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Publications
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, available as a free download, to view the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
If you have any problems accessing these documents, please call EPA's Smart Growth Program at 202-566-2878 or email smartgrowth@epa.gov
- Smart Growth Essentials
- Water
- Transportation and Air Quality
- Brownfields and Infill
- Schools
- Technical Assistance Reports
- Smart Growth in your Community
For a quick list of our most popular publications, see Free Smart Growth Publications from EPA and Smart Growth Network Partners (PDF) (4 pp, 330 K)
2006. Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 231-F-06-008.
Smart Growth Essentials
This Is Smart Growth
2006. International City/County Management Association and Smart Growth Network. Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 231-K-06-002.
Illustrates how communities can turn their values, visions, and aspirations into reality, using smart growth techniques to improve development. Features 40 places around the country, from cities to suburbs to small towns to rural areas, that have found success by implementing smart growth principles.
- Grant Product
National Award for Smart Growth Achievement
This award program recognizes communities that use the principles of smart growth to create better places.
2007 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 1MB) Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 231-K-07-001.
2006 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 2.8MB)
2005 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 848K) Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 231-K-05-001.
2004 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 2.4MB)
2003 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 2.4MB)
2002 Winners (PDF) (16 pp, 1.5MB)
Smart Growth Shareware CD ROM 
2005. Smart Growth America.
Contains a library of smart growth resources from more than 100 organizations, including road-tested presentations and materials by local and national leaders and organizations; publications and fact sheets; and web links to more than 100 additional resources.
- Grant Product
Getting
to Smart Growth II: 100 More Policies for Implementation
2003.
Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 231-R-05-002.
Volume 2 of this ongoing series by ICMA and the Smart Growth
Network describes the concrete techniques of putting the ten
smart growth principles into practice.
- Grant Product
Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation
2002. Smart Growth Network and International City/County Management Association. Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 231-R-05-001.
A road map for states and communities that have recognized the need for smart growth, but are unclear on how to achieve it. Provides 100 policy ideas, along with additional resources and brief case studies of communities that have applied these approaches to achieve better development.
- Grant Product
Cómo Alcanzar el Desarrollo Inteligente (Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation)
"Getting to Smart Growth" translated into Spanish.
- Grant Product
Cómo Alcanzar el Desarrollo Inteligente, II: 100 Políticas
Adicionales Para Su Implementación (Getting to Smart Growth, Volume
II)
"Getting to Smart Growth, Volume II" translated into Spanish.
- Grant Product
Selected Smart Growth
Publications - From the Smart Growth Network (PDF) (20 pp, 714K)
2002.
Lists publications from a variety of organizations working on smart growth issues.
- Report
Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions Between Land Use, Transportation, and Environmental Quality
2001.
Examines trends in land use and their impacts, then explores how different development patterns and practices can minimize environmental damage.
- Report
What Is Smart Growth? A Smart Growth Fact Sheet (PDF) (2 pp, 101K)
EPA 231-F-01-001A. 2001.
A brief summary of smart growth basics, including the ten smart growth principles.
- Fact Sheet
Why Smart Growth: A Primer (PDF) (44 pp, 470K)
1998. International City/County Management
Association and Smart Growth Network. Send your name and address to smartgrowth@epa.gov for a hard copy.
Offers a description of the environmental, economic, social, and governmental costs of growth.
- Grant Product
Best Development Practices: A Primer
for Smart Growth (PDF) (36 pp, 1.7MB)
1998.
Ewing, Reid and Robert Hodder. International City/County Management
Association and Smart Growth Network. Send your name and address to smartgrowth@epa.gov for a hard copy.
Describes land use practices that create attractive communities, offer more transportation choices, and protect the environment.
- Grant Product
Water
Protecting Water Resources with Higher-Density Development
2006.
Helps communities better understand the impacts of higher and lower density development on water resources. The findings indicate that low-density development may not always be the preferred strategy for protecting water resources.
- Report
Growing Toward More Efficient Water Use: Linking Development, Infrastructure, and Drinking Water Policies
2006. Focuses on the relationships among development patterns, water use, and the cost of water delivery, and includes policy options for states, localities, and utilities that directly reduce the cost and demand for water while indirectly promoting smarter growth.
- Report
Solving Environmental Problems Through Collaboration: A Case Study of the New York City Watershed Partnership (PDF) (2 pp, 45K)
2006. Summary of the partnership, which works closely with government and non-governmental partners to protect the drinking water supply of 9 million people while promoting economic viability and preserving the social character of the communities in the upstate watershed.
- Fact Sheet
Using Smart Growth Techniques as Stormwater Best Management Practices
2005. Reviews nine common smart growth techniques and examines how they can be used to prevent or manage stormwater runoff.
- Report
Stormwater Guidelines for Green, Dense Redevelopment
2005. City of Emeryville, California.
Geared specifically to developers and designers, these guidelines offer ways to meet requirements to treat stormwater from development projects.
- Grant Product
Sewage Facilities and Land Development
2005. 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania.
Examines growth trends to determine what effect land use and sewage-facility policies have on these trends.
- Grant Product
Protecting Water Resources with
Smart Growth
2004. Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 231-R-04-002.
Intended for audiences already familiar with smart growth concepts who seek specific ideas on how techniques for smarter growth can be used to protect water resources. Suggests 75 policies that communities can use to grow in the way that they want while protecting their water quality.
- Report
Smart
Growth for Clean Water (PDF) (66 pp, 6MB)
2003. National Association of Local Government Environmental
Professionals, Trust for Public Land, ERG.
Offers ideas for using smart growth to advance clean water goals based on the experiences of communities across the nation.
- Grant Product
Growth and Water Resources (PDF)
(2 pp, 193K)
2005. Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 842-F-02-008.
Explains how land use affects water resources and offers resources and tools for communities.
- Fact Sheet
Potential Roles for Clean Water State Revolving Fund Programs in Smart Growth Initiatives (PDF)
(15 pp, 1MB)
EPA 832-R-00-010. 2000.
Describes options for states to use their Clean Water State Revolving Funds to support more environmentally sound growth and development.
- Report
Transportation and Air Quality
Measuring the Air Quality and Transportation Impacts of Infill Development
Hard copies available by calling (800) 490-9198 or emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com and requesting EPA 231-R-07-001.
2007. Illustrates how regions can calculate the transportation and air quality benefits of infill, based on standard transportation forecasting models used by metropolitan planning organizations across the country. The results suggest that strong support for infill development can be one of the most effective transportation and emission reduction investments regions can pursue.
- Report
Context Sensitive Solutions in Designing Major Urban Thoroughfares for Walkable Communities
2006. Institute of Transportation Engineers.
Provides guidance for practitioners on how major urban streets can be designed to support walking and biking, compact development, and mixed land uses.
- Grant Product
Emergency Response and Traditional Neighborhood Street Design
Local Government Commission.
Contains case studies that show how three cities have handled smart growth street designs and emergency response concerns.
- Grant Product
Emergency Response and Narrow Streets
Local Government Commission.
Includes fact sheets on traffic calming and emergency response and street design and emergency response.
- Grant Product
Parking Spaces / Community Places: Finding the Balance Through Smart Growth Solutions
2006.
Highlights proven approaches that balance parking with broader community goals. Communities have found that combinations of parking pricing, shared parking, demand management, and other techniques have helped them create vibrant places while protecting environmental quality.
- Report
Solving Environmental Problems Through Collaboration: A Case Study of Atlantic Steel Redevelopment (PDF)
(2 pp, 194K)
2006. Summary of the redevelopment of the Atlantic Steel property into Atlantic Station, including how its smart growth innovations helped reduce its air quality impacts.
- Fact Sheet
EPA
Guidance: Improving Air Quality Through Land Use Activities (PDF)
(110 pp, 1.8MB)
Hard copies available by calling (800) 490-9198 or emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com and requesting EPA 420-R-01-001.
2001. Helps air quality and transportation planners account for the air quality impacts of land use policies and projects that state and local governments voluntarily adopt.
- Report
Smart Growth and the Clean
Air Act (PDF)
(60 pp, 704K)
2001. Northeast Midwest Institute.
Examines how the Clean Air Act is applied in several major metropolitan areas and suggests that the Act does not necessarily divert growth from urban centers and indeed can complement efforts to promote growth in areas with existing infrastructure.
- Grant Product
Comparing Methodologies to Assess Transportation and Air Quality Impacts of Brownfields and Infill Development (PDF) (49 pp, 1.4MB)
EPA 231-R-01-001. 2001.
Compares methodologies to evaluate the benefits of infill development when preparing State Implementation Plans and transportation conformity determinations.
- Report
The Transportation and Environmental Impacts of Infill Versus Greenfield Development: A Comparative Case Study Analysis (PDF) (35 pp, 267K)
EPA 231-R-99-005. 1999.
Models the transportation and environmental impacts of locating the same development on two sites-one infill and one suburban edge/greenfield-and compares the results. This analysis was conducted in three regions: San Diego, California; Montgomery County, Maryland; and West Palm Beach, Florida.
- Report
Pedestrian- and Transit-Friendly Design: A Primer for Smart Growth (PDF)
(26 pp, 2.8 MB)
1999. Ewing, Reid. International City/County Management Association and Smart Growth Network. Send your name and address to smartgrowth@epa.gov for a hard copy.
Suggests design elements that make walking and transit use easier and more comfortable.
- Grant Product
Delaware Department of Transportation
Workbook for Innovative Corridor Capacity Preservation Pilot
Program (PDF) (75 pp, 6.9 MB)
Strategies to delay
system expansion, focus development and preserve quality of
life.
- Grant Product
Brownfields and Infill
Stimulating Infill and Brownfield Development in the Land-of-Sky Region
2007. Land-of-Sky Regional Council.
Analyzes barriers to infill and brownfield redevelopment in a four-county region in western North Carolina and proposes possible policy solutions.
- Grant Product
Connecting Smart Growth and Brownfields Redevelopment (PDF)
(24 pp, 725K)
2006. Center for Environmental Policy and Management, University of Louisville.
Examines planning strategies, financing options, and institutional practices that can help promote brownfield redevelopment.
- Grant Product
Policy Lessons from the Coastal Brownfield Development of Fields Point, Providence, Rhode Island
2006. Save the Bay, Inc.
Study analyzing the regulatory and policy context for redeveloping coastal brownfields in Rhode Island.
- Grant Product
Redevelopment Ready CommunitiesSM: Best Practices and Scoring System (PDF)
(30 pp, 660K)
2006. Michigan Suburbs Alliance Redevelopment Ready Program.
Encourages older suburbs to bolster their competitive attractiveness by making the development process more efficient and less complicated. Includes the scoring system used to rate a community's redevelopment climate and the strategies a community may adopt to improve it.
- Grant Product
Brownfield Redevelopment Solutions: Recovering a Community's Hidden Assets (PDF)
(86 pp, 2.6MB)
2006. Envision Utah.
A useful compendium of tips, procedures, and other information to assist those interested in brownfields redevelopment, including identifying properties, land use considerations by the buyer, placing properties under contract, the due diligence process, managing environmental liabilities, final approval on zoning and land use, and closing on the contract and financing.
- Grant Product
Vacant Properties: The True Costs to Communities (PDF)
(24 pp, 1.6MB)
2005. National Vacant Properties Campaign.
Summarizes research on the costs vacant and abandoned properties impose upon communities and highlights local programs successfully recapturing the value in these properties.
- Grant Product
Smart Growth for Brownfields Redevelopment: A Brownfields Screening Tool (PDF) (45 pp, 872K)
2005. City of Chicago.
Presents screening tools to evaluate and identify brownfield sites that can be economically cleaned up and redeveloped as mixed-income residential and/or mixed-use communities using smart growth principles.
- Grant Product
Redeveloping Brownfields with Federal Transportation Funds (PDF) (30 pp, 101K)
2001. Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations and EPA.
Describes how communities can use federal transportation funds to pay for transportation-related brownfields cleanup and to improve access to redevelopment sites.
- Grant Product
Strategies for Successful Infill Development
2001. Congress for the New Urbanism and Northeast Midwest Institute.
Strategies include building a common vision, outlining steps for action, demanding good design, and addressing transportation issues. This book also includes case studies.
- Grant Product
Schools
Local Governments and Schools: A Community-Oriented Approach (PDF) (40 pp, 855K) ,
ICMA and Smart Growth Network, 2008.
Helps local government managers understand the connections between school facility planning and local government management issues, and offers strategies for local governments and schools to bring their planning efforts together for a more community-oriented approach to schools.
- Grant Product
Schools for Successful Communities: An Element of Smart Growth
EPA-231-R-04-003. 2004. Council of Educational Facility Planners International and EPA.
Explains why and how communities can employ smart growth planning principles to build schools that better serve and support students, staff, parents, and the entire community.
- Grant Product
Travel and Environmental Implications of School Siting
EPA-231-R-03-004. 2003.
Provides important information about how the location of a school affects how its students get to it, showing that school siting and design can influence traffic congestion, air pollution, school transportation budgets, and children's health and obesity.
- Report
Technical Assistance Reports
Collaborating on Greensboro's Future: The University Roundtable and Next Steps (PDF) (31 pp, 3.1MB)
Report appendices (PDF) (96 pp, 8.3MB)
2008. Report on the EPA technical assistance project to help Greensboro, North Carolina, engage its universities in a collaborative effort to improve community and economic development.
Retaining Our Sense of Place by Managing Our Highway (PDF) (115 pp., 7MB)
2008. Report on the EPA technical assistance project to help Pamlico County, NC, manage development along a rural highway corridor.
Laconia, New Hampshire - Three Neighborhoods, One Vision (PDF) (83 pp, 2.8MB)
2007. Report on the EPA technical assistance project to help the city of Laconia, NH, redevelop three neighborhood centers.
Spokane's University District: Policy Options for a New Urban Center (PDF) (41 pp, 1.9MB)
Appendix A: Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Visit (PDF) (5 pp, 63K)
Appendix B: University District Market Analysis (PDF) (24 pp, 499K)
Appendix C: Key Issues Briefing Paper (PDF) (7 pp, 604K)
Appendix D: Riverpoint Campus Development Program (PDF) (5 pp, 2.5MB)
Appendix E: Retail Oriented Street Case Study (PDF) (5 pp, 257K)
Appendix F: Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Case Study (PDF) (5 pp, 293K)
2007. Report on the EPA technical assistance project to help the city of Spokane develop options to advance its vision for its University District.
Building the Comprehensive Community: Traditional Neighborhood Development for Porter County, Indiana (PDF) (43 pp, 1.2MB)
2007. Report on the EPA/NOAA technical assistance project to help Porter County, Indiana, write a traditional neighborhood design guideline to supplement its Unified Development Ordinance.
Growing Our Own Communities (PDF) (59 pp, 2.9MB)
Appendices A and B: Victor and Driggs SGIA Overview and Full Market Overview (PDF) (53 pp, 347K)
Appendices C and D: Connectivity Primer and Example of Downtown Parking Guidelines (PDF) (32 pp, 859K)
Appendix E: Small Lot Zoning Discussion and Design Guidelines (PDF) (34 pp, 3.4MB)
Appendix F: Planned Development District/TND Design Guidelines (PDF) (29 pp, 6.5MB)
Appendices G and H: Discussion of the Huntsman Springs Preliminary Site Plan and Additional Resources (PDF) (7 pp, 232K)
2007. Report on the EPA-led technical assistance project to help the towns of Victor and Driggs, Idaho, analyze options for development.
How Can Wells Grow and Protect Depot Brook? (PDF) (49 pp, 3.2MB)
Report Appendices (PDF) (21 pp, 1.7MB)
2007. Report on the EPA/NOAA technical assistance project to help the town of Wells, Maine, find options for development that protects Depot Brook.
Building Houston's Competitive Edge: Transit-Oriented Development for the Ensemble/HCC Station (PDF) (71 pp, 2.6MB)
2006. Report on the EPA/NOAA technical assistance project to help Houston, Texas, find opportunities for transit-oriented development in Midtown.
Implementing the Aquidneck Island West Side Master Plan (PDF) (120 pp, 3.1MB)
2006. Report on the EPA-led technical assistance project to help Aquidneck Island, Rhode Island, develop tools and options to implement its West Side Master Plan.
Implementing PlanCheyenne: Strategies and Opportunities for Smarter Growth in Cheyenne (PDF) (52 pp, 6.7MB)
2006. Report on the EPA-led technical assistance project to help Cheyenne, Wyoming, implement PlanCheyenne, its vision for growth and development.
Taos Smart Growth Implementation Assistance: Concepts for the Paseo del Pueblo Sur Corridor (PDF) (77 pp, 4.6MB)
2006. Report on the EPA-led technical assistance project to help Taos, New Mexico, make development along its main corridor into town more attractive and economically stronger.
Achieving the Vision: Options for the College Park U.S. Route 1 Corridor (PDF) (75 pp, 4.8MB)
2006. Report on the EPA-led technical assistance project to help College Park, Maryland, get development that meets its vision for its Route 1 corridor.
Connecting McCall: Concept Plans for Lardo and West Valley (PDF) (53 pp, 5.1MB)
2005. Report on the EPA-led technical assistance project to help McCall, Idaho, create a vision for development at two sites along a new loop road.
Smart Growth in your Community
Communities of Opportunity: Smart Growth Strategies for Colleges and Universities (PDF) (48 pp, 38.7MB)
2007. National Association of College and University Business Officers and Ayers Saint Gross.
Discusses how colleges and universities can use smart growth strategies to improve their campuses and the communities in which they are located.
- Report
Creating the Concord River Greenway, Final Report (PDF) (15 pp, 545K)
2007. Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust.
Discusses neighborhood-based planning effort to design a pedestrian/bike path that makes the Concord River a shared natural resource among the neighborhoods of Lowell, MA.
- Grant Product
Case Studies for Action
2006 – ongoing. Urban Land Institute.
Series of case studies of innovative programs from ULI District Councils aimed at engaging stakeholders to resolve complex land use, development, and redevelopment problems.
- Grant Product
Smart Growth Illustrated
2006. Online-only resource.
Shows how smart growth techniques look in communities around the country.
- Report
Smart Growth Scorecards
2006. Online-only resource.
Sample scorecards used by communities to evaluate policies and development projects.
- Report
Teaching Smart Growth at Colleges and Universities
2006. Online-only resource.
Sample course prospectuses from professors teaching applied smart growth classes.
- Report
Economic Development and Smart Growth (PDF) (50 pp, 3.1MB)
2006. International Economic Development Council.
Highlights the connections between smart growth and economic outcomes such as job growth, occupancy rates, tax base, and private investment. Uses detailed case studies to illustrate economic outcomes in places that have incorporated smart growth development strategies.
- Grant Product
Turning Bases Into Great Places: New Life for Closed Military Facilities
2006. A look at the challenges facing communities following the closing of a military base and solutions for turning those facilities into valuable assets.
- Report
Solving Environmental Problems Through Collaboration: A Case Study of the Sustainable Environment for Quality of Life (SEQL) Program (PDF) (2 pp, 45K)
2006. Summary of how this successful multi-party organization works to resolve environmental concerns related to rapid growth in the Carolinas.
- Fact Sheet
Choosing Our Community's Future: A Citizen's Guide to Getting the Most Out of New Development
2005. Smart Growth America.
Focuses on the visioning and planning efforts that set the stage for smarter growth and how citizens can engage and make suggestions for better growth and development through collaborative stakeholder meetings and workshops.
- Grant Product
Partnerships for Smart Growth: University-Community Collaboration for Better Public Spaces
2005. Association for Collegiate Schools of Planning.
Includes 13 case studies of university-community collaborations on smart growth initiatives. Chapters are arranged by examples of smart growth in curriculum, at research centers, by collaboration, and in the community. Results have wide appeal for university administrators, land-use planners and administrators, scholars, and community development experts.
- Grant Product
Smart Growth is Smart Business
2004. National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals and Smart Growth Leadership Institute.
Identifies successful companies that promote smart growth and bring vitality and prosperity to their communities.
- Grant Product
Creating Great Neighborhoods: Density in Your Community
2003. Local Government Commission, EPA, National Association of Realtors.
Highlights nine community-led efforts to create vibrant neighborhoods through density, discusses the connections between smart growth and density, and introduces design principles to ensure that density becomes a community asset.
- Grant Product
Institutionalizing Smart Growth Principles into the Metropolitan Planning Process (PDF) (16 pp, 18.7 MB)
2003. Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations.
Describes how four metropolitan planning organizations worked with EPA to incorporate smart growth principles into their planning processes.
- Grant Product
Local Greenprinting for Growth
2003. Trust for Public Land and National Association of Counties.
Workbook series that guides communities seeking to create a greenprint conservation program. Greenprinting is TPL's term for a smart growth strategy that ensures quality of life, clean air and water, recreation, and economic health.
- Grant Product
Environmental Characteristics of Smart Growth Neighborhoods: Phase II
2000 and 2003. Natural Resources Defense Council.
Case studies of neighborhoods in Sacramento and Nashville that show the environmental benefits of smart growth are real and can be measured.
- Grant Product
Affordable Housing and Smart Growth: Making the Connection
2001. National Neighborhood Coalition and Smart Growth Network. Send your name and address to smartgrowth@epa.gov for a hard copy.
Uses case studies to illustrate strategies that can foster affordable housing and smart growth.
- Grant Product
Local Tools for Smart Growth: Practical Strategies and Techniques to Improve our Communities (PDF) (69 pp, 1.5MB)
2001. National Association of Counties, the Joint Center for Sustainable Communities, and the Smart Growth Network.
Toolbox to help local officials and citizens design and implement strategies to improve quality of life in communities. Includes cases to illustrate strategies and policies.
- Grant Product
Developing
for the Future: Hometown USA -- Innovative Community Projects Supported
by EPA Grants (PDF) (44 pp, 2.4MB)
EPA 240-R-00-002, 2000. Profiles of communities around the country that have protected and enhanced the environment through smart growth strategies.
- Report
Smart Growth at Work: Project Highlights
from EPA's Ten Regions (PDF) (26 pp, 286K)
October 2000
- Report
The History of Envision Utah (PDF) (60 pp, 1.3MB)
2001.
History of the visioning process to work toward quality growth in the Greater Wasatch area of Utah.
Project XL and Atlantic
Steel: Supporting Environmental Excellence and Smart Growth (PDF)
(10 pp, 700K)
EPA 231-R-99-004. 1999.
A summary of the environmental benefits of redeveloping the Atlantic Steel site into the smart growth community Atlantic Station.
- Report
Profiles of Business Leadership on Smart Growth: New Partnerships Demonstrate the Economic Benefits of Reducing Sprawl
1999. National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals.
Examples of businesses that have taken the lead in improving the quality of development in their communities.
- Grant Product