In This Edition: Community Development and Smart Growth

Getting Smart! December 2008

22 December 2008

Register for the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference

Don’t forget to register for the New Partners for Smart Growth conference. This premier event is being held January 22-24, 2009, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information and to register, go to the Web site at www.newpartners.org.

SGN Is Now on LinkedIn.com

Don’t forget that the Smart Growth Network now has a “group” on LinkedIn. If you use linkedin.com, search the groups directory for the Smart Growth Network and sign up. Participation is easy. And, as always, if you know of colleagues or professional contacts who are interested in smart growth, encourage them to join the Smart Growth Network.

Dear SGN Members,

Welcome to another edition of the Getting Smart e-newsletter, a service of the Smart Growth Network and ICMA, the International City/County Management Association. In this edition, we focus on community development, sustainable communities, and smart growth practices and policies in the context of the economic downturn, which is taking its toll on communities even as a new presidential administration is rolling out ideas for economic recovery and environmental sustainability.

We begin by taking a look back at the man that Jeffrey Ton labels the “founding father of multi-use and green space,” the nation’s third president, Thomas Jefferson. Throughout history, people have evoked the founding fathers to advance arguments on political, economic, or social issues of the day. Can it be that the principles for a relatively modern concept like smart growth extend much further back in history than we’ve traditionally assumed?

Kim Leslie offers her perspective on the relationships among smart growth, density, and effective solid waste management. She showcases local efforts that have incorporated effective solid waste policies and practices. As the global economy has slowed, however, the markets for recycled commodities have slowed. While many communities have done great work with solid waste management, is it time for smart growth advocates to start paying more attention to solid waste management strategies with greater urgency?

The housing market provided the impetus of the economic downturn. Joe Schilling and Mara D’Angelo walk us through the ongoing housing and financial crisis and the dramatic economic downturn, offering their thoughts on what it means for smart growth and community development. In Michigan, a state that has been in economic recession for several years, a coalition of communities in the Detroit suburbs has created a program to attract new investment. In their article on “redevelopment ready communities,” Anna Clark and Melanie Piana offer three guiding lessons for communities getting started with revitalization planning.

Ventura, California, City Manager Rick Cole offers an intriguing suggestion in our fifth and final article: “What we need is a global context for our local responsibilities—becoming 'g/local' in our outlook. . . .With a debt to Stephen Covey, let me suggest 'Seven Habits of Glocal City Managers,' for those who embody ICMA’s current motto of 'leaders at the heart of communities' and embrace our new strategic vision to 'improve lives worldwide.'"

Rick’s article originally targeted ICMA’s core audience of city and county managers, but these principles are relevant for anyone interested in creating sustainable communities.
Enjoy!

Tad McGalliard, ICMA