life for all.

• Moderator: Kil Huh, Ph.D., Director, Policy and Consulting, Fannie Mae Foundation
• Timothy E. Marx, Commissioner, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
• Dr. Sheila D. Harris, Director, Arizona Department of Housing
• Lisa J. Yaffe, Deputy Executive Director, Pennsylvania Governor's Office of Housing and Community Revitalization

Using the natural landscape as a fundamental design component across the transect can create beautiful places that function well both environmentally and economically. Natural landscape functions — mimicked through "soft" engineering, protected in their original form, or restored through careful intervention — help create valuable amenities while also managing environmental quality and providing critical habitat. This session will highlight examples at the regional and community level where green infrastructure design principles have been incorporated as an integral part of smart community design.

• Moderator: Lynn Desautels, Ph.D., Senior Policy Analyst, U.S. EPA
• Sharon Pfeifer, Community Assistance Manager, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
• Marshall Foster, Mithun

Local communities are increasingly challenged by how to finance needed new infrastructure as residents demand more and better services but resist increased taxes to pay for these. There are a variety of infrastructure financing alternatives available to communities today, in an increasingly favorable climate for innovation, yet these are not well known or understood. This session is sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders and National Association of Realtors and will highlight cost-effective solutions for building and rebuilding schools, including public-private partnerships and community-based schools that strengthen the tie between schools and neighborhoods and provide opportunities to share public facilities.

• Moderator: Robert McNamara, National Association of REALTORS®
• Kelly Leid, Executive Director, Foundation for Educational Excellence; Oakwood Homes, LLC
• Kevin Sullivan, Foundation Consultant, Knowledge Works Foundation
• Tom Kube, Executive Director/CEO, Council of Educational Facility Planners International

Public health plays an important role in creating healthier communities. State and local health agencies, in particular, provide the necessary leadership to assist in the development and implementation of innovative and creative smart growth policies and environmental modifications. This session will offer a series of case studies and examples demonstrating the different approaches that state and local health agencies from around the country have taken to develop healthy communities and environments conducive to active lifestyles. Public health issues to be discussed include chronic disease and injury prevention, health promotion and education, environmental health, senior services, school health, maternal and child health and others. Examples of successful, innovative partnership opportunities within these frameworks will be provided. Attendees will understand the skills and expertise within public health agencies, and how it can be used to benefit planners, transportation planners, developers, and other working to advance the smart growth movement.

• Moderator: Stuart Berlow, MPP, MHSA, Director, Injury Prevention Policy Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
• Barbara Alberson, Chief, State and Local Injury Control Section, California Department of Health Services
• Eloise Gonzalez, MD, Deputy Director, Los Angeles County Health Department, CA
• Daniel Parker, MD, GAL, Assistant Division Director, Division of Environmental Health, Florida Department of Health

Suburban communities have their own culture, growth patterns, and demographics. The suburbs are critical to the success of Smart Growth in dozens of regions across the country. Smart Growth policymakers must understand what drives suburban communities so they can fashion realistic planning, land use, and transportation strategies. Come hear about Robert Lang's new book for the Brookings Institution — Boomburbs — that explores the demographic and policy trends of the nation's largest suburban cities (with populations 200,000+). These trends will have huge implications in shaping the future SG policies, such as providing affordable housing, transportation, and regional collaboration among local governments. More importantly, the Boomburbs have become a political force all their own.

• Moderator: Christy McFarland, Senior Research Associate, National League of Cities
• Robert Lang, Ph.D., Director, Metropolitan Institute, Virginia Tech
• Mayor Ron Loveridge, City of Riverside, CA

All land, developed or not, is part of a watershed. To accommodate growth while protecting water resources, communities need to develop in ways that sustain watershed health. This session will highlight watershed-planning approaches that link land use decisions and water protection. Speakers will outline an approach to watershed protection that includes compact development, identifying and protecting ecologically valuable areas, and designing the built environment to emulate watershed processes so that development impacts are prevented, minimized, or managed. Additionally, speakers will stress the importance of regional coordination for accommodating regional growth pressures while protecting regional watershed assets.

• Moderator: Jenny Malloy, Biologist, Office of Wastewater Management, U.S. EPA
• Jeff Pratt, Director, Ventura County Watershed Protection District
• Milt Rhodes, Director, Planning & Program Development, North Carolina Smart Growth Alliance
• George Hawkins, Executive Director, New Jersey Futures

Many smart growth advocates think smart growth is a natural solution to the problem of a rapidly aging America. This panel will explore some of the myths about transportation and housing choice, as well as mixed-use. Experts will highlight the complex and clever smart growth solutions that can solve some of the vexing problems communities will face as our society ages.

• Moderator: Brett Van Akkeren, Policy Analyst, U.S. EPA
• Harrison Rue, Executive Director, Thomas Jefferson District Planning Commission
• Carol Berg, Housing and Community Development Manager, City of Santa Cruz
• Elizabeth Sassen, Director, Cafe Development, Mather LifeWays

This session will describe the difference between streets that accommodate pedestrians well (pedestrian-friendly) and those that entice people to come out and walk (pedestrian-seductive). It will feature places that provide the basic safety and conveniences for pedestrians like sidewalks and intersection crossings. Then we will show how to make these streets come alive through streetscaping, landscaping, architecture, paseos and more. This session will display an outstanding example of how to engage the community into making their neighborhoods more walkable. It will showcase the Great Hollywood Walkabout where 150 people came out and surveyed 43 streets to bring pedestrian enhancements into the community plan. Last, an Angeleno will describe how it is possible to carry on daily life in Los Angeles without a car. He will recall his daily experiences, rewards, and barriers. He will also discuss the most important improvements needed to foster auto-free lifestyles here.

• James Rojas, Chair, Latino Urban Forum; Project Manager, Central Area Team, Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority
• Ryan Snyder, Principal, Ryan Snyder Associates
• Deborah Murphy, Urban Design + Planning
• Tim Papandreou, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Agency

Whether the problem is the jobs/housing imbalance, increasing vehicle miles traveled, competition for localized tax base, open space preservation, or air and water quality, the importance of a regional model for smart growth planning is critical. Local governments and their neighbors need to find common ground through understanding the benefits of land use polices directed at making the regional healthier, this will in turn create more livable communities in localized neighborhoods. Our closing speaker, Sunne Wright McPeak, has broad experience as a highly-acclaimed leader in the implementation of Smart Growth through her work as a county supervisor, business leader, and most recently as the Governor's cabinet appointee and Secretary of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. McPeak will provide practical and informed advice on how one might work with others within a region. This expertise can inform all participants for the year to come.

• Sunne Wright McPeak, President & CEO, California Emerging Technology Fund