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Publications
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
- HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities
- Rural Smart Growth
- Business and Economic Development
- Tools
- Water
- Transportation and Air Quality
- Climate Change and Energy
- Brownfields and Infill
- Schools, Colleges, and Universities
- 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, 608K, About PDF)
2012. Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 231-F-06-008.
Smart Growth Essentials
Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Rural Planning, Zoning, and Development Codes
2012. Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 231-K-12-001. Offers ten essential fixes to help rural communities amend their codes, ordinances, and development requirements to promote more environmentally and economically sustainable growth.
Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
2010. 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-10-003.
Focuses on smart growth strategies that can help guide growth in rural areas while protecting natural and working lands and preserving the rural character of existing communities.
- Grant Product
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
Así es el desarrollo inteligente (This Is Smart Growth) (PDF) (32 pp, 3MB, About PDF)
"This Is Smart Growth" translated into Spanish.
- Grant Product
National Award for Smart Growth Achievement
This award program recognizes communities that use the principles of smart growth to create better places.
2011 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 1.6 MB, About PDF) Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA-231-K-11-002.
2010 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 1.65 MB, About PDF) Publication Number EPA 231-K-10-001
2009 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 4.07MB, About PDF) Publication Number EPA 231-K-09-002
2008 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 1.63MB, About PDF) Publication Number EPA 231-K-08-001
2007 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 1MB, About PDF) Publication Number EPA 231-K-07-001
2006 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 2.8MB, About PDF) Publication Number EPA 231-K-06-004
2005 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 848K, About PDF) Publication Number EPA 231-K-05-001
2004 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 2.4MB, About PDF)
2003 Winners (PDF) (20 pp, 2.4MB, About PDF)
2002 Winners (PDF) (16 pp, 1.5MB, About PDF)
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
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
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
Affordable Housing and Smart Growth: Making the Connection
2001. National Neighborhood Coalition and Smart Growth Network.
Uses case studies to illustrate strategies that can foster affordable housing and smart growth.
- Grant Product
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
1998. International City/County Management
Association and Smart Growth Network.
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, About PDF)
1998.
Ewing, Reid and Robert Hodder. International City/County Management
Association and Smart Growth Network.
Describes land use practices that create attractive communities, offer more transportation choices, and protect the environment.
- Grant Product
HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities
Maryland Clean Water State Revolving Fund Sustainable Communities Pilot Project Report (PDF) (15 pp, 227 K, About PDF)
2012. Decisions about where to provide public wastewater infrastructure affect development patterns and influence where and how a community will grow. This report describes how EPA worked with Maryland's Clean Water State Revolving Fund program to consider ways to focus resources in existing communities and infrastructure systems to leverage past investments and support sustainable communities.
Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Three Years of Helping Communities Achieve Their Visions for Growth and Prosperity (PDF) (18 pp, 4.27 MB, About PDF)
2012. Overview of EPA, HUD, and DOT support to communities seeking to protect the environment, provide more housing choices, and make transportation systems more efficient and reliable. Details successes in Bridgeport, CT; Ranson and Charles Town, WV; Montgomery, AL; Cincinnati, OH; Moline, IL; Denver, CO; and Wellpinit, WA.
Federal Resources for Sustainable Rural Communities (PDF) (44 pp, 6.4MB, About PDF)
2012. A guide to programs from the Partnership for Sustainable Communities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture that rural communities can use to promote economic competitiveness, protect healthy environments, and enhance quality of life.
Supporting Sustainable Rural Communities (PDF) (52 pp, 2.8MB, About PDF)
2011. Discusses federal programs that help rural America, presents sample funding and technical assistance opportunities and performance measures rural communities can use, and includes case studies showcasing rural accomplishments.
Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Supporting Environmental Justice and Equitable Development (PDF) (4 pp, 665K, About PDF)
2010. Describes how the Partnership for Sustainable Communities is working to help communities become more equitable and more sustainable for all residents.
Partnership for Sustainable Communities: A Year of Progress for American Communities (PDF) (16 pp, 1.8MB, About PDF)
2010. Report on the first year of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
Leveraging the Partnership: DOT, HUD, and EPA Programs for Sustainable Communities (PDF) (16 pp, 2.2MB, About PDF)
2010. Guide to help communities identify federal resources that can support their efforts to promote more sustainable communities.
Rural Smart Growth
Federal Resources for Sustainable Rural Communities (PDF) (44 pp, 6.4MB, About PDF)
2012. A guide to programs from the Partnership for Sustainable Communities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture that rural communities can use to promote economic competitiveness, protect healthy environments, and enhance quality of life.
Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Rural Planning, Zoning, and Development Codes
2012. Hard copies available by emailing nscep@bps-lmit.com or calling (800) 490-9198 and requesting EPA 231-K-12-001 . Offers ten essential fixes to help rural communities amend their codes, ordinances, and development requirements to promote more sustainable development.
Supporting Sustainable Rural Communities (PDF) (52 pp, 2.8MB About PDF)
2011. Discusses federal programs that help rural America, presents sample funding and technical assistance opportunities and performance measures rural communities can use, and includes case studies showcasing rural accomplishments.
Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
2010. 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-10-003.
Focuses on smart growth strategies that can help guide growth in rural areas while protecting natural and working lands and preserving the rural character of existing communities.
- Grant Product
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
Business and Economic Development
Market Acceptance of Smart Growth
2011. EPA 231-R-10-001.
Compares resale prices for single-family houses and townhouses in smart growth developments with units in conventional developments that are equivalent in terms of size, age, amenities, and location.
Smart Growth: The Business Opportunity for Developers and Production Builders
- Production-Built Homes: The Cost Advantages of Smart Growth (PDF) (27 pp, 1.3MB, About PDF)
2008. Jason Miller.
Compares the cost efficiencies of housing components, construction and design techniques, and other construction issues that apply to production-built, single-family, detached housing units in smart growth communities and conventional suburban development.
- Placemaking: Creating the Product (PDF) (5 pp, 59K, About PDF)
2009. Victor Dover.
Discusses how features that make smart growth neighborhoods smart also make them desirable and command a premium from homebuyers.
- The Market for Smart Growth (PDF) (10 pp, 82K, About PDF)
2009. Gregg Logan, Stephanie Siejka, and Shyam Kannan.
Review of studies of consumer demand for smart growth that finds that about one-third of homebuyers would prefer a smart growth neighborhood.
- The Market Acceptance of Single-Family Housing Units in Smart Growth Communities (PDF) (13 pp, 228K, About PDF)
2009. Mark J. Eppli and Charles C. Tu.
Finds that people are willing to pay more money for a home in a smart growth project than a similar house in a typical suburban development.
- Branding and Marketing Smart Growth Communities (PDF) (7 pp, 98K, About PDF)
2009. Jackie Benson.
Discusses how to market the safety, convenience, and other benefits of smart growth communities.
Economic Development and Smart Growth (PDF) (50 pp, 3.1MB, About PDF) 
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
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
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
Tools
Mixed-Use Trip Generation Model
2011. Spreadsheet tool that makes it easy to estimate trips generated by a new mixed-use development to more fairly assess these projects in development review processes.
Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit for Local Governments (PDF) (92 pp, 15MB, About PDF)
2010. EPA 904-B-10-001.
Addresses the local codes of ordinances that affect the design, construction, renovation, and operation and maintenance of a building and its immediate site to help local governments, the development community, and other building professionals identify and remove barriers to sustainable design and green building in their permitting processes.
Leveraging the Partnership: DOT, HUD, and EPA Programs for Sustainable Communities (PDF) (16 pp, 2.2MB, About PDF)
2010. Describes resources and funding available from DOT, HUD, and EPA for sustainable communities activities.
Smart Growth Guidelines for Sustainable Design and Development
2009. Jonathan Rose Companies, LLC, and Wallace Roberts Todd, LLC, for EPA.
Guidelines that can serve as a checklist to ensure that programs, plans, and proposed developments incorporate the elements needed at the location, site, and building levels to result in more sustainable, affordable housing.
Essential Smart Growth Fixes for Urban and Suburban Zoning Codes
2009. Offers 11 Essential Fixes to help local governments amend their codes and ordinances to promote more sustainable development.
Strategic Package of Tools to Promote Transit Oriented Development in Metropolitan Phoenix
2009. A summary of 23 tools that could be offered to the development community to create and enhance vibrant, healthy communities that support light-rail rail. Focused on metropolitan Phoenix, with nationwide application. Produced for the Phoenix Smart Growth Implementation Assistance project.
Policies that Work: A Governors' Guide to Growth and Development
2009. Governors' Institute on Community Design.
Provides state policymakers with samples of policies, administrative actions, and spending decisions that have helped other states grow smarter.
- Grant Product
Smart Growth Scorecards
2006. Online-only resource.
Sample scorecards used by communities to evaluate policies and development projects.
- Report
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
Local Tools for Smart Growth: Practical Strategies and Techniques to Improve our Communities (PDF) (69 pp, 1.5MB, About PDF)
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
Water
Maryland Clean Water State Revolving Fund Sustainable Communities Pilot Project Report (PDF) (15 pp, 227 K, About PDF)
2012. Decisions about where to provide public wastewater infrastructure affect development patterns and influence where and how a community will grow. This report describes how EPA worked with Maryland's Clean Water State Revolving Fund program to consider ways to focus resources in existing communities and infrastructure systems to leverage past investments and support sustainable communities.
Water Quality Scorecard: Incorporating Green Infrastructure Practices at the Municipal, Neighborhood, and Site Scale
2009. This scorecard offers policy options for protecting and improving water quality across different scales of land use and across multiple municipal departments.
Smart Growth for Coastal and Waterfront Communities
2009. EPA, NOAA, Rhode Island Sea Grant, and the International City/County Management Association.
Builds on existing smart growth principles to offer 10 specific development guidelines for coastal and waterfront communities, along with tools, techniques, and examples.
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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
Guide to Sustainable Transportation Performance Measures
2011. EPA 231-K-10-004.
Guide to help transportation agencies incorporate environmental, economic, and social sustainability into decision-making through the use of performance measures.
- Report
Travel and the Built Environment: A Meta-Analysis
2010. Ewing, Reid and Cervero, Robert.
Meta-analysis of built environment-travel literature that found that driving is most strongly related to measures of accessibility to destinations and street network design variables, while walking is most strongly related to measures of land use diversity, intersection density, and the number of destinations within walking distance.
- Grant Product
Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares: A Context Sensitive Approach
2010. Institute of Transportation Engineers, Congress for the New Urbanism.
An update of ITE's 2006 Context Sensitive Solutions in Designing Major Urban Thoroughfares for Walkable Communities, this report provides guidance on applying CSS principles in communities that support compact development, mixed land uses, walking, and bicycling.
- Grant Product
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
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
Strategies to delay
system expansion, focus development and preserve quality of
life.
- Grant Product
Climate Change and Energy
Iowa Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Report (PDF) (64 pp, 880K, About PDF)
2011.
Report from a project in which EPA and FEMA worked with state and local leaders in Iowa to figure out how the latest science on changing weather patterns due to climate change could be integrated into local and state planning efforts to adapt to and mitigate future natural disasters.
Location Efficiency and Housing Type – Boiling it Down to BTUs
2011. Jonathan Rose Companies for EPA.
Finds that a home's location and access to transit are as important to reducing energy use as are energy-efficiency measures in homes and cars.
Getting Smart About Climate Change
2010. ICMA and the Smart Growth Network.
Outlines nine strategies for successfully applying smart growth principles to climate concerns on the local and regional levels.
&ndash Grant Product
Local Climate and Energy Strategy Guide — Smart Growth: A Guide to Developing and Implementing Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programs (PDF) (55 pp, 400K, About PDF)
2010. Describes how smart growth strategies can help local governments reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve quality of life.
Brownfields and Infill
From Vacancy to Vibrancy
2012. Smart Growth America.
Outlines how to build financial and political support to reclaim and redevelop abandoned gas stations, auto body shops, and industrial facilities. Includes information about state and federal brownfield program requirements, brownfield redevelopment financing strategies, and multi-site planning techniques.
&ndash Grant Product
Restructuring the Commercial Strip: A Practical Guide for Planning the Revitalization of Deteriorating Strip Corridors
2010. ICF International and Freedman Tung & Sasaki.
Provides guidance on coordination of public and private investments and essential planning and design strategies necessary to create a multimodal transportation system and thriving neighborhoods.
&ndash Report
Residential Construction Trends in America's Metropolitan Regions 2010
Updates 2009 report analyzing residential building trends to determine if there has been a shift toward redevelopment and in which regions the shift has been most significant.
&ndash Report
Residential Construction Trends in America's Metropolitan Regions 2009
Analyzes residential building trends to determine if there has been a shift toward redevelopment and in which regions the shift has been most significant.
&ndash Report
Gateways Revitalization Strategy (PDF) (58 pp, 10 MB, About PDF)
2007. Lancaster County Planning Commission.
Provides a vision and a set of achievable goals for the revitalization of approximately 600 acres of urban land near the Amtrak train station in Lancaster, PA.
&ndash Grant Product
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.
&ndash Grant Product
Connecting Smart Growth and Brownfields Redevelopment (PDF) (24 pp, 725K, About PDF)
2006. Center for Environmental Policy and Management, University of Louisville.
Examines planning strategies, financing options, and institutional practices that can help promote brownfield redevelopment.
&ndash 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.
&ndash Grant Product
Redevelopment Ready CommunitiesSM: Best Practices and Scoring System (PDF) (30 pp, 660K, About PDF)
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.
&ndash Grant Product
Brownfield Redevelopment Solutions: Recovering a Community's Hidden Assets (PDF) (86 pp, 2.6MB, About PDF)
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.
&ndash Grant Product
Vacant Properties: The True Costs to Communities (PDF) (24 pp, 496K, About PDF)
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.
&ndash Grant Product
Smart Growth for Brownfields Redevelopment: A Brownfields Screening Tool (PDF) (45 pp, 872K, About PDF)
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.
&ndash Grant Product
Redeveloping Brownfields with Federal Transportation Funds (PDF) (31 pp, 897K, About PDF)
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.
&ndash Grant Product
Schools, Colleges, and Universities
Youth Travel to School: Community Design Relationships with Mode Choice, Vehicle Emissions, and Healthy Body Weight
2008. Lawrence Frank and Company, Inc., for EPA.
Study that examines how factors including neighborhood design and perception of neighborhood safety affect travel to school.
Local Governments and Schools: A Community-Oriented Approach (PDF) (40 pp, 855K, About PDF) ,
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.
&ndash Grant Product
Communities of Opportunity: Smart Growth Strategies for Colleges and Universities (PDF) (48 pp, 38.7MB, About PDF)
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.
&ndash Report
Teaching Smart Growth at Colleges and Universities
2006. Online-only resource.
Sample course prospectuses from professors teaching applied smart growth classes.
- Report
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.
&ndash 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.
&ndash 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.
&ndash Report
Technical Assistance Reports
Report: A Project Selection Tool for the State of Rhode Island: Leveraging State Transportation, Housing, and Infrastructure Investments (PDF) (75pp, 2.78MB, About PDF) Final Project Selection Tool (Excel)
2012. Report on assistance to Rhode Island KeepSpace from EPA's Smart Growth Implementation Assistance program to help prioritize state, nonprofit, and federal resources. This assistance resulted in a project selection tool that may of use to other communities facing similar challenges.
Greening America's Capitals: Lincoln, NE (PDF) (58pp, 6.3MB, About PDF)
2012. Report on the Greening America's Capitals project to help Lincoln, NE develop an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable vision for the South Capital area and design options to achieve it.
Greening America's Capitals: The Anacostia Metro Station Area, Washington, D.C. (PDF) (53 pp, 16.11 MB, About PDF)
2012. Report on the Greening America's Capitals project to help Washington, D.C. create a plan for the streets and intersections around the Anacostia Metro Station.
Strategies for Sustainable Communities: A Guidebook Based on California Community Types (PDF) (57 pp, 943K, )
2011. Report on the EPA technical assistance project to help California's Strategic Growth Council create a framework to help local governments determine what combination of greenhouse gas reduction strategies, smart growth practices, and sustainability policies are best for their type of community.
Greening America's Capitals: Little Rock, Arkansas (PDF) (47 pp, 10 MB, About PDF)
2011. Report on the Greening America's Capitals project to help Little Rock envision improvements to its Main Street corridor.
Greening America's Capitals: Boston's City Hall Plaza (PDF) (76 pp, 40MB, About PDF)
2011. Report from the Greening America's Capitals project to help Boston develop a comprehensive vision for redesigning City Hall Plaza to improve its environmental performance and its appeal as a public space.
Greening America's Capitals: Charleston, West Virginia (PDF) (32 pp, 26MB, About PDF)
2011. Report on the Greening America's Capitals project to help Charleston explore options to redesign Slack Plaza to make it a great public space and a multimodal transportation hub.
Greening America's Capitals: Jefferson City, Missouri (PDF) (70 pp, 4.39 MB, About PDF)
2011. Report from the Greening America's Capitals project to help Jefferson City develop options to restore Wears Creek and transform the Millbottom area near Missouri's state capitol.
Public Involvement Plan and Toolkit for Las Cruces (PDF) (34 pp, 12.5MB, About PDF)
2011. Report on the EPA technical assistance project to help Las Cruces, New Mexico, develop strategies that invite and maintain the participation of all residents, especially ethnically diverse, low-income populations and others that have had limited to no previous involvement in community planning and design.
Greening America's Capitals: Hartford, Connecticut (PDF) (52 pp, 84.7MB, About PDF)
2011. Report from the Greening America's Capitals project to help Hartford re-imagine a mile-long corridor by improving public spaces and adding green streets features.
Embracing the River: Smart Growth Strategies for Assisting in Cedar Rapids' Recovery (PDF) (108 pp, 4.1 MB, About PDF)
2010. Report on the EPA-FEMA project to help Cedar Rapids revise its land use policies to encourage infill and more sustainable growth after the 2008 floods.
Waverly, Iowa, Smart Planning Workshop: Policy Options and Project Designs (PDF) (49 pp, 9.4MB, About PDF)
2010. Report on the EPA-FEMA project to help Waverly develop policy options and strategies for green infrastructure, housing, and infill development after the 2008 floods.
Together We Can Grow Better: Smart Growth for a Sustainable Connecticut Capitol Region (PDF) (55 pp, 29.3MB, About PDF)
Appendix A: EPA's Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Program (PDF) (1 pg, 36K, About PDF)
Appendix B: Zoning Analysis (PDF) (9 pp, 198K, About PDF)
Appendix C: Tolland Village Area (PDF) (3 pp, 4.2MB, About PDF)
Appendix D: Site Briefing Books (PDF) (35 pp, 16MB, About PDF)
Appendix E: Smart Growth Guidelines for Sustainable Design & Development
2010. Report on the EPA technical assistance project to help Connecticut's Capitol Region Council of Governments develop guidance for communities to site, plan, and develop housing that incorporates smart growth approaches and green building techniques.
Smart Mobility 2010: A Call to Action for the New Decade (PDF) (152 pp, 15.4 MB, About PDF)
2010. Product of the EPA technical assistance project to help the California Department of Transportation create a planning framework to help guide and assess how well plans, programs, and projects meet a definition of "smart mobility."
Transit Oriented Development and Proposition 207 in Metropolitan Phoenix (PDF) (4 pp, 341K, About PDF)
Developing a Policy Toolbox for the Post-Proposition 207 Environment (PDF) (25 pp, 642K, About PDF)
Strategic Package of Tools to Promote Transit Oriented Development In Metropolitan Phoenix (PDF) (33 pp, 682K, About PDF)
Encouraging Transit Oriented Development: Case Studies that Work (PDF) (21 pp, 1.4MB, About PDF)
Impact of TOD and Smart Growth Incentives on Development in Phoenix (PDF) (16 pp, 549K, About PDF)
Next Steps to Promote Transit Oriented Development in Metropolitan Phoenix (PDF) (11 pp, 416K, About PDF)
2009. Report on the EPA technical assistance project to help the cities of Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona, identify and analyze appropriate non-regulatory and regulatory tools and incentives that the cities could use to promote transit-oriented development.
Implementing Living Streets: Ideas and Opportunities for the City and County of Denver (PDF) (71 pp, 6.0MB, About PDF)
2009. Report on the EPA technical assistance project to help Denver, Colorado, turn its commercial corridors into living streets that are pedestrian and transit friendly.
Stormwater Management Handbook: Implementing Green Infrastructure in Northern Kentucky Communities
Part 1: Chapters 1-4 (PDF) (45 pp, 3.5MB, About PDF)
Part 2: Chapters 5-6 (PDF) (52 pp, 5.0MB, About PDF)
Part 3: Appendices (PDF) (21 pp, 2.3MB, About PDF)
2009. Report on the EPA technical assistance project to help Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky find options for development that protect water quality and improve communities.
Protecting Water Quality With Smart Growth Strategies and Natural Stormwater Management in Sussex County, Delaware (PDF) (119 pp., 10.8MB, About PDF)
2009. Report on the EPA/NOAA technical assistance project to help Sussex County, Delaware, find options for development that will better protect water quality as the county grows.
Report: Downtown Waterfront Form-Based Code Workshop (PDF) (95 pp, 4.3MB, About PDF)
2008. Report on the EPA/NOAA technical assistance project to help Marquette, Michigan, develop a form-based code for its Downtown Waterfront District.
Collaborating on Greensboro's Future: The University Roundtable and Next Steps (PDF) (31 pp, 3.1MB, About PDF)
Report appendices (PDF) (96 pp, 8.3MB, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
Appendix B: University District Market Analysis (PDF) (24 pp, 499K, About PDF)
Appendix C: Key Issues Briefing Paper (PDF) (7 pp, 604K)
Appendix D: Riverpoint Campus Development Program (PDF) (5 pp, 2.5MB, About PDF)
Appendix E: Retail Oriented Street Case Study (PDF) (5 pp, 257K, About PDF)
Appendix F: Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Case Study (PDF) (5 pp, 293K, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
Appendices A and B: Victor and Driggs SGIA Overview and Full Market Overview (PDF) (53 pp, 347K, About PDF)
Appendices C and D: Connectivity Primer and Example of Downtown Parking Guidelines (PDF) (32 pp, 859K, About PDF)
Appendix E: Small Lot Zoning Discussion and Design Guidelines (PDF) (34 pp, 3.4MB, About PDF)
Appendix F: Planned Development District/TND Design Guidelines (PDF) (29 pp, 6.5MB, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
Report Appendices (PDF) (21 pp, 1.7MB, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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
Moving the Needle: Regional Coalitions as Catalysts for Sustainable Development (PDF) (45 pp, 1.2 MB, About PDF)
2010. Urban Land Institute.
Describes the experiences of eight regional coalitions from around the country and how they work with diverse partners to promote more sustainable communities.
-Grant Product
Creating the Concord River Greenway, Final Report (PDF) (15 pp, 545K, About PDF)
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
Solving Environmental Problems Through Collaboration: A Case Study of the Sustainable Environment for Quality of Life (SEQL) Program (PDF) (2 pp, 45K, About PDF)
2006. Summary of how this successful multi-party organization works to resolve environmental concerns related to rapid growth in the Carolinas.
- Fact Sheet
Institutionalizing Smart Growth Principles into the Metropolitan Planning Process (PDF) (16 pp, 18.7MB, About PDF)
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
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
Developing
for the Future: Hometown USA -- Innovative Community Projects Supported
by EPA Grants (PDF) (44 pp, 2.4MB, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
October 2000
- Report
The History of Envision Utah (PDF) (60 pp, 1.3MB, About PDF)
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, About PDF)
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