Conference Session by Track
The New Partners for Smart Growth session are grouped into tracks, designed to help you locate the sessions most applicable to your profession or interest. However, we strongly encourage participants to take a multidisciplinary approach to the conference. The tracks are:
Continuing Education
Sessions approved for Continuing Education Units are identified in the session descriptions on the program below. Sessions are shown with the number of units approved.
Click session titles for more details on that session.
Track
| Thursday, February 2 | |
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8:30-10:00am
Concurrent Breakouts
Comparing Coastal Responses to Promote Regional Resiliency
Moderator:Kimberly M. Miller, Senior Planner, Eco-Systems, Inc. Speakers:Tina Shumate, Senior Technical Recruiter, Recruiting Manager, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Nicola Hedge, Climate Initiative Manager, The San Diego Foundation Linda Giannelli Pratt, Chief Program Manager, Environmental Services, City of San Diego, CA Presentations → Hurricane Katrina's destruction along the Gulf Coast has required communities to rebuild from scratch, rethinking urban patterns and long-range planning. Today, new master plans across the Mississippi Gulf Coast aim to curb sprawl and rebuild compact communities with green infrastructure to manage storm water and mitigate flooding in low-lying areas. On another coast, San Diego County residents need only recall the recent multi-year drought and devastating wildfires to recognize climate change impacts bearing down on the US southwest. The region, however, is emerging as an incubator for innovative development of plans to mitigate and adapt to our changing climate, with philanthropy playing a catalytic role and local governments like the City of San Diego leading by example. Join this discussion comparing and contrasting approaches of two coastal regions to advance smart growth and promote regional climate resiliency. Speakers from business, government, and philanthropy will explore their region's motivations, challenges, and successes.
What Americans Want
Moderator:Arthur C. Nelson, Presidential Professor, University of Utah Speakers:Joe Molinaro, Managing Director, Smart Growth Program, National Association of REALTORS® Shyam Kannan, Principal Director, Economic Development Practice Group, RCLCo Gail Meakins, Research Analyst, University of Utah Presentations → This panel will bring together several surveys exploring American's preference for smart growth communities. Joe Molinaro from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) will provide an overview of findings from NAR's 2011 national preference survey. Shyam Kannan from RCLCo will explore the details of the NAR survey using segmentation analysis focusing on Americans' preferences for transit oriented developments and walkable communities. Gail Meakins from the University of Utah will report findings from the nation's largest survey of Americans' attitudes toward smart growth communities conducted by Porter-Novelli with special reference to walking and biking to work and for errands, and transit accessibility. Arthur C. Nelson, also from the University of Utah, will review three sub-national surveys on preference for TODs and transit accessibility including California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and western Texas, and synthesize all surveys for their smart growth implications. Special attention will be given to under-served markets and equity.
Public-Private Partnership to Finance and Promote Equitable TOD
Moderator:Noni Ramos, Vice President and Chief Lending Officer, Enterprise Community Loan Fund Speakers:Brian Prater, Managing Director, Western Region, Low Income Investment Fund Doug Johnson, Senior Transportation Planner, Metropolitan Transportation Commission Lindy Hahn, Global Sustainable Finance, Morgan Stanley Presentations → Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is an important component of sustainable development. Without proactive public policy and innovative financing mechanisms, the development of new public transportation infrastructures can have a negative effect upon low-income households, by driving up land and real estate values. One of the primary financing mechanisms for the creation or preservation of affordable housing near transit has been acquisition loan funds for TOD. These pioneering funds allow borrowers to hold land for five or more years, layer capital to lower interest rates from standard acquisition loans, and create an environment in which both borrowers and the lenders take new or non traditional risk in order to ensure that low-income households can benefit from combined access to reliable public transportation and affordable housing. This session will highlight such a fund, The Bay Area Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Fund, and will focus on collaboration and the elements (program, policy and innovative financing tools) that need to exist to advance equitable TOD.
National Prevention Strategy: America's Plan for Building Safe and Healthy Communities
Speakers:Corinne M. Graffunder, DrPH, MPH, Director, National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy, Office of the Associate Director for Policy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dorothy J. Miller, Ph.D., Office of Research and Development, U.S. EPA Joani Walsh, Deputy Under Secretary, U.S.D.A. Marketing and Regulatory Programs Elena Lynett, Senior Health Law Specialist, U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Office of Health Plan Standards and Compliance Assistance Presentations → This joint presentation from HHS, EPA, DOL and USDA highlights how the National Prevention Strategy provides a new, health-in-all policies approach to prevention. A key prevention challenge is tackling the current epidemic of obesity. The Strategy recognizes that this will require the efforts of many federal agencies and other stakeholders. Good community design, with sidewalks, adequate lighting and traffic slowing devices, improves the walkability of communities and promotes physical activity. Increasing access to healthy, affordable food options provides people with the opportunity to make healthy choices about what they eat. Proper food handling, preparation, and storage, and adoption of hand washing practices within commercial establishments and homes can reduce contamination and prevent food borne illnesses. Health professionals in a variety of settings, including workplaces, can provide education, counseling, and referrals to community resources to help people lead more active lifestyles, eat more healthily, and reduce their health risks.
Overcoming Barriers to Sustainably Redevelop Historic Communities: Focus on Main Street
Speakers:Nora Johnson, Policy Fellow, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA Yolanda Bouchee, Green Historic Preservation Specialist, U.S. EPA, Region 5 Joi Ross, Owner/CEO, APEX Direct, Inc. Matthew Walsh. Assistant for Special Projects, City of Concord, NH Presentations → Green building practices do not need to be limited to new construction: historic properties can be an important way to incorporate green building into existing building stock and play an important role in downtown revitalization. This panel will describe US EPA's efforts to assist in green historic preservation nationwide, focusing on EPA's recent Concord, NH, technical assistance project to help Concord identify tools to sustainably redevelop the upper stories of their historic properties downtown. The panel will discuss lessons learned and provide tools for both developers and communities. In addition, the assessment tool resulting from the project will be presented, designed to help determine how successful a community has been in marrying green building practices, historic preservation, and smart growth principles.
Smart Growth 101
Speakers:Paul Zykofsky, Associate Director, Local Government Commission John Frece, Director, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA Presentations → This session is geared towards first-time attendees to the conference or for participants who are new to the practice of implementing smart growth solutions. The session will cover general topics, such as the ten principles of smart growth, the basics of planning and zoning for smart growth and how Smart Growth is being implemented at the state, regional and local level. The goal of the session is to provide a good working background for a multi-disciplinary audience on smart growth and prepare participants for more in-depth sessions during the main conference.
People, Place & Planning: Engaging Residents & Using Data in Revitalization and Evaluation
Speakers:Crystal Dundas, Vice President, Communications and Program Officer; Wells Fargo Regional Foundation Lois Greco, Senior Vice President, Evaluations; Wells Fargo Regional Foundation Patrick Morrissy, Executive Director, Housing and Neighborhood Development Services Eileen Flanagan, Chief Innovator, Community Development Consulting Presentations → How can you create and sustain long-term neighborhood change that engages and energizes current residents, leverages the assets and market momentum of a place, and assesses if you've accomplished what you've set out to do? Come play the Neighborhood Planning Game, and experience a participatory neighborhood planning process through the eyes of a stakeholder; hear first-hand how one New Jersey community is revitalizing based upon its superb transit access, location, artistic residents and industrial heritage; and learn about tools like Success Measures and PolicyMap that are available to support and assess the impact of these smart-growth activities. The session will focus on a participatory framework towards neighborhood revitalization developed and refined by the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation, and currently subscribed to in more than 40 neighborhoods in eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey.
Restoring Prosperity in America's Legacy Cities
Speakers:Lavea Brachman JD, MCP, Executive Director, Greater Ohio Policy Center & Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program Dan Kildee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for Community Progress Odail Thorns, Community Development Director, City of Saginaw, MI William A. Johnson, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Urban Studies, Rochester Institute of Technology Andre Brumfield, Assoc. AIA, Principal | Director of Urban Design + Planning, AECOM Presentations → As many American cities attempt to rebound from housing and economic decline, some continue to struggle as job losses and increasing inventories of vacant properties add to decades of population loss. This session will explore how America's "Legacy Cities"—cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis—are employing rightsizing approaches to adapt to a changing economy and to position themselves for new growth and investment. Join a multi disciplinary panel of policy leaders, advocates, and local officials as they explore how communities nationally, in Ohio, New York and Michigan have moved beyond the rhetoric of rightsizing and have started the process of retooling and reimagining their communities and regions. Discussion topics include: a new role for federal community development policy, the challenges of managing and rightsizing infrastructure, authentic community engagement, balancing public investment and market demand, equity, and strategies for local community driven change.
Partnerships Provide Opportunities for Successful Community and Economic Development in Small Towns and Rural Regions
Speakers:Kathy Q. Nothstine, AICP, National Association of Development Organizations Patricia M Sears, Executive Director, Newport City Renaissance Corporation Paul J Dreher, Director of Planning & Zoning, City of Newport, VT Candace Eudaley, Assistant Executive Director, East Central Intergovernmental Association Presentations → Rural communities face complicated challenges and opportunities related to sustainable development initiatives. This session will discuss how rural regions and small towns are creating innovative partnerships to promote place-based community and economic development, and will highlight "quality of place" investment strategies and economic development techniques in rural areas that build on and enhance community assets. Featuring case studies from Vermont and Iowa, speakers will describe their efforts to convene multidisciplinary partnerships and will share success stories that are replicable for other communities, as well as lessons learned. Discussion topics will include form-based codes, downtown revitalization, brownfields redevelopment, local food systems, complete streets, historic preservation, and more.
Complete Streets Implementation Coast to Coast
Moderator:Barbara McCann, Executive Director, National Complete Streets Coalition Speakers:Paula Reeves, AICP, Manager, Community Design, Washington State Department of Transportation Pippa Brashear, Project Manager, Project for Public Spaces Matthew Dyrdahl, Physical Planner, Headwaters Regional Development Commission Presentations → A growing number of states, regional agencies and local governments are adopting Complete Streets policies. But what are the next steps towards implementation and how are Complete Streets policies addressing equity? The National Complete Streets Coalition has been working with communities and industry professionals and will present a framework for Complete Streets policy implementation. Then hear examples from three communities with very different populations, settings, and experiences discuss their measurable progress and successes, as well as specific challenges and opportunities they see on the horizon. Implementation examples will be from Washington State, New York communities and Bemidji, Minnesota. The presentation will then turn to equity with new research on how Complete Streets policies address equity in five communities, including one community in California.
Smart Growth for Clean Water
Moderator:Elizabeth Schilling, Policy Manager, Smart Growth America Speakers:Gail Hesse, Executive Director, Ohio Lake Erie Commission Melissa Kramer, PhD, US EPA Office of Sustainable Communities Ben Grumbles, President, Clean Water America Alliance Presentations → Clean water is an economic asset, a biological necessity, and public amenity; however, a complicated patchwork of federal regulations presents an ongoing challenge to state and local governments trying to protect water resources. Through the lens of three very different approaches, this session explores how smart growth principles can be incorporated into existing programs and funding streams to make protecting water quality less complicated, more effective, and more affordable. Panelists will show how they are incorporating smart growth principles into state and local policies designed to protect clean water, highlighting the opportunities created by new partnerships among water quality, land use and sustainability advocates. They will also comment on the challenges to smarter growth and development patterns that result from certain types of clean water policies. |
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10:30-noon
Concurrent Breakouts
Groundbreaking New Statewide Energy Retrofit Program: Resources, Models and Lessons Learned
Moderator:Kate Meis, Associate Director, Local Government Commission Speakers:Liz Yager, Energy and Sustainability Manager, Sonoma County, CA Joseph Oldham, Sustainability Manager, City of Fresno, CA Howard Choy, General Manager, Los Angeles County Office of Sustainability Presentations → California has led the nation in reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, now an innovative new program continues that tradition—and promises to revitalize local economies across the state. Energy Upgrade California® is advancing energy efficiency and resource conservation through upgrades of thousands of existing buildings throughout the state serving as a model for the rest of the nation. Energy Upgrade California® is an unprecedented alliance among local governments, non-profits, investor and publicly owned utilities leveraging more than $1.2 billion in investments. This panel will present resources, models and lessons learned from local governments implementing Energy Upgrade California programs including Sonoma County, City of Fresno and Los Angeles County. You will learn about how these communities are substantively transforming energy behavior, industry and practice through Property Assessed Clean Energy commercial and residential programs, marketing campaigns, local rebates and financing, workforce education all under one brand and one statewide program, Energy Upgrade
Smart Growth Performance Measurement
Moderator:Kevin Ramsey, Ph.D., Policy Research Fellow, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA Speakers:Jonathan Sage-Martinson, Director, Central Corridor Funders Collaborative Andrew Hume, AICP, Planner, Las Cruces Metropolitan Planning Organization Doug Johnson, Senior Transportation Planner, Metropolitan Transportation Commission Jeff Ang-Olson, Principal, ICF International Presentations → This interactive session will explore the benefits of implementing a system of performance measurement for evaluating progress towards desired community outcomes, such as reducing household transportation costs, increasing the number of affordable homes that are well served by transit, or preserving agricultural and natural resource lands. Panelists will present short case studies that demonstrate how performance measures have been used to inform planning, policy, and investment decisions in a variety of rural, suburban, and urban communities. Then both speakers and audience members will be engaged in a facilitated discussion that explores how barriers to effective performance measurement can be navigated and surmounted. Also discussed will be strategies for more effectively integrating performance measurement into local/regional planning and decision-making processes.
Smart Growth, Environmental Justice and Equitable Development: Finding the Connections
Moderator:Megan McConville, Policy & Planning Fellow, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA Speakers:Charles Lee, Deputy Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, U.S. EPA Tomasita Duran, Executive Director, Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority, NY Mary Nelson, Founding President, Bethel New Life Daniel Nguyen, Workforce Development Coordinator and Environmental Justice Coordinator, Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation Adam Ortíz, Former Mayor, Town of Edmonston, MD Presentations → Growth is not smart if it's not fair. This is the sentiment of an increasing number of environmental justice and smart growth practitioners who recognize the critical need to work together. They have found that smart growth strategies can respond to many of the long-standing challenges faced by underserved communities. They have also seen that when neighborhood and regional planning processes include all residents, these efforts can contribute to a more robust economy, a cleaner and safer environment, healthier people, and better quality of life for the community as a whole. This session will provide an overview of the connections between smart growth and environmental justice and illustrate how four communities are integrating smart growth and environmental justice approaches to achieve equitable development. This panel presents content from a new EPA publication identifying smart growth approaches that can be used to build healthy, sustainable, and just communities.
Just How Smart is Our Growth? Getting Ready for a Maturing America
Speakers:Rebecca Hunter, MEd, Institute on Aging and CDC-Healthy Aging Research Network, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chris Kochtitzky, MSP, Associate Director for Program Development, Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention Mary A. Leary, PhD, Senior Director, Easter Seals Project ACTION, National Center on Senior Transportation & Other Transportation Initiatives Joan M. Twiss, MA, Executive Director, Center for Civic Partnerships Presentations → The startling new n4a report, The Maturing of America, concludes that many communities are unprepared for their quickly aging populations, with 'no where near the level of progress that has to be made to ensure that communities are livable for people of all ages'. This session provides practical, evidence-based strategies for integrated planning and implementation consistent with Smart Growth, but also specifically responsive to an aging population diverse in ethnicity, resources, health and functional status. Presenters will share priorities for ensuring mobility, health and economic benefit drawing upon lessons from the California Healthy Cities and Communities Program; Easter Seals Project ACTION; and the CDC and CDC-Healthy Aging Research Network's efforts to strengthen the capacity of planners, engineers, and others to integrate aging and disability issues into their work. The session will be highly interactive, with discussion via use of case scenarios and tools that can subsequently be applied in practice.
Smart and Green: Could Housing Trends Bolster Sustainable Building Patterns?
Moderator:Janet Myles, Policy Analyst, California Department of Housing and Community Development Speakers:Tim Higgins , Associate Director, UCLA cityLAB Backyard Homes Project Kate White, MPA, Executive Director, ULI San Francisco Mott Smith, Principal, Civic Enterprise David Baker, FAIA, LEED AP, Partner, David Baker + Partners, Architects Presentations → The UCLA Anderson School of Business forecasts an ongoing economic downturn and increasing interest in urban rental units from a growing younger workforce. Similarly, the Urban Land Institute’s recent report “The New California Dream” notes increasing demand for multifamily development closer to employment and transit hubs. However, with a challenging regulatory environment and the disappearance of redevelopment financing in California, what are the tools available to meet this growing demand? The panel will explore how collaborative planning and development practices inherent to smart growth principles might respond to trends during this economic crisis and into the future.
Rural to Urban, Village-City-County: Advanced Form-Based Coding Coast to Coast
Moderator:Carol Wyant, Executive Director, Form-Based Codes Institute Speakers:Paul Dreher, Zoning Administrator, City of Newport, VT Jane Lafleur, Executive Director, Friends of Midcoast Maine Daniel Parolek, Principal, Opticos Design, Inc. Jason King, AICP, CNU-A,Town Planner, Dover, Kohl & Partners Presentations → This session shares results and insights from diverse Form-Based Coding (FBC) applications. Following adoption of a FBC in Newport, Vermont (7 square miles) over $200 million of development is occurring. Contrasting in size, Lee County, Florida adopted a code for 130 square miles of undeveloped land previously zoned for 1-acre lots. The code includes a TDR mechanism that allows rights to be transferred to designated sites within the coded area and for sprawl repair beyond the FBC boundaries. The Livermore, California Development Code rewrite document provides a model for how to structure the code document to default, over time, to walkable and sustainable urbanism while incorporating a FBC for those areas that already are or have the potential to be walkable. Damariscotta, Maine almost succeeded in adopting a FBC after an extensive public process, illustrating the challenges posed to those of us trying to bring FBC to rural areas.
Seeds for Change: Creative Urban Gardens and Edible Parks
Speakers:Brian Albright, Director of Parks and Recreation, San Diego County, CA Rebecca Draper, Director of Neighborhood Improvement Projects, Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative Presentations → Identifying opportunities for new usable public spaces for community gardens and other forms of municipal agriculture and recreation in the densely built urban setting is an increasing challenge for cities and urban counties trying to create livable sustainable communities. Existing parks and public lands offer outstanding opportunities to enable people access to fresh food at a minimal cost while encouraging sustainable practices and promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors. Such re-imagined public spaces contribute to creating community-gathering places that foster local pride and promote physical activity. These multiple benefits highlight the critical need for urban agriculture and new park space in today's urban environment. This session will highlight strategies on how to develop partnerships with park and recreation agencies; provide examples of innovative community gardens parks, creative urban agriculture initiatives, and edible landscape projects; and identify practical solutions and give guidance for challenges commonly encountered.
Teaming Up for Success: Collaboration Between Nonprofit Organizations and Government Agencies
Moderator:Crispin Delgado Health Policy Initiatives Manager, Health Policy and Planning, San Mateo County Health System Speakers:Shane Hope, AICP, Community & Economic Development Director, City of Mountlake Terrace, WA Andre Leroux, Executive Director, Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance Jeremy Madsen, Executive Director, Greenbelt Alliance Alison Van Gorp, Urban Policy Director, Forterra Sally Wakefield, Executive Director, Envision Minnesota Presentations → For smart growth it is the best of times and the worst of times. With changing demographics, consumer preferences, and environmental sensibilities interest in smart growth has never been higher. But tight budgets mean state and local governments often lack the resources to plan for and implement smart growth. One way to help overcome these resource constraints is for nonprofit organizations and government agencies to team up. Such partnerships may force a fundamental rethinking of the traditional nonprofit-agency dynamic in which the nonprofit is the 'advocate' and the agency is the 'target'. The panel will explore collaborations in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Seattle region that attempt to forge agency-nonprofit cooperation. Panelists will include agency and nonprofit representatives from both locations. Nonprofit representatives from the Minneapolis and Boston areas will respond to the panel and share perspectives on the changing nature of the nonprofit-agency relationship.
Tax Foreclosure Reform: A New Approach for Stronger Neighborhoods
Speakers:Kendall Pelling, Project Manager, East Liberty Development, Inc. Honorable Christopher Ross, Representative, Pennsylvania House of Representatives Daniel Kildee, President / CEO, Center for Community Progress Presentations → Tax delinquent and vacant properties can be a tremendous asset when they are restored back to productive use—reinvigorating downtowns, housing new businesses, creating new housing opportunities in existing neighborhoods, and raising quality of life through parks and other green uses. An efficient and effective tax collection system that deals with these properties can also recover unpaid taxes and deliver a substantial revenue source to local governments to revitalize neighborhoods. Instead of supporting this transformation, the tax foreclosure systems that govern the process in most states lock these properties in a limbo that leads to long-term disinvestment and blight, and sends the revenue to speculators for their own gain, while posing a threat to homeowners. This session will explore the issues at play in the tax foreclosure system and review how two states have reformed, or are seeking to reform, the laws that balance the need for efficient tax collection with the long-term interests of communities impacted by vacant and abandoned properties.
Back to Planning School: What You Need to Know for Successful and Collaborative School Siting
Moderator:Fred Yeager, Assistant Director, California Department of Education, School Facilities Planning Division Speakers:Jeff Vincent, PhD, Deputy Director, Center for Cities and Schools, University of California, Berkeley Cynthia Bryant, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, California Charter Schools Association Chris Grimes, Director of Facilities Development, Roseville Joint Union High School District Presentations → Schools are key infrastructure in both growing communities and in established urban cores. Strategically locating new schools and revitalizing existing schools with consideration of other public services is an important part of achieving regional environmental goals, increasing service levels to students and the community, and leveraging funding opportunities. Yet, the relationship between school districts, land developers, and cities or counties can be tense, particularly where there is little or no coordination during planning processes. This workshop highlights the guiding principles and standards for locating schools and how these standards can support many of the common goals shared by school districts and local governments. A case study of the Roseville Joint Union High School District, located northeast of Sacramento, showcases a successful school and community collaboration and will provide context to the research on the benefits of creating and maintaining cooperative relationships between all public agencies. Participants will come away from this workshop with an increased understanding of the standards for siting schools and how different agencies can work together to successfully site schools based on both regional and educational needs.
Still Starbucks-Free: Rural Main Streets—Small towns need vitality, too!
Moderator:Chris Beck, Senior Projects Advisor, U.S.D.A.-Rural Development Speakers:Kathy Callies, Acting President, Rural Learning Center Dennis (Denny) Ross, Mayor, City of Maupin, OR JoAnne Bush, Mayor, City of Lake Village, AR Presentations → The USDA invests nearly $20 billion/yr in rural infrastructure to provide small communities with public services and amenities. Many towns near metropolitan areas or natural amenities face growth pressures that threaten quality of life. More remote communities have seen their populations diminish, jeopardizing economic viability. Given the global economy's demand for greater economic efficiencies (fewer small farmers) and environmentally sound natural resource practices (less extraction), many rural communities are facing a dramatic shift in the economic opportunities available to them. Starbucks may not be coming any time soon, but rural leaders understand that creating great places to live and work is an essential ingredient to their economic future and have requested USDA funding for strategic, place-based investments. This session focuses on three case studies: a new meeting center in Howard, South Dakota, a revived market in Maupin, Oregon, and a historic renovation in Lake Village, Arkansas.
Is the Sky Falling? An Update on the Transportation Debate in Congress
Speakers:Laura Cohen, Western Region Director, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy James Corless, Director, Transportation for America Greg Cox, Supervisor, San Diego County, CA Shireen Malekafzali, Senior Associate, Policylink Presentations → Right now, Congress is crafting a transportation bill that could fundamentally reshape transportation policy—likely NOT in a way that supports smart growth. Transit and bike/pedestrian funding programs are at risk; equity and livable community policy incentives proposed by stakeholders may be swept aside. The current extension bill expires March 31 and the stakes have never been higher. This session will provide smart growth practitioners with an update on the status of the bill, how it will impact communities in short & long term, and what steps they can take to influence the bill or how it's implemented in their region. The focus will be on transit/walking/biking programs, and livable community performance measures. Join us for a highly interactive session, including a 'Point/Counterpoint' debate (a la Saturday Night Live) to portray the polarized nature of the Congressional debate, and the challenge of securing bi-partisan support for livable community issues.
Introducción al Desarrollo Urbano Inteligente
Speakers:Paul Zykofsky, AICP, Assoc. AIA, Director Asociado, Local Government Commission Xavier Treviño Theesz, Director en México, Instituto de Políticas para el Transporte y el Desarrollo Presentations → Este taller está diseñado para nuevos asistentes a la conferencia que desean una introducción al tema de desarrollo urbano inteligente y su implementación. La sesión discutirá temas generales incluyendo los 10 principios del desarrollo urbano inteligente, su efecto en la planeación y los códigos reglamentarios de uso del suelo, y cómo diversos aspectos del desarrollo inteligente están siendo implementados en los Estados Unidos y México. Este taller proveerá el conocimiento básico del desarrollo urbano inteligente ayudándoles a apreciar las sesiones más avanzadas que se ofrecerán durante el resto de la conferencia. |
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2:00-3:30pm
Concurrent Breakouts
People's Planning for Improvements without Displacement: Transportation, Housing and Environmental Justice
Moderator:Margot Ocañas, Policy Analyst, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, RENEW Initiative Speakers:Lauren Ahkiam, RENEW Complete Streets Initiative Coordinator, Pacoima Beautiful Holly Harper, Boyle Heights Living Streets Initiative Coordinator, Green LA Coalition Tafarai Bayne, Community Affairs Manager, TRUST South LA Presentations → This panel will focus on efforts currently underway in three different areas of the City of Los Angeles to increase equity in working class communities of color. These efforts are specifically targeted at the fair growth imperatives of democratic community planning for improved conditions in such a way that said improvements do not inadvertently force out long-term residents. These fair growth efforts, focused on alternative transportation infrastructure and affordable housing, place community residents as the leaders in re-envisioning a community and reaping the benefits of the improvements through comprehensive People's Planning efforts and advocacy for equitable policy. Speakers representing Pacoima Beautiful's Caminos del Pueblo campaign, Green LA Coalition's Callas para la Gente campaign, and community land trust TRUST South LA will speak about their experiences with People's Planning workshops, grassroots-led improvements, alternative transportation in environmental justice communities, and why preventing displacement in these communities is necessary for truly smart growth.
Where's the Money: 2012 Update On Smart Growth Funding
Speakers:Benjamin Starrett, Executive Director, Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities Jerry Maldonado, Program Officer, Ford Foundation David Fukuzawa, Health Program Director, Kresge Foundation Beatriz Solis, Ph.D., Program Director, Healthy Communities, The California Endowment Emily Young, Ph.D., Senior Director, Environment Analysis and Strategy, San Diego Foundation Presentations → Join the 2012 edition of the smart growth funders panel to learn the latest about smart growth funding issues and trends. This panel has become an annual New Partners tradition that provides an opportunity for participants to hear directly from funders about their work and engage in face-to-face conversation about the direction of smart growth. Panelists will discuss perspectives on the sustainability-funding environment and also participate in substantial question and answers. Come early to get a seat!
Healthy Metropolitan Food Systems
Speakers:Dan Carmody, President, Detroit Eastern Market Malik Yakini, Executive Director, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network Ashley Atkinson, Director of Urban Agriculture and Openspace, The Greening of Detroit Michael Sands, Senior Associate, Liberty Prairie Foundation Presentations → Re-localizing food systems—expanding food production, processing, distribution, and retailing within the footprint of our metropolitan areas can strengthen regional economies and encourage civic engagement capable of transforming how we think about our diets, our selves, and our communities. Growing food is an act of empowerment that can build neighborliness, provide experiential learning, improve health residents' health, and promote social justice. Local food production, processing, and distribution can help improve access to healthy and nutritious food in underserved areas while increasing job prospects for residents with a wide variety of skill sets. Panelists will share their wide variety of experiences in restoring vitality to metropolitan food systems in Chicago and Detroit.
Charrettes and the Next Generation of Public Involvement and Budgets
Moderator:Bill Lennertz, Director, National Charrette Institute Speakers:Ken Snyder, Director, PlaceMatters Darin Dinsmore, President, CrowdBrite Jason Lally, Director, Decision Lab, PlaceMatters Presentations → Social media and web-based participatory tools are changing the way that people can engage in planning. How can these high-tech tools be leveraged to increase the number and diversity of people that are engaged in planning projects while still maintaining the advantages of face-to-face meetings? Limited project budgets are challenging everyone. The web makes it possible for the public as well as consultants to participate from a distance. This technology can save money but what are the costs to shared learning and the building of relationships? This session will present the latest tools, techniques and the trade-offs of social media and web-base participation tools within the context of the face-to-face public design charrette format. Learn how to safely use social media and the web to increase and broaden community support. Learn how and when to effectively use web-based distance participation for projects that feature public design charrettes.
Next Generation of Smart Growth: Lessons from Austin, Texas, and Dublin, Ohio
Moderator:Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Natural Resources Defense Council Speakers:David Dixon FAIA, Principal in charge of Planning and Urban Design, Goody, Clancy & Associates Kevin Ratner, President, Forest City Residential West Heather K. Way, Director, Community Development Clinic, University of Texas School of Law Jana McCann, AIA, CEO, McCann Adams Studio Presentations → This session explores challenges and opportunities in transforming large brownfields and greyfields into the next generation of smart growth communities. Two transformative initiatives will be featured: the 700-acre Mueller airport redevelopment in Austin, Texas, and the 1000-acre Bridge Street corridor redevelopment in Dublin, Ohio. The award-winning Mueller project includes 25% affordable housing, a major employment center, pedestrian-friendly streets, and cutting-edge "green urbanism." The Bridge Street corridor project is redirecting 35 million square feet of future sprawl in Ohio's wealthiest suburb into a series of higher density and walkable compact developments. The speakers will explore how urban and suburban communities are overcoming political, market, and regulatory challenges to create a new paradigm in these cities for sustainable, vibrant, and inclusive development. Learn about the community processes, implementation strategies, and public-private partnerships being utilized to advance a wide range of targeted smart housing goals, including affordable housing, green infrastructure, and pedestrian-friendly design.
Infill Development Strategies for Small Cities — Lessons from Billings, MT
Speakers:Roger Millar, PE, AICP, Director, Smart Growth America's Leadership Institute Tom Hanel, Mayor, City of Billings, MT Dena Belzer, President, Strategic Economics Elaine Clegg, Councilmember, City of Boise, ID; Special Projects Manager, Idaho Smart Growth Presentations → In April 2011, Smart Growth America partnered with the City of Billings, Montana on a two-day workshop to talk about ways that this relatively small (but regionally significant and growing) city could pursue strategies to foster more and better infill development and curb sprawl. Based on their experience leading this workshop, our panelists will provide an overview of some of the challenges smaller, growing Western cities like Billings face in adopting good infill strategies, some of the most successful strategies being employed in these areas, and the progress Billings has made specifically in crafting and implementing an infill policy following the workshop. Opportunities, challenges, tactics and techniques will be addressed from the land use and transportation, regulatory, economic and fiscal health, and private sector perspectives.
Participación de Residentes en el Proceso de Planeación
Moderator:Laura Silvan, Presidenta del Consejo Directivo, Proyecto Fronterizo de Educación Ambiental, A.C. Speakers:Paul Zykofsky, AICP, Assoc. AIA, Director Asociado, Local Government Commission Juan Antonio Ramírez, Coordinador, WalkSanDiego Presentations → La participación activa de los residentes en la planeación urbana local resulta en múltiples beneficios tanto para ellos como para el municipio en general. Primeramente, el involucrar a los residentes en la planeación local resulta en mejores planes; planes basados en el conocimiento de los residentes de lo que funciona y lo que no funciona en cada colonia. También asegura que los planes buenos sobrevivan a los cambios políticos. Puede ayudar a evitar los conflictos en torno al desarrollo urbano y permite a los residentes entender los impactos positivos y negativos de las distintas opciones. En algunos casos ayuda a que planes buenos puedan ser implementados más rápidamente y puede reducir el costo de buenos proyectos. Finalmente, y quizás más importante, ayuda a fortalecer el espíritu de la comunidad y la confianza en el gobierno—base fundamental de un sistema democrático maduro. Esta sesión explorará las ventajas y beneficios de un proceso sólido de participación, y se enfocará en algunas de las técnicas que funcionan bien para involucrar a los residentes. |
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3:45- 5:15pm
Late Afternoon Concurrent Breakouts
Not Your Father's DOT: Progressive Trends in State Transportation Policy
Speakers:Roger Millar, PE, AICP, Director, Smart Growth America's Leadership Institute Mary Taylor Raulerson, Principal Planner, Kittelson & Associates Allen Biehler, PE, Allen Biehler Consulting LLC Lynn Peterson, Sustainable Communities and Transportation Policy Advisor Governor's Office Paul F. Morris, FASLA, Deputy Secretary for Transit, North Carolina Department of Transportation Presentations → Across the country, transportation revenues are falling, creating fiscal difficulties for many state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and financial crises for others. In the current climate of budget shortfalls and rising deficits, tolerance for wasteful spending of taxpayer money is low. While certainly of concern, the fiscal climate also provides an excellent opportunity to show state and federal leaders that fiscally responsible DOT policy and transportation reform are one and the same. Some state DOTs are rising to the challenge. State transportation agencies spend billions of dollars every year on transportation infrastructure. How can we make sure that this spending is focused on supporting and enhancing livable communities? Pennsylvania, Oregon, North Carolina and others have been working towards transportation reforms to create and support livable communities. Session participants will learn about their good work and efforts to leverage these successes nationwide.
Essential Components of the 21st Century Community: Housing for the "Missing Middle"
Moderator:Stefan Pellegrini, Principal, Opticos Design, Inc. Speakers:Lina Velasco, Senior Planner, City of Richmond, CA Lisa Wise, Principal, Lisa Wise Consulting, Inc. Presentations → This session will examine and debate the potential for medium-density housing as an essential future component of our livable communities. Several indicators have increased recent interest in higher-density housing, including changing demographics, decreasing housing affordability, and increasing efforts to conserve energy through more compact development patterns. At the same time, higher-density housing has been challenged by high development and entitlement costs, limited market share, and incessant NIMBYism. Well-designed, medium-density housing, however, suggests that there is a high potential for cost effective, appropriately-scaled development patterns that will allow today's low density communities to evolve and transition in response to future challenges. The session will examine the economic, spatial, and regulatory opportunities of medium-density housing types with particular attention to the West and the Northwest. It will conclude with a roundtable discussion where individual panelists will be asked to posit on the role of "missing middle" housing in our future communities from differing perspectives.
From Temporary to Sustainable Paradise: "Smart Growth Catalysts" and The Battle for Planning in the San Diego/Tijuana Region
Speakers:Dahvia Lynch, AICP, Project Manager, Department of General Services, San Diego County, CA Bruce Appleyard, PhD, Associate Research Professor, University of Utah Michael Stepner FAIA, FAICP, New School of Architecture and Design Carlos Graizbord, Former Director of IMPlan; Professor of Urban Planning, Universidad Iberoamericana Brian Mooney, AICP, Principal, Mooney Planning Collaborative Presentations → The panel will explore how Non-Profit NGO's (AKA "Smart Growth Catalysts") are able to affect planning by creating a sustainable planning platform that both supports and drives local programs through a variety of public forums. The panel will explore the Roles NGO's can play as "Smart Growth Catalysts" in assisting local government in developing public policy for long range planning. As a framework, the panel will build upon the historic 1974 bi-national urban design plan for the San Diego/Tijuana Region, "Temporary Paradise?" by Kevin Lynch and Donald Appleyard, father of Dr. Bruce Appleyard. This session will further examine how the New School of Architecture students, through studio, programs are working with a variety of ethnically diverse neighborhoods to develop smart growth plans and conclude with the efforts of the NGO C-3 to introduce a new principle based Sustainable Paradise plan for the San Diego/Tijuana region. The C-3 plan goes beyond traditional planning programs that are limited by jurisdiction and integrates both sides of the US/Mexican Border to address sustainability issues for the environment, economics, land use, social equity, and life systems. The ultimate goal is to assist the region in the implementation of plans and programs that not only preserve and enhance the unique San Diego/Tijuana environment but build on its multi-cultural and education assets. Spanish translation available
A New Heart for Houston
Speakers:Robert D. Yaro, Executive Director, Regional Plan Association Jane Thompson, Principal, Thompson Design Group Patap Talwar, Principal, Thompson Design Group Anne Olson, Director, Buffalo Bayou Partnership Harry L. Dodson, Principal, Dodson Associates Presentations → Can a neglected and paved over river become the new symbol of a city's revitalization? Can a primal landscape be reintroduced in an urban waterway that floods severely? Can a restored river bring disparate neighborhoods together? Houston feels the answer to these questions is yes! Realizing the need to improve the city's quality of life, Houston's leaders decided to restore the polluted and neglected river running through the center of the city. The Buffalo Bayou Partnership, a non-profit advocacy group, was formed to implement the river restoration project. The Partnership led a wide range of citizens, advocacy groups and neighborhood representatives to develop a plan for the river's revival and its incorporation with the surrounding urban fabric. As a result, a new regional park—one of the largest landscape reclamation projects in the country—is being created as the new heart of America's 4th largest city.
Local Land Use Planning and State Trust Land Management in the West
Moderator:Susan Culp, Project Manager, Western Lands and Communities, Sonoran Institute Speakers:C.J. Gabbe, Project Manager, Fregonese Associates Tobin Follenweider, Deputy Director, Colorado State Board of Land Commissioners Sandie Smith, President & CEO, Pinal Partnership Presentations → This session will provide a basic overview and history of state trust lands in the West, a unique and often misunderstood category of lands, and provide planning officials with a better understanding of the management mandate for these lands, constraints and challenges, and opportunities presented by planning and developing on state trust lands within communities. Collaborative planning tools and case studies involving local jurisdictions, state trust land managers, and community stakeholders will be highlighted. Planners will learn how to effectively engage with trust land managers to improve coordination of planning activities, and ultimately, to advance better land use outcomes and sustainability through strategic development of trust lands within urban areas.
Kicking the (driving) Habit: Low-Density Cities Move to Sustainable Transportation
Speakers:Ellen Greenberg, Associate Principal, Arup Dena Belzer, President, Strategic Economics Eileen Yazzie, Transportation Planning Project Manager, Maricopa Association of Governments, AZ Shannon Scutari, Sustainable Communities Working Group Jason King, AICP, CNU-A, Town Planner, Dover, Kohl & Partners Susie Byrd, Councilmember, City of El Paso, TX Katie Updike, Managing Partner, Building Solutions, LLC Presentations → This 'talk show' style session investigates two tales from the Southwest. In El Paso, Texas, the City Council has resolved to become the "Least Car-Dependent City in the Southwest," launching initiatives that have brought the City into the national discussion on multi-modal placemaking. In Arizona, the Maricopa Association of Governments' Sustainable Transportation and Land Use Integration Study is trying to jump start the region’s path to a sustainable transportation future. This session features an hour of discussion with community and project leaders following brief presentations to introduce the facts of each of the two efforts. Come share candid assessments of the challenges of making Smart Growth and Smart Mobility progress in cities famous for business as usual. |
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| Friday, February 3 | |
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10:00-11:30am
Concurrent Breakouts
Advances in GIS for Smart Growth — Horizontal and Vertical
Speakers:Jon Harrison, Senior Consultant for Local Government Solutions, ESRI; Councilmember, City of Redlands, CA Matthew Baker, Product Engineer, ESRI Eric Wittner, 3D GIS Specialist, ESRI Presentations → GIS helps planners, developers and residents put the 'smart' in smart growth. GIS can complement and inform the kinds of livable places and smart-growth realities we want to foster, both in traditional two-dimensional planning and increasingly in 3D so we can fully experience the urban spaces we are planning. Whether it’s appealing, vibrant infill and retail revitalization, complete streets and public spaces, traffic calming, or a more extensive network of safe bike routes and pedestrian trails – using GIS in 2D and 3D can make a difference. Like the broader toolbox of smart-growth concepts and strategies, the techniques and capabilities of GIS are advancing and emerging. GIS can intertwine complex details of demographic, geographic and urban design factors that communities can use to easily analyze and visualize the implications of alternative development scenarios. With GIS we can 'see' what and how possible solutions work. Using case studies from Philadelphia and Pasadena, ESRI will demonstrate some of the latest GIS tools to help analyze and visualize smarter approaches to land use and transportation planning in your community.
Building a Powerful Regional Equity Coalition to Deliver on Sustainable Communities
Speakers:Kalima Rose, Director of the PolicyLink Center for Infrastructure Equity, PolicyLink Allen Fernandez-Smith, President and CEO, Urban Habitat Nathaniel Smith, Founder and Convener, Partnership for Southern Equity Russ Adams, Executive Director, Alliance for Metropolitan Sustainability Presentations → Powerful regional equity coalitions and networks have formed over the last decade to unite communities of color and low-income communities across a region. These coalitions steer regional planning efforts, win and preserve affordable housing near transit, foster transit service and investments in ways that connect their communities to opportunities in the region. Regional equity leaders from Oakland, the Twin Cities, and Atlanta will guide participants in how to bring together diverse organizations, define priorities and roles, and work in concert to accomplish structural changes in their communities. Their coaching will draw from sustainable communities planning, transportation equity, workforce development, and affordable housing strategies that they have successfully implemented in their regions. The session will engage participants in strategizing on policy futures that can support the advancement of regional equity across regions.
Mixed Use: Perception and Reality
Speakers:Amber Hawkes, AICP, Urban Designer, Melendrez Martin Leitner, AIA, Senior Designer, Urban Studio Allan Kotin, Principal, Allan D. Kotin & Associates Georgia Sheridan, AICP, Urban Designer, Torti Gallas and Partners Presentations → Tantalized by success stories of transformation, cities are jumping on the mixed-use bandwagon before understanding its limitations. Proposed as a cure-all, mixed-use is called forth to reduce traffic, improve walkability, boost economic development, and generate often intangible levels of urban 'livability.' This panel looks at when, where and how mixed-use development does and doesn't work from an architectural, urban design, planning, and economic perspective. Through an inter-disciplinary discussion, the panelists analyze the various goals linked with mixed-use development to answer the following questions: Where does mixed-use work best? Why doesn't it work everywhere? Does mixed-use guarantee an active urban environment? When are the costs and challenges for mixed-use development worth it? The panel will present three Southern California case studies, focusing on the nexus (or disconnect) between planning directives and market dynamics. The panel will close with a discussion of how the case studies rate based the 'Mixed-Use Scorecard.'
Labor Unions: Emerging Allies for Smart Growth
Speakers:Greg LeRoy, Executive Director, Good Jobs First Kevin Pranis, Laborers International Union of North America Aurita Apodaca, Organizer, FRESC for Good Jobs and Strong Communities Lorena Gonzalez, Secretary/Treasurer/CEO, San Diego-Imperial Counties Central Labor Council Presentations → Labor unions are urban institutions and labor federations have long advocated for urban revitalization (e.g., for transit service, improved schools, infrastructure reinvestment, and more affordable housing). Some unions, like the Food & Commercial Workers who oppose Walmart and the Amalgamated Transit Union that advocates for transit, are well-known to smart growthers for their sophisticated advocacy. And unions have much more freedom to advocate than do non-profits or most public officials. But too often, labor leaders and growth-management practitioners do not know each other well or actively coordinate. This workshop is both "Labor's Self-Interest in Smart Growth" and "Labor Movement 101" with specific examples of smart growth advocacy from three exemplary labor groups and a pro-labor think tank. It will provide attendees with specific entry-point tools for appealing to union leaders and explore some of the recurring sensitivities that public officials and environmentalists encounter working with organized labor.
Transforming San Bernardino from Ground Zero to a Model Healthy City
Speakers:Evelyn Trevino, Program Coordinator, Bernardino County Public Health Department, Healthy Communities Mark Hoffman, Senior Planner, The Planning Center | DC&E Evette Deluca, Executive Director, Latino Health Collaborative Peggi Hazlett, Assistant to the Mayor, City of San Bernardino, CA Presentations → This session explores the intersection of active living, healthy eating, environmental quality, and violence in San Bernardino, the 100th largest city in the United States. San Bernardino has long suffered from poor health outcomes resulting from the unintended consequences of environmental, economic, and social determinants. Mortality rates and hospitalization rates from preventable diseases far exceed statewide averages. In this panel, you will learn about the County's Healthy Communities program, a model 16-city collaborative, and its largest member, the Healthy San Bernardino Coalition. Panelists will cover: 1) the structure, processes, and best practices of the Coalition; 2) major findings of a baseline environmental scan; 3) community and multi-sectorial outreach process, and 4) initiatives to improve the health of San Bernardino residents. Attendees will walk away with a model of how a voluntary grassroots coalition can pursue a vision and plan to create a City synonymous with Health, Hope and Purpose.
Rooted In Community: Native American Collaboration on Smart Growth and Green Design
Moderator:Susan Gitlin, LEED GA, Co-Lead, U.S. EPA's Green Building Workgroup, Codes, Standards, and Sustainable Design Division, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA Speakers:Trisha Miller, Director, Green Communities, Enterprise Community Partners Tomasita Duran, Okay Owingeh Housing Authority Jamie Blosser, AIA, LEED AP, Associate and Director of Santa Fe Office, Atkin Olshin Schade Architects Presentations → This panel showcases a network of housing leaders, community designers, and sustainability advocates working together to overcome barriers to smart growth and green design in Native American communities. It will focus on the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative, which was recently launched to engage tribal leaders in developing solutions for culturally appropriate, green affordable housing. Panelists will share examples of how sustainable development goals are linked to core cultural values and rooted in the spirit, the community, and the land. Among the case studies presented, the panel will highlight the Owe'neh Bupingeh Rehabilitation Project—an affordable rehabilitation project within a Pueblo established near the Rio Grande River. The project is an outgrowth of the San Juan Land Use Master Plan, which won the 2004 Smart Growth Award for Small Communities. Panelists will also discuss the integration of indigenous methods and materials in green design and development planning.
Advancing Equity through Transit Corridor Planning
Moderator:Marc Philpart, Policy Associate, PolicyLink Speakers:Dean Katerndahl, Director, Government Innovations Forum, Mid American Regional Council Damon Daniel, Regional Organizing Director, Communities Creating Opportunity, Kansas City, MO Tony To, Executive Director, HomeSight Heidi Hall, Equity Network Manager, Impact Capital Presentations → This interactive panel session will highlight two regional models to advance social equity from Puget Sound and Kansas City, leveraging a HUD Sustainable Communities grant. Learn about the process and lessons learned establishing a regional equity network and how such coalitions are promoting social equity through transit corridor planning. Kansas City allows us to consider how an older industrial region approaches regional equity while Puget Sound is organizing communities along light rail corridors to ensure equitable transit oriented development. Diverse community partners bring their institutional strengths to ensure the participation and governance of communities of color. Hear some strategies to engage historically underrepresented communities—an equity grant program to engage communities and the role of community organizers in regional equity. Building from the experiences in these two regions, the session will consider how to leverage opportunities like the Sustainable Communities program to institutionalize social equity outcomes in policy and planning.
Smart Water: Aligning Land Use and Infrastructure for Healthier Communities and Cities
Moderator:Cecilia V. Estolano, Partner, ELP Advisors Speakers:Deven Upadhyay, Manager, Water Resource Management Group, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Emily Gordon, Senior Associate, Green For All Randall Lewis, Executive Vice President, Lewis Operating Corporation Presentations → Sustainable water infrastructure is a critical component to any smart growth strategy or development. This panel will explore how integrated land-use planning, green infrastructure and a range of policy incentives can support the development of healthy communities with an essential and reliable water supply and delivery system. You will be deftly guided through the complex and inter-related policies of the water industry and receive a valuable overview of successful planning strategies that facilitate smart growth. Participants will gain valuable insight into new policies, case studies and best practices from industry leaders including new incentives aimed at encouraging water conservation, recycling, reuse, desalination and other local programs. Panelists will also discuss how to align smart water/smart growth policies to create economic development opportunities and new jobs for disadvantaged communities. Finally, you will learn of priorities and prerequisites for investments in sustainable water infrastructure that are being built into new developments. Spanish translation available
Leveraging Smart Growth Brand to Build a Political Base and Vice Versa
Moderator:Bhatt, Deputy Policy Director, Smart Growth America Speakers:Elaine Clegg, Councilmember, City of Boise, ID; Special Projects Manager, Idaho Smart Growth Tommy Wells, Councilmember, District of Columbia Brad Lander, Councilmember, City of Brooklyn, NY John Engen, Mayor, City of Missoula, MT Mick Cornett, Mayor, City of Oklahoma City, OK Mark Mallory, Mayor, City of Cincinnati, OH Presentations → Ultimately, smart growth is implemented by leaders at the local level who are committed to improving the quality of life in their urban, suburban or rural communities. It is the politician’s job to present a compelling vision while moving forward effective policies, and many leaders have realized the power of the smart growth brand, which espouses increasing transportation and affordable housing choices near jobs, shops and schools. Hear from elected leaders who are leveraging smart growth principles to inspire their constituents and reinforce their base of support as they strive to strengthen their municipalities. The discussion will also focus on how building a strong political foundation is critical to moving a greater smart growth agenda.
Area-Wide Planning: Innovations at the State, Local, and Federal Level
Moderator:Elizabeth Schilling, Policy Manager, Smart Growth America Speakers:Diane Alecusan, Urban Development Division, Ohio Department of Development Jody Kass, Executive Director, New Partners for Community Revitalization Adhir Kackar, Policy Analyst, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA No Presentations Collected The area-wide approach is a unique strategy aimed at revitalizing brownfields-impacted neighborhoods through a community-centered, collaborative planning process. The process focuses not only on planning, but also on creating a framework for implementation that draws on public, private, and community partnerships, and supports a more strategic use of state/federal brownfields funds for neighborhood development. While this approach is not new, its value is increasingly being recognized, particularly with the introduction of the U.S. EPA's area-wide planning pilot program last year. As a result, states and localities across the country are looking at ways to provide greater support for area-wide approaches, and many innovative initiatives are emerging. Through a session model that combines a traditional panel presentation in the first half with an interactive exploration of challenges and solutions in the second half, this session will highlight some of these initiatives, and illustrate the exciting linkages that are being made between smart growth and brownfields redevelopment through them.
Rural Sustainability: Federal Collaboration, Regional Innovation and the Partnership for Sustainable Communities
Moderator:Bill Menner, Iowa State Director, Rural Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture Speakers:David Doyle, Sustainable Communities Coordinator, U.S. EPA, Region 7 Elizabeth Wampler, Program Associate/Data Analyst, Reconnecting America Annie Goode, Environmental Protection Specialist, USDA/Rural Development TBA Presentations → In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development formed the Partnership for Sustainable Communities aimed at improving rural quality of life including access to affordable housing, enhanced rural transportation options and environmental protection. In collaboration with USDA, the Partnership is working to show how its six "livability principles" support economically and environmentally vibrant rural communities. Through its Regional Innovation Initiative, USDA brings expertise and resources to support the Partnership's work in rural America. The work of the Partnership and Regional Innovation Initiative happens at the state, region and local level. Experience from EPA's Region VII, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, provides one of several Partnership geographies that will be explored. These efforts are contributing to a new model of "place-based" federal support for sustainable rural communities.
Learning to Share — How to Get Your Community Ready for Bicycle Sharing
Speakers:Brett Hondorp, Principal, Alta Planning & Design and Alta Bicycle Share Lynn Harris, Senior Analyst, UCI's Parking and Transportation Services Matthew Lasky, Transportation Planner, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's Bike Sharing Team Brodie Hylton, Operations Director, Alta Bicycle Share Presentations → With the growth and success of bicycle sharing systems worldwide, many jurisdictions are clamoring to be next in line to bring bike sharing to their communities. This session will offer practical experience in all phases of bike share operations including: site planning, financing, equipment purchasing, liability, marketing, staffing, and bicycle rebalancing and maintenance. Matt Lasky from SFMTA will discuss the San Francisco Bay Area's regional bike share system, including start-up challenges, coordination among multiple jurisdictions, and station planning on constrained urban streets. Lynn Harris will discuss UC Irvine's ZotWheels program, a "home-grown" system serving the university community. Brodie Hylton from Alta Bicycle Share will discuss lessons learned from the first year operating the successful Washington DC Capital Bikeshare system. Attendees of this session will come away with an understanding of how bike sharing works, what it costs, and next steps they should take if they wish to pursue bike sharing for their community. |
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1:30-3:00pm
Concurrent Breakouts
Incorporating Smart Growth into Disaster Recovery Planning
Moderator:Kathleen W. Smith, AICP, Mitigation Planning Team Lead, Federal Emergency Management Agency Speakers:Jim Schwab, Manager, Hazards Planning Research, American Planning Association Ken Topping, FAICP, Lecturer, City and Regional Planning Department, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, California Polytechnic State University John Jacob, Coastal Community Development Specialist, Texas A&M University Lincoln Walther, Planning Director, Continental Shelf Associates Presentations → How does recovery planning typically proceed after a disaster? How does that process determine opportunities for reshaping the community's pattern of development? This session focuses on the role of pre-disaster planning to anticipate the recovery process afterwards, including ways to integrate hazard mitigation with coastal smart growth principles. It examines the recovery planning process, including opportunities for and obstacles to changing the course of development in a disaster-stricken community amid time pressures for rebuilding safely. Discussion will center on the role of leadership, including champions for safe growth, differential impacts of socioeconomic status, creative financing, post-disaster mitigation, climate change adaptation, and visioning to define the future citizens want for their community. The speakers are all involved with APA's current work on the project, "Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery: Next Generation," a three-year cooperative agreement with FEMA to prepare the replacement guidance for the 1998 volume, Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction.
Using Health As a Messaging Tool
Speakers:Judy Corbett, Executive Director, Local Government Commission Richard J. Jackson, MD MPH, Professor/Chair, Environmental Health Sciences; Professor, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Urban Planning, UCLA Presentations → The health message can be particularly potent as a messaging tool for supporting everything from Smart Growth measures to state legislation related to Global Warming. The Lung Association is widely credited for stopping the passage of an initiative to repeal California's global warming law. The California's Medical Association encourages their physician-members to advocate for Smart Growth and it is beginning to bear fruit. This session, led by Dr. Richard Jackson, will highlight the messages that have worked and explore how the medical profession might go even further to encourage land use changes that create healthy communities. Spanish translation available
Revitalization, Gentrification, and Equitable Development: Evaluating a Decade of EPA's Programs
Speakers:Mary Nelson, Founding President, Bethel New Life Deeohn Ferris, JD, President, Sustainable Community Development Group Ted Howard, Evergreen Coalition Charlie Bartsch, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Administrator for Economic Development, Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization, U.S. EPA Vernice Miller-Travis, Senior Associate, Skeo Solutions Presentations → The issue of gentrification and displacement as a result of revitalization activities has been raised at numerous conferences through the years. However, many still feel that gentrification is a real unintentional effect of the EPA's revitalization efforts—whether through the Brownfields, Superfund, Federal Facilities, or the Smart Growth Programs. Gentrification is often defined as the transformation of neighborhoods from low value to high value. This change has the potential to cause displacement of long-time residents and businesses because of higher rents, mortgages, and property taxes. This interactive session provides an overview of EPA's efforts to promote equitable development, engages the audience, and facilitates a candid discussion about the challenges and proposed solutions at the local level for advancing truly equitable development.
Strategies for Saving the Small Town Grocery Store
Speakers:Hannah Burton Laurison, Senior Associate, Public Health Law & Policy David Procter, Kansas State University, Rural Grocery Initiative Tawnya Laveta, Programs Director, Farm to Table Presentations → Nearly 2.5 million rural Americans live more than 10 miles from the nearest grocery store. Even in the most agriculturally productive parts of the country, it may be difficult to purchase healthy food. Poor food access is a major contributor to the declining health of rural Americans. The remaining small town grocers struggle to remain viable. What are the implications of rural food deserts for business development, public health and community sustainability? Presenters from California, Kansas, and Pennsylvania will share case studies from diverse rural and Native American communities that illustrate both the challenges facing rural grocers and best practices for rebuilding rural food retail. Participants will learn how local, state, and federal policies can support the economic viability of small grocers. We will discuss effective models of rural business ownership and promising alternatives for store design, location, and distribution.
Land Use in a Building Code??? Meet the International Green Construction Code
Speakers:Susan Gitlin, LEED GA, Co-Lead, U.S. EPA's Green Building Workgroup, Codes, Standards, and Sustainable Design Division, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA Eliot Allen, LEED AP-ND, CNU-A, Principal, Criterion Planners, Inc. Philbert Tso, Building Official, Kayenta Township (Navajo Nation) Kathleen M. Petrie, LEED AP, Sustainable Codes Analyst, Department of Planning and Development, City of Seattle, WA Presentations → Conventional wisdom says that building officials enforce building codes, and planners implement zoning codes, and never the twain shall meet. But did you know that building site selection and site management are included in recent model building codes? One such code is the International Code Council's International Green Construction Code (IgCC). IgCC will not be published until March, but already some states and communities have adopted it as a voluntary measure, and the state of Maryland passed legislation that allows its local jurisdictions to adopt the standard. Other states will be following suit. Why, then, have so few planners been involved in these initiatives? How can IgCC and other building codes be leveraged to increase location efficiency and site environmental performance? Come learn about the potential role for IgCC in communities' sustainable development strategies and how you can help shape the next version of the code.
Smart Valley Places—Taking Advantage of the Great Reset
Moderator:Mike Dozier, Executive Director, Office of Community and Economic Development California State University, Fresno Speakers:Bill Fulton, AICP, author, planner and current Mayor of Ventura, CA; The Planning Center | DC&E Genoveva Islas-Hooker, Regional Program Coordinator, Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program Rob Woolley, City Manager, City of Clovis, CA Presentations → True to the saying, "every cloud has a silver lining," the Great Recession and national housing crisis have provided the San Joaquin Valley the opportunity to evaluate its past and consider its future. Smart Valley Places is the Valley's response to this opportunity. Smart Valley Places is the San Joaquin Valley's smart growth initiative. It is our opportunity to transform the Valley from a region that has consistently lead national indicators for unemployment, foreclosure rates, high school drop outs and poor air quality to the nation's example for smart growth in rural, agriculture-based economies. Now is the time for change and the San Joaquin Valley is taking advantage of the Great Reset with a $4 million HUD Regional Planning Grant and an unprecedented consortium of 14 cities, several non-profit organizations, eight economic development corporations, eight councils of government, and one University. This consortium has dedicated itself to rebuilding the eight county San Joaquin Valley by creating a strong network of regional collaboration and bringing smart growth principles down to the neighborhood level. The San Joaquin Valley is the heart of California's future. Smart Valley Places is the opportunity to demonstrate to rural America that smart growth is a viable and efficient answer to the Great Recession—it is the answer that will create a healthier, more prosperous San Joaquin Valley for future generations.
Health, Justice and Equity in Freight and Infrastructure Development
Moderator:Martha Matsuoka, Assistant Professor, Urban and Environmental Policy Department, Occidental College Speakers:Isella Ramirez, Co-Executive Director, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice Simone Sagovac, Program Manager, Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision Bryan Parras, Founder, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services Presentations → U.S. public investments in rail, highway, bridge and other projects facilitate the expanding system of global trade and freight transportation to deliver goods to stores and doorsteps from anywhere in the world. The system that delivers goods also delivers negative health, environmental, workplace and community impacts in low-income communities of color living near ports, railroads, freeways and distribution centers. Community-based experts will discuss these impacts and successful organizing efforts that have influenced ports and freight transportation investments and development in low-income, communities of color such as Commerce and Long Beach, CA, where port and rail expansion increases air pollution and health risk; Detroit, MI, where a bridge and tunnel will expand trade between the U.S. and Canada and negatively impact the low-income and immigrant community in Southwest Detroit; and Charleston, SC, where expansion of a port-related highway project threatens homeowners in the Rosemont neighborhood.
Smart Growth Takes Smart Preservation
Speakers:Rick Pruetz, Principal, Planning & Implementation Strategies Tom Daniels, Professor of City and Regional Planning, Director of the Certificate in Land Preservation Program; Dept. of City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania Alex Hinds, Interim Director, Center for Sustainable Communities at Sonoma State University Presentations → This country loses over one million acres of farmland, natural areas and other open space to development every year. Sprawl damages watersheds, habitat, rural economies and sense of place. It also hamstrings our efforts to build compact, walkable, self-reliant, sustainable communities. But open space preservation has lots of competition in the struggle for limited tax dollars. Communities have to be smart about preservation as well as growth. In this session, three experts cite examples from a new book of 24 case studies to demonstrate how successful cities, towns and counties use the planning process to generate public support for open space preservation, to establish priorities and to develop winning strategies for accomplishing ambitious goals. Learn how these communities tailor their implementation programs to fit local circumstances, often pioneering innovative tools, adopting multiple approaches and partnering with private conservancies as well as public agencies from all levels of government.
Transforming the Golden Westside: The Role of Youth in Sustainable Brownfields Redevelopment
Moderator:Sara Russell, Brownfields Project Manager, U.S. EPA, Region 9 Speakers Pending Presentations → The West Fresno neighborhood, also known as the Golden West Side, suffers from a lack of local and regional planning which led to suburban flight, lack of public services, and industrial activities mixed in with modest residential neighborhoods. Part of the City of Fresno, it is located in California's agriculturally abundant San Joaquin Valley, yet this neighborhood is designed by USDA as a food desert. This panel will describe two EPA brownfield projects. The first is a community engagement project sponsored by EPA and partnering with the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Fresno. We hosted community meetings with West Fresno youth and adults to provide information about brownfields redevelopment and captured citizen's input on possible brownfield sites and reuse ideas. An outgrowth from this is working with the Fresno Youth Council for Sustainable Development to turn a brownfield site into an urban garden.
Achieving Healthy, Equitable, Walkable Schools: Lessons from Federal, State, and Local Guidelines
Speakers:Renee Kuhlman , Director of Special Projects, National Trust for Historic Preservation Matthew Dalbey, Policy Analyst, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA Sarah Zimmerman, Senior Staff Attorney, Public Health Law & Policy Suzi Ruhl, Senior Attorney Advisor, Office of Environmental Justice, U.S. EPA Presentations → By locating schools well, communities can strengthen public schools, reduce air pollution, preserve older neighborhoods, and protect children's environmental health, and encourage healthier communities. When communities invest in walkable schools, children, especially low income children, don't need to choose between safety and physical activity. In this session, participants will learn how to use three new tools that promote good school siting: federal voluntary guidelines, state policy recommendations, and model policies for local school districts. Learn what a healthy community-centered school is, how to balance the goals of walkability and diversity in school siting, and what policy and administrative changes at the state and local level are needed to encourage more of these types of schools. Also hear how to overcome some of the challenges that may arise. Speakers include representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Public Health Law & Policy, the environmental justice field, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Little Trips, Big Difference: Predicting Traffic for Mixed-Use Sites
Moderator:Christopher Forinash, Program Director, National Sustainability Learning Network, Institute for Sustainable Communities Speakers:Reid Ewing, Professor, City & Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah Jerry Walters, Principal, Fehr & Peers Christine Eary, Project manager, San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) Presentations → One of the salable benefits of smart growth is that it doesn't create traffic like conventional suburban development. To prove it to developers, local governments, banks, and neighbors, we need good tools that predict traffic. Current methods of traffic impact analysis understate the benefits of mixed-use developments (MXDs) and potentially overstate roadway impacts because they don't fully account for the interactions between land uses or the surrounding built environment. A national study for US EPA, by a team composed of Fehr & Peers and the University of Utah, developed a new methodology to more accurately predict the lower traffic impacts of MXDs. After local validation, outreach and testing within the local traffic engineering community, and review and approval by the SANDAG Board, the San Diego region has adopted the new method, and other regions are considering it. Come find out how your region can use MXD to create smart growth!
The Walking Audit - A Tool for Organizing Strong Communities and Developing Complete Streets
Speakers:Eric Friedman, President, Housing & Community Solutions, Inc./Friedman Group, Ltd. REALTORS Nate Johnson, President, St. Louis Association of REALTORS® Alderman Frank Williamson, 26th Ward, City of St. Louis, MO Dan Burden, Executive Director, Walkable and Livable Communities Institute Presentations → A unique panel with different perspectives explains how the 2011 Partners for Smart Growth Conference helped them connect the dots for organizing a community in St. Louis in May, 2011, and a planned walking audit "Train the Trainer" program. Dan Burden, livability & complete streets expert who Time Magazine called one of the top six civic innovators explains how the walking audit process can be utilized to promote cooperation among the residents, governments, institutions and stakeholders, creating more walkable, bikeable, safe, livable environments. Learn about the positive "Collective Impact" this type of program can have from 26th Ward Alderman Frank Williamson, 2011 St. Louis Association of REALTORS® President Nate Johnson, and Eric Friedman, President of Housing & Community Solutions, who coordinated and brought the program to St. Louis through the EPA's Sustainable Building Blocks Technical Assistance Award. |
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3:30-5:30pm
Concurrent Implementation Workshops
New Tools and Practices for Measuring the Sustainability Impacts of Land Use and Transportation Policies
Moderator:David Erne, Senior Associate, Booz Allen Speakers:Eric Hesse, Strategic Planning Analyst, Tri-Met, Portland, OR Projjal Dutta, Director of Sustainability, New York MTA Elaine Chang, Deputy Executive Officer of Planning, Rule Development and Area Sources, South Coast Air Quality Management District Joe DiStefano, Principal, Calthorpe Associates Jerry Walters, Principal, Fehr & Peers, Inc. Mark Butala, Manager, Comprehensive Planning, Southern California Association of Governments Presentations → States, regions and jurisdictions of all sizes are challenged with measuring and communicating the critical linkages between land use and transportation investments, and critical fiscal, environmental and health challenges. This session will focus on new tools and recommended practices at varying scales that serve to quantify the climate, air quality, energy, water, land consumption, fiscal, health and household impacts of land use and infrastructure plans and policies. Experts from the public and private sector will demonstrate new techniques and tools, and highlight how transit systems, specific projects and places have measured impacts and effectively communicated them to the public, decisions makers and other key stakeholders. Specific attention will be paid to how these tools and processes are integrating into the implementation of AB 32 and SB 375, California's groundbreaking climate and land use regulations.
Facing the Critics: Tools and Trainings to Successfully Counter Smart Growth Opponents
Speakers:Ilana Preuss, Vice President & Chief of Staff, Smart Growth America Jeremy Madsen, Executive Director, Greenbelt Alliance Odin Zackman, Founder, Dig In, Facilitation and Conflict Resolution Joel Mills, Director, Center for Communities By Design, American Institute of Architects Taryn Sabia, President, Urban Charrette; Associate, Atelier Architecture, Inc. Jane LaFleur, President, Friends of Midcoast Maine Presentations → During the past 2 years, there has been a steady trend toward overt politicization of smart growth. Organized and aggressive opponents to smart growth have disrupted meetings, defeated projects and re-written master plans across the country. If you fail to understand and plan for opposition, you run the risk of being blindsided at a public or potentially losing the essential public input needed for successful smart growth strategies. This session will address positive ways to design your process and message your work by using language that can help bring people together and inoculate you against opposition. The session will also provide training on how to deflect attacks, pivot back to your message, organize a strong partnership, establish positive meeting dynamics and resolve conflicts with opponents. The format for this workshop will include large group training and detailed work in small groups on a variety of techniques and cases.
Assuring Community Benefits in Military Base Closing Redevelopment Processes
Moderator:Professor Michael Dobbins, FAIA, AICP, Georgia Tech Planning Department; Former Planning Commissioner, City of Atlanta Speakers:Deborah Scott, Executive Director, Georgia Stand-Up Leslie Caceda, Community Planner and Researcher, Georgia Stand-Up Pamela Newkirk, Community Volunteer, McPherson Action Community Coalition Karen Babino, Community Volunteer, McPherson Action Community Coalition Presentations → What should be the role of the impacted community in large-scale development processes? In this session, Georgia Stand-UP argues that to be implemented properly and be truly sustainable every such project should include enforceable provisions for benefiting the community as determined by that community, formalized by a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). In this case, the redevelopment of the 488 acre Fort McPherson army base, community leaders asked Georgia Stand-UP for help, which in turn engaged a planning studio from Georgia Tech to create a citizen-guided Action Plan to identify community needs, aspirations, and priorities. To be able to press for inclusion of its plan in forthcoming development negotiations, the community realized the need to create a viable, non-profit entity. Smart growth strategy should recognize that every development involves private sector, government, and community purposes, resources, and expectations, yet without a CBA component the community is often left out.
Housing and Freeways: How Close is Too Close
Speakers:Larry Greene, Executive Director, Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District Dr. Doug Eisinger, Director Transportation Policy and Planning, Sonoma Technology, Inc. Kendra Bridges, Manager of Research and Community Programs, Sacramento Housing Alliance Diane Bailey, Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council David Vintze, Air Quality Planning Manager, Bay Area Air Quality Management District Presentations → Building sustainable communities, especially the part infill plays in that process, has been a key topic at past NPSG conferences. At the same time scientific research continues to highlight significant health impacts for those who live near freeways. Impacted residents are often lower income or minority populations, creating environmental justice issues that need to be addressed. This session will feature key California advocates for affordable housing, environmental justice, improved air quality and sustainable communities. Each will outline the relevant facts in their subject area. Then the session will break into discussion groups to discuss each area, gather ideas and experiences from around the nation and to understand needed mitigation strategies. Please attend this interactive session and help to move forward our knowledge about the interface between housing needs, near-road health impacts, and developing sustainable communities.
Sharpening — and Using — Financial Tools in the Smart (Re) Development Toolbox
Speakers:Renee Kuhlman , Director of Special Projects, National Trust for Historic Preservation Andrew Farrell, LEED Green Associate, National Trust Community Investment Corporation Greg LeRoy, Executive Director, Good Jobs First Bill Huck, Chief Executive Officer, Stone and Youngberg (invited) Presentations → With private lending still scarce, creative use of governmental incentives is often the key to successful redevelopment projects. This session will review the primary federal incentives covering especially historic preservation, brownfields incentives, and New Markets Tax Credits. Tax increment financing (TIF) will be reviewed both from the policy perspective (how to align TIF with smart growth) and from a gap-financing perspective. Then, consider getting creative by: layering incentives, bringing tax credits into upfront financing, and partnering with "triple bottom line" investors for equity and mezzanine financing.
Jobs, the Workforce, and the Economy: Rethinking The Role of Smart Growth and Sustainability
Moderator:Julie Seward, President, Julie W. Seward Consulting Speakers:Larry Fitch, President and CEO, San Diego Workforce Partnership Sandy Mendler, AIA, LEED AP, Principal and Architect, Mithun Hop Hopkins, Director, Vocational Services, Los Angeles Conservation Corps Presentations → You hear it every day—jobs and workforce are the loud, dominant theme of policymakers, citizens, and businesses. Everyone agrees that meaningful employment is critical to both a recovering economy and livable communities, but are we successful in building a workforce that supports sustainable cities and regions? Join this session to look at three case study initiatives that train the workforce of tomorrow, integrate jobs into transit development, and pursue job placement enterprises. Speakers will discuss the continuum of critical workforce strategies, the work of organizations to link sustainability and jobs, what they are learning about how to think about 'green' jobs, and how smart growth should frame its role in jobs and workforce issues. Ample time will be provided for audience questions and answers.
The Evolving Story of SB 375: California's Landmark Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Law
Speakers:Amanda Eaken, Deputy Director, Sustainable Communities, NRDC Mott Smith, Principal, Civic Enterprise Associates LLC Mike McKeever, CEO, Sacramento Area Council of Governments Chris Ganson, Senior Planner, Governor's Office of Planning and Research Autumn Bernstein, Director, ClimatePlan Elyse Lowe, Executive Director, Move San Diego Presentations → California's landmark Sustainable Communities law (SB 375) was enacted in 2008. Since then, California has adopted the first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas reduction targets for regional transportation plans, and planning agencies have been hard at work crafting plans to meet their targets. To date, only San Diego has completed a plan, but Southern California, Sacramento, and the Bay Area have made significant progress. For those curious to see how the California story is unfolding, this session will provide a timely update on implementation, including a briefing on San Diego's plan. Three years in to California's grand experiment in regional sustainability, what are the lessons learned? What's working, and what could be improved? Panelists will discuss where each of the regions stands in their plan development and how the process is playing out for decision makers, agencies and key constituencies.
Transforming Suburbs into Sustainable Communities: Case Studies
Speakers:Jeff Goldman, Principal, Design + Planning, AECOM Wendy Hartman, AICP, Planning Director, Yuba County, Community Services Department Joe Concannon, Data Services Manager, Sacramento Area Council of Governments April Wooden, Community Development Director, City of Suisun City, CA Paul Inghram, Bel-Red Corridor Planning Manager, City of Bellevue, WA Presentations → Many metropolitan planning organizations have adopted and implemented regional blueprints that promote sustainable development and direct more growth into existing or emerging centers and corridors of mixed-use, denser, transit-supportive activity. Most people and jobs reside in suburbs, and many suburbs were not originally planned for sustainability. Yet, these communities should be part of the solution for better-managed growth. Suburbs are not like the urban cores of metro areas. The density, mix of uses, transit-orientation, and service-rich walkable environment in urban centers may not work in many suburbs. In this session, participants will learn about: 1) what could work in suburbs to enhance livability, multi-modal access, and function of these places, and 2) tools to address the suburban context. In facilitated small groups, participants will discuss tools such as community design guidance, visualization and fiscal impact models, "fair share" regional housing allocations, and sustainable community indicators and performance measures. Spanish translation available
Advancing Opportunities for Rural Economic Development
Speakers:David Shabazian, Senior Planner, Sacramento Area Council of Governments Dr. Glenda Humiston, California State Director, U.S Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Presentations → This session will feature regional and state efforts to assist local public and private stakeholders with strategies and tools to enhance rural economic development. David Shabazian from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments will provide an overview of the Sacramento region's Rural-Urban Connections Strategy project and a demonstration of the cutting-edge tools used to analyze rural land use and economic conditions. SACOG's nationally recognized project looks at ways to protect undeveloped land and leverage the economic value of those lands through supporting and enhancing agricultural viability and the environmental services these lands provide. The session will also feature a presentation by Dr. Glenda Humiston, California State Director of USDA Rural Development, on efforts to catalyze rural economic development through regional planning and economic development collaboration. Dr. Humiston will highlight projects in California and other models that are examples of how rural communities can catalyze "economic gardening."
Building Support for Mobility Options: Effective Outreach Tactics for Engaging Grassroots Groups and Underserved Communities
Speakers:Lacy Strohschein, Special Initiatives Manager, Center for Planning Excellence Jeffrey Miller, President/CEO, Alliance for Biking & Walking Yolanda Takesian, Principal, Kittelson & Associates, Inc. Samuel Jordan, Community Organizer Rachel DiResto, Executive Vice-President, Center for Planning Excellence Jason Tudor, Associate State Director, AARP Presentations → This session will focus on developing a campaign and effective outreach methods for engaging diverse communities in transportation decisions and investments. Moving a city or region's transportation system toward a sustainable and equitable future can be a challenge, and creating broad-based community engagement is crucial to ensure patterns of neglect and disinvestment are broken. This panel will introduce tools and strategies for ensuring all residents and neighborhoods are equipped to advocate for their transportation and mobility
Emerging Practices and Policies in Transit-Oriented Development
Moderator:David Taylor, CNU, National Director, Sustainable Transportation Solutions, HDR, Inc. Speakers:Elizabeth Wampler, Program Associate/Data Analyst, Reconnecting America Sharon Pugh, Senior Policy Analyst, Federal Transit Administration Susan Baldwin, AICP, Senior Regional Planner, San Diego Association of Governments Presentations → TOD is emerging as an integral part of building sustainable, walkable, transit-supportive places. This panel provides an overview of the TOD state-of-the art, followed by an overview of TOD at the regional scale. Regional planning for TOD is a growing field in the US - meaning looking beyond the station. The panel will discuss the emerging TOD best practices in three U.S. locations at the regional scale. Next is a set of San Diego-focused station case studies that relate to the regional/corridor construct and begin to address implementation. The fourth feature of the panel is a review of current and emerging FTA initiatives is support of TOD implementation. Among the topics discussed are upcoming guidance for New Starts focused on land use and economic development and an overview of revisions being considered to Joint Development provisions, as one means of assisting in the local development process. Taken as a whole, the session provides a comprehensive overview of TOD and the ability to implement it.
Implementing Green Infrastructure: Creative Approaches to Reducing Regulatory and Financial Barriers in Rural and Urban Communities
Speakers:Suzi Van Etten, Sustainable Communities Program Manager, Audubon International Jon Zeidler, Consultant, Smart Growth America April Mills, Sustainable Strategies Specialist, Green Stormwater Infrastructure Program, Seattle Public Utilities TBA Presentations → The use of green infrastructure poses both opportunities and challenges for communities seeking to incorporate smart growth principles into new and redevelopment. The most successful programs will be those that promote more efficient and equitable outcomes by eliminating barriers and reducing the costs for both private and public development. This panel will explore different ways to achieve these goals. First, working from Audubon Internationals Green Storm Water Management Municipal To-Do List, the panel will discuss how two key low-cost steps, educational demonstration projects and revising local codes, can help small towns incorporate green infrastructure and smart growth principles. Next, the panel will discuss a number of innovate practices that have been adopted or are being explored by large cities to leverage funds and reduce costs for public retrofit projects and private redevelopment in highly urbanized areas, including trading and payment in lieu programs, public-private partnerships and partnering public dollars. |
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| Saturday, February 4 | |
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10:15-12:15pm
Concurrent Implementation Workshops
Climate and Energy Planning: Community Partnerships that Work
Speakers:Peter Garforth, Principal, Garforth International Jay Fisette, Boardmember, Arlington County, VA Katie Stoner, Program Associate, Park Foundation Kif Scheuer, Program Manager, Strategic Energy Innovations Nathan Lindquist, Planner, City of Rifle, CO Presentations → Representatives from Arlington, VA; Ithaca, NY; Rifle, CO; and the San Francisco Bay Area will share their experiences in climate and energy planning, and how community partnerships have proven successful to their efforts. With examples from across the country and covering the rural to urban spectrum, this session has something for everyone interested in creating jobs, reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in their communities. If you want to learn how to integrate energy and climate into your existing smart growth efforts, and strengthen your connections with members of your community and neighboring jurisdictions, this is the session to attend. You will learn about programs that build upon existing planning efforts to integrate energy; share energy/sustainability staff among smaller jurisdictions; craft an effective message that integrates energy, economic development, and smart growth; and build local capacity with projects that result in cost-effective breakthrough greenhouse gas emissions reductions through recruiting community volunteers.
The Democratization of Planning: A Demonstration of Emerging Tools for your Next Planning Process
Moderator:Ken Snyder (Director) and Jason Lally(Director of the Decision Lab), PlaceMatters Speakers:Ted Cochin, Community Assistance and Research Division, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA Frank Hebbert, Director of Civic Works, OpenPlans Dave Biggs, Co-Founder, MetroQuest Woodie Tescher, Principal, Urban Planning and Design, DC&E/The Planning Center Ken Mobley, Public Involvement Technical Service Manager, Michael Baker Corporation Erin Aleman, Planner, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Darrin Dinsmore, Director, Crowdbrite Timothy G. Reardon, Manager of Planning Research, Metropolitan Area Planning Council Presentations → Technology is rapidly changing the way communities and regions can accomplish stakeholder and public engagement. This session is designed to introduce participants to recent and emerging technologies that make it possible to engage people around the spatial and policy implications of planning and community initiatives in meaningful and iterative ways. Participants will walk away from this session with a number of tools to build their own toolkit and a vision of where we are heading. The session will include a number of interactive demos (including polling systems, digital charrette technology and DIY touchscreens) and a chance to understand how to adapt and apply these tools to more open and democratic planning and community development processes.
Advancing Equity in Minneapolis/St. Paul: Action Research, Advocacy and Place-Making
Moderator:Erik Takeshita, Senior Program Officer, Local Initiatives Support Corporation - Twin Cities Speakers:Kate Hess Pace, Community Organizer, ISAIAH Louis King, President and CEO, Summit Academy OIC; HIRE Minnesota Founder Justin Kii Huenemann, President and CEO, Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI) Laura Zabel, Executive Director, Springboard for the Arts Presentations → This session will focus on three different aspects of advancing equity in the context of transit-oriented development in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul: 1) participatory action research; 2) developing and advocating for policies to address racial equity in employment; and 3) implementation of place-making strategies through the use of culture and the arts. First, it will discuss how participatory action research was used to analyze the potential impacts of the land use decision on availability of affordable housing, jobs access, small and minority business retention, pedestrian safety and transit access. Second, it will share how diverse representatives worked together to develop and advocate for equitable hiring practices in public investments in infrastructure and transportation. Finally, it will showcase two examples—the Native American Community Blueprint and the Irrigate project—where culture and the arts are being used build stronger communities.
Completing Neighborhoods Through Appropriate Infill: Community Revitalization Case Studies
Moderator:Terry Watt, Planning Consultant Speakers:Mott Smith, President, Civic Enterprise John Given, Principal, Investment & Development, CIM Group Meea Kang, President, Domus Development, LLC; President, California Infill Builders Association Presentations → As the most populated U.S. state, California is looking for ways to accommodate new growth and development without further contributing to sprawl, traffic and long commutes. Directing growth to existing cities and towns can be a cost-effective way to meet the demand for growth while revitalizing downtowns, reducing traffic and improving California's quality of life. Infill results in more homes located near jobs, schools, shopping and other frequent destinations, which means fewer cars on the roads and lower auto-related costs for families. Panelists will review and discuss case studies of successful infill projects in California, demonstrating the fiscal and quality-of-life benefits provided by well-designed infill projects located within existing communities that provide residents a range of transportation and housing options. Panelists will review ways infill projects provide economic benefits for cities while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting a healthier lifestyle
Sustainable Return on Investment (SROI) An Interactive Demonstration
Speakers:Christopher Behr, LEED AP, Principal Economist, HDR Decision Economics Adhir Kackar, Policy Analyst, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA Cynthia E. Winland, AICP, PCP, President, Crescent Consulting, Inc. Robin Kirschbaum, PE, LEED AP, Stormwater Lead, HDR Engineering Presentations → President Obama's Executive Order 13514 entitled "Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance" has put a new emphasis on transforming the U.S. economy via intensified investments in a "green" economy. The purpose of this session is to introduce the Sustainable Return on Investment framework and explain how it can be used as a tool to help promote sustainable investment strategies from an objective and transparent perspective. This presentation will describe how SROI has been applied in dozens of settings for projects with an aggregate value in the billions of dollars to supplement traditional performance measures in order to help organizations integrate sustainability into their current decision-making process. The presentation will also feature an interactive element where we duplicate an actual SROI client workshop to demonstrate in real time how the SROI process can assist in making optimal sustainable decisions.
Public Health, Transportation, & Land Use: Institutionalizing Partnerships & Practices to Create Healthier Communities
Speakers:Jeremy Cantor, MPH, Program Manager, Prevention Institute Barb Alberson, MPH, Chief, Injury Control Section, California Department of Public Health Dawn Foster, Safe Routes to School State Coordinator, California Department of Transportation Megan Wier, MPH, Epidemiologist, Program on Health, Equity, and Sustainability, San Francisco Department of Public Health Michael Schwartz, Transportation Planner, San Francisco County Transportation Authority Kirsten Frandsen, Program Coordinator, Nutrition and Physical Activity, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, WA Diane Wiatr, Urban Planner/Mobility Coordinator, City of Tacoma, WA Eloisa Raynault, MS, Public Affairs and Advocacy Program Manager, Transportation, Health and Equity, American Public Health Association Mighty Fine, MPH, Public Health Analyst, Center for Professional Development, Public Health Systems and Partnerships, American Public Health Association Jamila Porter, MPH, Assistant Director, Safe States Alliance Eloisa Gonzalez, MD, MPH, Director, Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health Program, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Terri Fields Hosler, MPH, RD, Deputy Director, Shasta County Department of Public Health Emily Sinkhorn, Planner, Natural Resources Services, Redwood Community Action Agency Presentations → A powerful connection exists between community health and transportation and land use decisions. These decisions impact many critical issues, including safety, physical activity, environmental quality, equity, and accessibility. Professionals from all fields are embracing strategic partnerships to ensure that health is fully integrated into transportation and land use policies. However, to guarantee the long-term sustainability of these partnerships, public health agencies must institutionalize the ways in which they collaborate, both internally and with partner organizations. This two-part workshop will provide examples of how state and local public health departments can facilitate successful and enduring partnerships with transportation and land use agencies. During Part I, attendees will hear from diverse presenters and be introduced to new resources that can help professionals forge and sustain cross-agency partnerships. During Part II, attendees will participate in roundtable discussions to identify strategies for creating strong, lasting partnerships between public health, transportation, and land use agencies.
The Evolution of Smart Growth — the San Diego Story
Moderator:Michael Stepner FAIA, FAICP, New School of Architecture and Design The Evolution:William Anderson, FAICP, AECOM; former Planning Director and Chair of Planning Commission, City of San Diego (Panel Moderator) Robert A. Leiter, FAICP, Board Chair, Regional and Intergovernmental Planning Division, American Planning Association; Former SANDAG Planning Director Ken Sulzer, FAICP, Former SANDAG Executive Director Gail Goldberg, AICP, Executive Director, ULI Los Angeles; Former Planning Director, Los Angeles and San Diego, CA Inclusionary Planning Processes:Carolina Gregor, Senior Regional Planner and RCP Project Manager, SANDAG (Panel Moderator) Jim Janney, Mayor, City of Imperial Beach; SANDAG Vice-Chair, and Chair of the SANDAG Regional Planning Committee Manjeet Ranu, AICP, Planning Manager for the City of El Cajon, CA Lois Knowlton, Community Outreach Coordinator, Friends of Adult Day Health Care Centers Michael Beck, Founding Board Member and San Diego Director, Endangered Habitats League Eddie Price, Economic Chair, San Diego NAACP Influence of Nonprofits:Chris Gray, Associate, Fehr and Peers (Panel Moderator) Emily Young, Ph.D., Senior Director, Environment Analysis and Strategy, San Diego Foundation Kathleen Ferrier, Policy Development Manager, Walk San Diego Susan Riggs Tinsky, Executive Director, San Diego Housing Federation; President, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (C3); Boardmember, WalkSanDiego Elyse Lowe, Executive Director, Move San Diego Presentations → Like many areas, the San Diego region has an intertwined history of local, regional, and non-profit planning with a growing emphasis on smart growth. Last year, the region became the first in California to update its Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) under state mandates for climate protection and carbon emission reductions. The 2050 RTP and its Sustainable Communities Strategy was based upon, in large part, San Diego's Regional Comprehensive Plan (RCP) and local land use plans, which have increasingly focused on smart growth and sustainability. As an example, the City of San Diego (the region's largest jurisdiction) recently updated its General Plan, winning the American Planning Association's prestigious Daniel Burnham Award for Comprehensive Planning in 2010. Simultaneously, local non-profits have organized projects such as the "Greater San Diego Vision" and "Sustainable Paradise." Happening concurrently, these multiple efforts show the region's deep interest in smart growth and build upon evolving projects since the 1970's, beginning with Kevin Lynch and Donald Appleyard's "Temporary Paradise," the re-introduction of light rail, the growth management movement of the 1980's, the multiple-species habitat planning of the 1990's, and smart growth, redevelopment, and quality infill of the late 1990's and 2000's. Each movement built upon the prior movements.This evolution of smart growth planning has been fascinating and is still unfolding. Come find out from three dynamic sets of panelists about San Diego's efforts over the last forty years, the growing movement to include more ethnic diversity in future smart growth plans, the influence of non-profits on the planning landscape, and frank discussions of the major decisions, coalitions, and politics of each phase. This session will include pointed questions from the three facilitators and spontaneous dialogue from the audience. Don't miss out on what promises to be a riveting session!
Landscape Conservation Toolkit for Rural Communities, the Carbon Market and Streamlined Planning
Moderator:Tom Christofk, Air Pollution Control Officer, Placer County Air Pollution Control District Speakers:Loren E. Clark, Assistant Director Placer County Community Development Resource Agency Christina Prestella, Private Consultant Steve Frisch, President Sierra Business Council Presentations → The Sierra Business Council will address three principles that outline how rural communities can employ conservation planning in new and innovative ways. Key planning principles include: 1) Conserve and showcase natural community assets; 2) Maintain the health of natural systems which support life; and 3) Maintain economic productivity of agricultural lands and forests. SBC will demonstrate how collaborative landscapes and regional conservation projects such as the Northern Sierra Partnership and Southern Sierra Partnership are conducted and how strategic goals are executed through a diversity of funding sources including leveraging the up-and-coming carbon market. Placer County's Placer Legacy Open Space and Agricultural Conservation Program will provide a case study of successful county-scaled conservation planning. This interactive workshop provides opportunity to learn about the carbon market, discuss the top seven strategies for conservation planning, and debate the economic impacts of proposed planning strategies, including issues of environmental justice related to carbon offsets.
Getting it Done: State Policy Strategies from Advocacy to Implementation
Moderator:Julie Seward, President, Julie W. Seward Consulting Speakers:Harrison Rue, Principal, ICF International Diane Sterner, Executive Director, Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey Peter Kasabach, Executive Director, New Jersey Future Jeff Davis, Technical Assistance Coordinator, Rhode Island Housing Presentations → As state-level policy becomes an effective link between federal funding, state programs, regional plans, and local action, what are we learning about forward-thinking state smart growth policies and effective advocacy strategies? Join state policymakers and practitioners for a workshop that aligns some of the best state smart growth policy case studies in the country with tools to succeed in tough partisan settings and strategies to link advocacy to policy, funding, and implementation. The workshop will explore critical success components - leveraging partnerships, building equity strategies, developing tools to evaluate projects for state funding, funding policy work, learning from mistakes, and developing savvy state smart growth policy organizations. This fast-paced, interactive session will also provide ample time to discuss the current state of play in the states and how we collaborate for success.
Community Schools - The Case for Joint Use
Speakers:Deb Hubsmith Director, Safe Routes to School National Partnership Julie Barrett, Council of Educational Facility Planners International Yasmin Bowers, Project Manager, American Association of School Administrators Michelle Lenski, Facilities Planning Analyst, Milwaukee Public Schools Mikaela J. Randolph, MPP, Assistant Policy Analyst, RENEW LA County, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Presentations → This session offers participants an opportunity to discuss various models of community-based schools, and apply joint-use principles toward their own projects. CEFPI will present a pilot model for a community-learning center in San Diego, allowing attendees to participate in an exercise exploring shared community development and use. AASA's Healthy School Environments promotes the reciprocal relationship between smart growth and school communities. As a member-district, Milwaukee Public Schools will explain how the redevelopment of Mary McLeod Bethune Academy incorporated concepts in line with smart growth principles, helping to improve the school and community. RENEW L.A. County identified seven L.A. county school districts to implement policy, systems, and environmental changes to increase physical activity and reduce obesity in disadvantaged communities. Presenters will provide guidelines, templates, tools, and problem-solving techniques to equip participants with a basic understanding of how joint use agreements are developed.
National City: A Multi-disciplinary Approach to Achieving Sustainable Environmental and Social Equity
Speakers:Noemi Emeric Ford, Brownfields Coordinator, U.S. EPA, Region 9 Raymond Pe, Principal Planner, City of National City, CA Carolina Martinez, Toxic Free Neighborhoods (TFN) Policy Advocate, Environmental Health Coalition Rick Westberg, Related Companies, Paradise Creek Housing Partners TBA Round Table Discussion Leaders:TBA Chris Morrow, Director of Planning, Project Design Consultants Jim Rocco, Managing Member, Sage Risk Solutions, LLC Mary Jane Jagodzinski, Senior Project Manager, Community Housing Works Presentations → National City was awarded a Pilot from the Partnership for Sustainability focused on a brownfield being planned for an infill affordable transit-oriented housing project and the amortization of non-conforming uses in the City's Westside. These efforts based on the Westside Specific Plan result from grassroots organizing about environmental injustices caused by a mix of industrial-residential land uses in this low income, minority neighborhood. To correct impacts caused by the inappropriate mix of land uses, a comprehensive planning and implementation strategy is underway. Following an overview of project objectives and implementation, roundtables will allow practitioners to enjoy interactive discussions about implementation strategies for neighborhood transformation. Roundtables will include: 1) Principle-based land use planning; 2) Values-based decision-trees; 3) Effective neighborhood organizing; 4) Leveraging resources to achieve complicated projects; 5) Legal considerations for amortization of non-conforming uses; 6) Recruiting quality developers for catalyst projects; and 7) Building environmental justice into long range planning.
Linking Jobs, Housing, and Transit for Economic Development: Local and National Perspectives
Moderator:Sam Zimbabwe, LEED® AP, Director, Center for Transit-Oriented Development, Reconnecting America Speakers:Sujata Srivastava, Principal, Strategic Economics, Inc. Elizabeth Kneebone, Senior Research Associate, Brookings Institution Greg LeRoy, Executive Director, Good Jobs First Richard C. Gentry, President & CEO, San Diego Housing Commission Jerry Groomes, President, Southeastern Economic Development Corporation Presentations → Many workforce families live too far away from their jobs or lack access to reliable transit. This compounds traffic congestion, elevates infrastructure costs, consumes open space and increases household transportation costs. Reversing these trends requires new strategies to redesign existing communities and spur future growth. For example, new, mixed-use housing developments are showing promise—lowering energy and transportation costs for working families. Linking Jobs, Housing and Transportation combines national and local perspectives on smart growth. Hear what the latest research is telling us and how San Diego is addressing the need for transit-oriented development. Also, learn how a catalyst community is attracting regional, state and federal funding. |
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1:45-3:15pm
Concurrent Breakouts
Planning for Solar Energy in Your Community
Moderator:Anna Read, Project Manager, International County/City Management Association Speakers:Chad Laurent, Project Consultant, Meister Consultants Group Suzanne Rynne, AICP Senior Research Associate Manager, Green Communities Research Center, American Planning Association Kimberly Kooles, Policy Analyst, North Carolina Solar Center Presentations → This workshop will focus on overcoming planning and zoning barriers to adoption of solar energy technologies—primarily rooftop PV—at the local level. Increased solar adoption supports smart growth goals. Zoning codes and other local planning regulations can be a major barrier to solar installations. However, they can also facilitate the adoption of solar. Throughout the workshop, speakers will present zoning tools and innovative financing options that can make communities more "solar-friendly" and case study examples of what communities across the country are doing to address solar in their planning, zoning, and development decisions. By participating in this workshop, participants will be able to recognize zoning codes and other planning regulations that are barriers to solar adoption, identify best practices in 'solar friendly' zoning codes, and bring this information back to their communities and affect positive change.
Smart Growth, Immigrant Integration and Sustainable Development
Moderator:Luis I. Molina, Mayor, City of Patterson, CA Speakers:Dr. Manuel Pastor, Professor of Geography and American Studies & Ethnicity, University of Southern California; Director, USC's Program for Environmental and Regional Equity Presentations → Immigration remains one of this country's greatest assets and also one of its most thorny issues as America moves into the next decade. As the smart growth movement seeks sustainable, culturally rich places, we are challenged to understand how immigrant populations are part of smart growth solutions. One of the nation's most renowned experts on immigration, Dr. Manuel Pastor will address how our nation's changing demographics will impact issues such as transportation, jobs and land use, as well as the possibilities for new coalitions for sustainable growth. Participants will be able to thoughtfully explore critical immigration strategies and their impact on smart communities.
Eat, Play, Live: Creative Investments Towards Equitable Health Access
Moderator:Vernice Miller Travis, Senior Associate, Skeo Solutions Speakers:Michael Hancox, CEO, Skeo Solutions Sarah Malpass, Associate Planner, Skeo Solutions Miranda Maupin, Senior Associate, Skeo Solutions Suzi Ruhl, Senior Attorney Advisor, Office of Environmental Justice, U.S. EPA Ken Pinnix, Board Member, Florida Brownfields Association Wynetta Wright, Chairwoman, Eastside Environmental Council Presentations → In this working-session, participants will identify how access to healthy food, recreation, and preventative and primary healthcare can improve community health and quality of life in underinvested urban communities. Panelists will speak to increasing access to health and health care for environmentally burdened and medically underserved communities and will present ongoing work in Jacksonville, Florida. Health Zone 1, in center-city Jacksonville, was chosen as EPA Region 4's Environmental Justice Showcase Community because of significant health outcome disparities and its concentration of contaminated sites. Today, residents have joined with local, state and federal leaders to pursue preventative health initiatives around community gardens, clean water and recreational opportunities for youth, and the creation of a new community health center. In breakout groups following the panel presentations, panelists will seek critical reflections from participants based on their diverse experiences and expertise. The session will conclude with discussion of key considerations for equitable health access.
Restoring the American City: Augusta, GA and Laney Walker/Bethlehem
Speakers:Patricia McIntosh, Principle/Founder Melaver McIntosh Chester A. Wheeler, III, Director of the Augusta Housing & Community Development Department Jesse Wiles, President, APD Urban Planning & Management Presentations → Visionary, financially innovative, strategic. That's how people are talking about the revitalization of Laney Walker/Bethlehem, a historic African-American community comprising 1,100 acres in the heart of Augusta, Georgia. At stake: reversing decades of disinvestment and blight and transforming Augusta into a model 21st century city. In 2008, community stakeholders developed a vision focused on affordable housing, blight elimination, green space, retail and job opportunities, and community culture and heritage. City leaders then responded with 50-year bond financing to catalyze the vision. As master developer, Augusta's Housing Department has commissioned a market study, developed a master plan, green strategies, design guidelines, and financial incentives programs and is now working with over two dozen pre-qualified firms on vertical development. The session will cover challenges and successes of this comprehensive effort, including innovative layered financing, policy framework, regulatory support, land acquisition strategies, green strategies, risk mitigation, incentives, marketing/branding, and programmatic partnerships.
Development-Oriented Transit: Innovative Economic Tools and Models
Moderator:Geoffrey Anderson, President & CEO, Smart Growth America Speakers:Daniel Hodge, Principle Economist, HDR / Decision Economics David Elvin, AICP, Senior Transit Planner, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Rick Gustafson, Vice President, Shiels Obletz Johnsen Brian Leary, President & CEO, Atlanta Beltline, Inc. Presentations → In the beginning of the 21st Century, cities across the country have started to build transit not only to address transportation challenges, such as congestion, but also as an economic development tool to improve the livability of cities, grow their tax bases and attract jobs. This workshop highlights innovative approaches for development-oriented transit, offering examples of how communities use unique tools and analyses to affect land use strategies, implementation, and financial plans in a fiscally constrained environment. Viewed as economic development projects, the potential development impacts of streetcars can be directly linked to property value capture analysis to support a funding strategy. With limited federal, state and local public sector resources to provide capital dollars or operations funding, TIF and special assessment districts are two specific tools for implementation. The panel will examine specific examples from Atlanta, Charlotte and Rhode Island.
Planning and Managing the Urban Forest to Build Community Sustainability and Resilience
Speakers:Ed Macie, Regional Urban Forester, US Forest Service, Southern Region Walt Warriner, Community Forester, City of Santa Monica, CA Kathy Wolf, University of Washington, College of the Environment Gene Hyde, City Forester, City of Chattanooga, TN Presentations → Knowledge of the value of urban forests and green spaces in creating sustainable and livable communities has increased greatly in recent years. We can now quantify the ecological services, and economic and social benefits of healthy urban forests. Planning and managing urban natural resources to be more resilient to changes, such as climate change, natural disasters and other disturbances, adds to these values and benefits, but also creates communities more resilient to these impacts. This session will 1) review the latest social and physical scientific, on the benefits provided by urban forests and green spaces, 2) present a case study of how the urban forests was incorporated into a city's Climate Action Plan, and 3) present a case study of the application of urban forest management practices to build urban forest resilience and enhance a city's overall sustainability.
Coordinating Regional Initiatives With Local Partners to Advance Equity in Metro Boston
Speakers:Amy Cotter, Director of Regional Plan Implementation, Metropolitan Area Planning Council Melissa Jones, Program Officer, Resilient Communities, Resilient Families & Community Safety Initiatives, Local Initiatives Support Corporation Ina Anderson, Partnerships Director, Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance Marcos Beleche, Director of Community Organizing and Resident Resources, Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation Presentations → Metro Boston enjoys three substantial place-based investments to enhance its equity and smart growth communities: a HUD Sustainable Communities regional planning grant, Boston LISC's Resilient Communities/Resilient Families initiative, and the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance's Great Neighborhoods initiative. Each launched at about the same time, and each seeks to create vibrant smart growth neighborhoods, while also connecting to regional movements around transit, climate changes, economic development, and resident empowerment. This has created tremendous opportunities for synergy and collaboration, as well as risks of duplication and overly burdensome requirements for local partners. This session will focus on how multiple initiatives connect and find synergy through strategies such as early coordination of work through aligned work-plans, identifying shared capacity building needs, and aligned program evaluation. Panelists will share ways in which they are deepening their collaboration, and lessons they have learned for those who face similar opportunities and challenges.
Heritage-Based Rural Development
Moderator:Doug Loescher, Director, National Trust Main Street Center, National Trust for Historic Preservation Speakers:Jim Lindberg, Field Director , National Trust for Historic Preservation Beth Wiedower, Field Director, Arkansas Delta Rural Heritage Development Initiative, National Trust for Historic Preservation Amy S. Potts, Rural Heritage Program Director, Preservation Kentucky Presentations → Farms are disappearing. Factories are closing. New development sprawls on the edge of town, while historic buildings stand empty on Main Street. How can rural communities respond to these challenges? Too many have said yes to factory farms, big box retailers, casinos, prisons and other unsustainable economic development "solutions." But there is another way, one that builds on the unique historic assets found in rural communities and regions across the country. This session will outline the principles and strategies of "heritage-based rural development," a concept developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in partnership with local and statewide organizations. Case studies from recent regional initiatives in rural Arkansas and Kentucky will be highlighted. Participants will receive a free copy of a new title in the National Trust's Preservation Books series, Heritage-Based Rural Development: Principles, Strategies and Steps.
Building Sustainable Rural Communities with Regional Transportation Systems
Moderator:Kathy Q. Nothstine, AICP, Associate Director, National Association of Development Organizations Speakers:Kim Billimoria, Communications Specialist, Yellowstone Business Partnership & Linx Hanna Cockburn, AICP, Planning Program Manager, Piedmont Triad Regional Council Scott Aycock, Program Coordinator, Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council Presentations → Rural communities often struggle with coordinating transportation and land use systems to ensure equitable, affordable access to jobs, housing, schools, and services. This session will discuss rural, regional transportation programs that leverage existing resources and close transportation gaps through partnerships. The presentations will provide real world case studies and examples of practical implementation in coordinating across multiple jurisdictions. Featuring both lessons learned and emerging issues, participants in this session will explore topics such as environmental justice, regional equity, and building relationships to achieve sustainability goals.
Smart Growth and Hazards Resilience: Helping Coastal Communities Stay Safe, Sustainable, and Above Water
Speakers:Sarah B. van der Schalie, Coastal Management Specialist, NOAA David Revell, Senior Coastal Scientist, ESA-PWA Paul Jenkin, Ventura Campaign Coordinator, Surfrider Foundation Brian Brennan, California Coastal Commissioner; Councilmember, City of Ventura, CA Presentations → Communities located along the waterfront or in coastal areas are subject to a number of natural hazards—storms and storm surges, flooding, sea-level rise, and shoreline erosion, to name a few. Addressing such hazards is a substantial planning challenge for coastal communities and raises the question of what does it mean to implement hazard-resilient smart growth. To explore these issues, this session will provide an overview of coastal hazards and describe managed retreat and realignment as a strategy to address coastal erosion using Surfer's Point in Ventura, California, as a case study. This session will also provide an overview of a 2011 roundtable, sponsored by NOAA, EPA, and Sea Grant partners, where experts from the fields of smart growth, hazard mitigation, climate change adaptation, and coastal management came together to share ideas on how coastal communities can achieve smart growth goals while minimizing risks from natural hazards. |
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Tracks
- Climate Change and Energy
- Communication Tools and Tech
- Equitable Development
- Finance, Real Estate and Development
- Green Jobs, Green Economy
- Health
- Housing and Green Building
- Implementing Smart Growth
- Infrastructure & Redevelopment
- Land Preservation
- Leadership and Partners
- Schools and Institutions
- Small Cities and Rural Areas
- Transportation, TOD and Streets
- Water and Coastal Areas
