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New Resources for
Sustainable Communities
Sustainable Communities
January 1999
Issue Index
November 1998 ||
January 1999 ||
March 1999 ||
May 1999
September 1999 ||
November 1999 ||
January 2000 ||
March 2000
May 2000 ||
July 2000
Compiled by:
ROBERT M. WILSON
Sustainable Manhattan 
Manhattan KS USA
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TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE CHESAPEAKE: Promoting Smart Growth, Protecting Our Environment, Preserving Quality of Life
http://www.chesapeakecommunities.org/summitflyer.html
The Center for Chesapeake Communities is please to announce a Summit to help communities plan for sustainability.
March 22 & 23, 1999
Baltimore, Maryland
Featuring national leaders in the movement toward sustainability:
Mr. Michael J. Kinsley, Rocky Mountain Institute
Mr. Gus Garcia, Council Member, Austin, Texas
Be a part of hands-on training workshops that include:
The Summit provides an in-depth look at the elements of sustainability - economic, social and environmental. Through training workshops and presentations this Summit offers participants - local decision makers, local assistance providers, and citizens - the knowledge and capacity
to help move communities toward sustainability.
The Summit is a "Journey to the Detroit Event," the National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America, sponsored by the President's Council for Sustainable Development and the Global Environment & Technology Foundation.
For registration materials, contact the Center for Chesapeake
Communities at phone: 410-267-8595, email Susan N. Hall at
shall@chesapeakecommunities.org.
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NATURAL STEP WORKSHOP
http://www.naturalstep.org/event/event_5day.html
April 14-18, 1999
Portland, Oregon
The Natural Step (TNS) US will host a one-day introductory TNS workshop at the Metro Washington Park Zoo in Portland that will precede the next annual Natural Step Conference from April 15-18, 1999 at Portland State University. During the one-day workshop Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt, founder of The Natural Step, will teach the basic science underlying The Natural Step, and help participants understand the system conditions and how they are derived, explained, and applied. This event will be followed by a four-day conference on The Natural Step held at Portland State University. Participants will hear from some of the world's leading experts on sustainability and learn how The Natural Step has been applied in corporations, organizations, communities, municipalities, small businesses, and universities; deepen their understanding of The Natural Step framework; better understand consensus building techniques; and gain comfort and skill in effectively communicating about TNS. For more information, e-mail tns@naturalstep.org or call 415 / 561-3344.
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APA NATIONAL PLANNING CONFERENCE
http://www.planning.org/conferen/98indx.htm
April 24-28, 1999
Seattle, WA
Sessions on sustainable development include:
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NATIONAL EPA STATE, TRIBAL AND LOCAL WETLANDS PROGRAM SYMPOSIUM: Effective Partnerships for Wetlands Protection, Management and Restoration
http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/National.html
Boulder, CO
May 17-20, 1999
The purpose of this meeting is to provide a national forum for wetlands professionals in state, tribal and local government to discuss the effectiveness of current wetland protection strategies, and mechanisms
and opportunities for improvement. Individuals in state, tribal and local governments involved in wetlands
planning, management, restoration, permitting, monitoring and outreach, will find many of the workshop topics of particular interest. Individuals that are leaders on these various issues in state, tribal and local government will provide discussion and/or presentations that will be of interest to their peers.
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SPECIAL SERIES ON SPRWAL IN DETROIT NEWS
http://www.detnews.com/1998/metrox/suburbs/
The "Detroit News" recently published a series of four special reports, collectively titled "Suburbs on the Edge," that explores the impact of sprawl on the lives of Detroit residents.
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PRINCIPLES OF SMART DEVELOPMENT
http://www.planning.org/pas/pas479.htm
A new report from the American Planning Association Planning Advisory Service. The principles of smart development consider the efficient use of land resources; full use of urban services; mixing of uses; transportation options; detailed, human-scale design; and means of implementation. This report, a revised and expanded edition of a handbook developed by state agencies in Oregon, discusses these principles, documents obstacles to their implementation, and outlines strategies that may help overcome those obstacles. Appendices provide case studies and sample ordinance language tied specifically to each of the principles. Available from Planners Book Service at 312 / 786-6344, or e-mail bookservice@planning.org. (PAS Report No.479, $32)
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BUILDING STRONG NEIGHBORHOODS: A Study Circle Guide for Public Dialogue and Community Problem Solving
Our neighborhoods are facing many difficult challenges, from reducing crime to improving race relations, to creating quality jobs and improving housing. Across the country, people are looking for new ways to strengthen our sense of community and build better neighborhoods. “Building Strong Neighborhoods” is designed to help people address these issues at the grassroots level. The guide helps organizers use study circles – small, democratic discussions, to mobilize the most valuable asset of any neighborhood – its people.
“Building Strong Neighborhoods” offers a tested organizing model that is inclusive and collaborative. Study circle programs offer diverse groups of people an opportunity to come together to talk about different points of view on public issues, generate new ideas, and find better ways to tackle important neighborhood issues. Topics covered in the Guide include race and other kinds of differences; young people and families; safety and community-police relations; homes, housing, and beautification; jobs and the neighborhood economy; and schools. The Guide offers advice on how to organize a neighborhood-wide study circle program; tips for facilitators; information on long-term problem-solving and planning for the future; guidelines on moving to action; and examples of actions being taken in neighborhoods around the country.
Available for $5 + $2 S&H from the Study Circles Resource Center, PO Box 203, Pomfret CT 06258; Tel: 860 / 928-2616; E-Mail scrc@neca.com.
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NEW RESOURCES ON SMART GROWTH FROM ICMA
http://bookstore.icma.org/
Best Development Practices: A Primer for Smart Growth
Based on a book prepared for the Florida Department of Community Affairs, this guide focuses on development patterns and shows how changes in current development patterns can help stop sprawl. Recommendations are geared to developers and local officials. The primer also illustrates best practices, such as mixed land use, affordable housing, energy efficiency, preservation of natural areas, and sense of community and how these ideas make good business sense. (1998, 30 pages, Item # 42383, $6.50)
Why Smart Growth: A Primer
This primer looks at why sprawl is no longer a viable development option and illustrates the outcomes of growth. The primer provides information on the benefits and impacts of smart growth, and lists tools communities can use to foster smart growth. (1998, 42 pages, Item # 42384, $6.50)
Smart Growth Video
This 15-minute video on smart growth is a great way to educate citizens and public officials about smart growth. The video highlights smart growth principles as applied in different kinds of developments around the country. It also offers solutions to common growth and development problems.
(1998, 15 minutes, Item # 42385, $6.50)
Brownfields Redevelopment: Tools for Environmental Justice
This video shows how the city of New Orleans successfully used brownfields redevelopment to achieve the goal of environmental justice. (17 minutes, $9.95)
Brownfields Redevelopment: A Guidebook for Local Governments and Communities
Learn how communities are revitalizing abandoned or underused industrial and commercial properties
through the cleanup and reuse of brownfields. ICMA and the Northeast-Midwest Institute have written this comprehensive guidebook to assist local governments in tackling the complex issues of brownfields redevelopment: legal liability, financing, cleanup standards, environmental justice, insurance, and community involvement. Includes case studies. The appendices describe EPA pilot grant contracts, and a list of state voluntary cleanup laws. (1997, 400 pages, Item # 42127, $35.00)
Brownfields Redevelopment CD-ROM
This CD-ROM features the full text of the written Brownfields Redevelopment guidebook and several new additions including: full-text of all State Voluntary Cleanup Program statutes (including most of the respective regulations) which are fully searchable, video clips of government officials and community leaders involved in a the brownfields process, a search feature that allows you to look-up keywords and subject topics to fine the information you need quickly and easily, over 100 pages of new case studies, a flowchart and decisions tree detailing the roles of local governments in brownfields redevelopment, and updated brownfields contacts and resource lists. It also provides you with updated information on Voluntary Cleanup Programs (including six new programs)and Federal brownfields initiatives, and a clickable map that shows you everything in the Guidebook concerning your state.
(1998, Item # 42317, members $115.00, nonmembers $150.00)
Catalog of Data Sources for Community Planning
Intended as a reference for managers, elected officials, department heads, planners, community groups, and citizens, this report is a convenient guide to federal, state, and local administrative sources of data needed in community planning and development. The data sources are described and evaluated in terms of type, level of detail, quality, and availability. (1998, 19 pages, Item # 42345, $14.95)
Climate Change: Strategies for Local Governments
This report explains how and why climate change is relevant to local governments. It provides the local government administrator and elected officials with the latest information on climate change and shares a wide range of strategies local governments are already putting in place to frame the issue for community discussion and to mitigate the potentially disastrous effects. Sample resolutions and an assessment of risk are included as appendices. (1998, 16 pages, Item # 42346, $14.95)
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RESOURCES ON WASTE FOR BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/general/bizcat/biz-govt.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/general/bizcat/biz-govt.txt
Published by EPA’s Office of Solid Waste (OSW), this guide describes non-technical OSW publications intended for small businesses and local governments on topics such as waste management and reduction, including topics like federal waste regulations and restrictions, waste management cost assessments, recycling, source reduction, and buying and manufacturing recycled products. The guide is available in PDF and ASCII text formats (as noted above), or may be ordered from the EPA publications clearinghouse at 800 / 490-9198 (document # EPA530-B-98-006).
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RESOURCES ON WASTE FOR YOUR HOME AND COMMUNITY
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/general/homecat/home-cat.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/general/homecat/home-cat.txt
Published by EPA’s Office of Solid Waste (OSW), this guide describes OSW publications for consumers, neighborhood and community groups, parents and teachers, community leaders, and others on topics such as recycling, composting, and environmental education, as well as non-technical information on regulatory requirements. The guide is available in PDF and ASCII text formats (as noted above), or may be ordered from the EPA publications clearinghouse at 800 / 490-9198 (document # EPA530-B-98-005).
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AG EARTH DAY 1999
http://www.nasda-hq.org/nasda/earth/index.html
Agriculture and the Environment: A Growing Partnership is a three-year initiative spearheaded by the Ag-Earth Partnership and the American agriculture community to highlight ongoing stewardship efforts that are helping America's farmers and ranchers contribute to clean water and air, healthy soil, improved wildlife habitat and open spaces, and a quality environment for all.
A special day of celebration, Ag-Earth Day 1999, to be held on April 22nd will be the culmination of a weeklong series of events from across the country. Over the seven-day period, members of the agriculture community will be reporting on environmental successes and innovative solutions. The
Ag-Earth celebration kicks off the agriculture community's rededication to establishing growing partnerships between agriculture and the environment, building on environmental successes and developing innovative practices that conserve our natural resources and provide the world with an abundant, reliable and affordable supply of food, natural fiber and other agricultural products.
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STATE GUIDES ON RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY
http://solstice.crest.org/efficiency/state-guides/
The Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation has published a collection of State Guides on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. In them you will find tips and key contacts, specific to your state, that will assist your efforts to use less energy. The guides, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, are available online for downloading.
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SUSTAINABLE URBAN LANDSXAPES DESIGN CHARRETTE
A publication titled Sustainable Urban Landscapes: The Surrey Design Charrette illustrates how communities can be designed for greater sustainability. Produced as a result of a charrette project in Surrey, British Columbia, the book details four different designs for the same 400-acre site, each developed with the goal of illustrating what the community could be like if designed to encompass emerging sustainability policies.
For more information on this publication, contact: Patrick M. Condon, Landscape Architecture Program, University of British Columbia, Suite 248-2357 Main Mall, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z4; (604) 822-9291; pcon@unixg.ubc.ca.
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UNCOVERING AUTO SUBSIDIES:
Calculating how much your local government spends subsidizing cars
http://www.iclei.org/co2/auto/cars.htm
Do you know how much your local government spends on services and infrastructure for private vehicles? How much, for instance, is spent building and maintaining roads, on traffic signals, enforcing traffic laws, or providing emergency services? Where does this money come from? Do gasoline taxes, auto registration fees, tolls and parking fees cover these costs? Or does your jurisdiction subsidize automobile-related costs? Most local governments can't easily answer these questions. Local government budgets generally do not have line items to show the cost of supporting private automobile use. This guide will help local elected officials, staff, policy makers and citizens analyze your local government budget costs that are hidden in your jurisdiction's budget. Developed by Cities for Climate Protection, a program of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).
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APA RELEASES 2ND OF MODEL PLANNING STATUTES
http://www.planning.org/ plnginfo/growsmar/gsindex.html#7
The problems of urban sprawl and loss of natural landscapes were hot issues in this year’s national election as evident by ballot initiatives from coast to coast. Now new practical tools are available to help state and local governments combat urban sprawl, protect farmland, promote affordable housing, and encourage redevelopment. The American Planning Association (APA) has published a new interim edition of the Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook containing model state statutes for managing growth and change. Growing Smart is the APA’s multiyear effort to draft the next generation of model planning and zoning legislation for the U.S.
The 1998 edition of the Guidebook, which updates an edition released in January 1997, contains new chapters on local comprehensive planning and integrating state environmental policy acts with local planning. Also included are supplements to previously released chapters and sections on state planning, regional planning, state-administered land-use controls, affordable housing, and regional tax base sharing.
Highlights of the new edition include new or substantially revised model statutes and commentary on:
The Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook is available in for downloading in PDF format. A hard copy may be ordered for $32 from APA’s Planners Book Service http://www.planning.org/, or by calling
312 / 786-6344.
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HOUSE OF CARDS
Las Vegas: Too many people in the wrong place, celebrating waste as a way of life
http://tamalpais.sierraclub.org/sierra/199511/vegas.html
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"SACRED PLACES" – A Visioning/Planning Tool for Local Governments
“Sacred Places” is an innovative and effective tool for helping communities identify what they hold as special about "their place". The Sacred Places methodology was developed two decades ago by Randy Hester, a faculty member at the North Carolina State University School of Landscape Design.
For more information about Sacred Places planning and opportunities to bring this approach to your community, contact: Anne Pearson, Alliance for Community Education, at 410 / 956-1002, or e-mail aplace@toad.net.
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NEW PUBLICATIONS FROM THE CENTER FOR WATERSHED PROTECTION
http://www.pipeline.com/~mrrunoff/
The Center for Watershed Protection recently released four new publications:
The Consensus Agreement on Model Development Principles to Protect Our Streams, Lakes, and Wetlands
A series of twenty-two principles, and a basic rationale for their implementation.
Better Site Design:
A Handbook for Changing Development Rules in Your Community
The companion document to the Consensus Agreement; it provides detailed rationale for each of the principles and examines current practices in local communities, potential barriers to implementation, economic and environmental benefits, and case studies from across the country.
Nutrient Loading from Conventional and Innovative Site Development A study of the comparative pollutant export and economic benefits of conventional versus innovative site planning techniques.
The Rapid Watershed Planning Handbook
Manual designed for use by watershed managers and professionals in developing planning and management strategies for the future. Features elements for effective watershed planning, watershed management options, watershed analysis tools, and case studies of "real-life" watershed plans.
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THE COUNTRYSIDE EXCHANGE:
Tackling Environmental Issues One Community At A Time
http://www3.glynwood.org/glynwood/stable/ce.html
The Countryside Exchange is a program of the Glynwood Center that brings together international teams of professionals to work with communities on their conservation and development challenges. The Exchange is conducted regionally, involving two to three communities at once. A competitive application process is used to select the Exchange communities.
The focal point is a week-long visit by an international team of professionals; but long before their arrival Glynwood works with the host communities of the Countryside Exchange to prepare. Although Glynwood provides assistance, the community really drives the preparation process by identifying local issues, developing an Exchange week itinerary and mobilizing its residents. This process brings together divergent community interests, heightens public awareness of the issues and often results in the emergence of new leaders and involved citizens.
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CITIES ON THE REBOUND
http://www.uli.org/
The Urban Land Institute recently published “Cities on the Rebound.” Author Bill Hudnut draws on his past experience as mayor of Indianapolis and president of the National League of Cities to provide local public officials, planners, real estate professionals, environmentalists, and citizens with his personal reflections on the future of America's cities. At the core of the book is Hudnut's vision for dealing with diversity, encouraging sustainable development, finding alternatives to sprawl, managing technological
change, regional collaboration, improving government efficiency, and more. As a professional and
fellow of the Urban Land Institute who has spent his career uniting government leaders and public
officialsin the quest to revitalize cities, Hudnut delivers realistic ideas to the leaders who are
shaping urban America. (October 1998, 150 pages, ISBN: 0-87420-863-7)
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LONG-TERM HYDROLOGIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT TOOL AVAILABLE
http://danpatch.ecn.purdue.edu/~napra/LTHIA
A prototype tool that allows one to evaluate the long-term hydrological impacts of land use changes, such as urban sprawl or agricultural transitions, for any location in the United States is now available online.
Developed as a joint effort between Purdue University and EPA Region 5, Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (LTHIA) is a simple technique for determining the impacts of land use changes. Given a county and soil type, the software will calculate the effects of various land use decisions on water quality.
LTHIA was developed to provide a quick, accessible tool to use in assessing the long-term impacts of land use change. In planning and environmental management, it is important to consider the effects land use changes have on surface runoff, streamflow, and groundwater recharge. Recent concern over urban sprawl has focused attention on many land use change issues, including the fact that failure to account for hydrologic aspects of land use change can result in flooding, stream degradation, erosion, and loss of groundwater supply. LTHIA was initially designed for planners and natural resource managers because these users are familiar with land use change in a particular area, have access to land use information, and are interested in environmental impacts.
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NEW URBAN STREAM RESTORATION FIELD MANUAL now available
http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/Catalog/UrbanManagement.html
Describes the methods of urban stream restoration: rehabilitation techniques; measured in-stream enhancements of fisheries, habitat, and bethnos; fluvial geomorphic analysis of streams and resulting effects of watershed and stream alterations; and rural applications of the selected stream rehabilitation techniques are all described using a straight-forward approach.
Developed by EPA Region 5, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The full color 143-page manual can be ordered for $25. Available from the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), 1220 Potter Drive Room 170, West Lafayette, IN 47906, 765-494-9555, fax 765-494-5969, e-mail ctic@ctic.purdue.edu, or order online.
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LINKING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES TO POLLUTION PREVENTION: A Sourcebook
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR855/index.html
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR855/mr855.pdf
This report explores the relationship between sustainable community activities and pollution prevention (P2). It is oriented toward those in state and local government who deal with P2 because of the potential synergy that can occur between community sustainability activities and P2 efforts. Other organizations and individuals interested in either sustainable communities or P2 should also find it helpful. This document is based on a presentation given at the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable Conference in 1996.
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STOCKHOLM ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE
http://www.seib.org/
The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), an international organization based in Sweden, has a center in Boston that conducts policy-oriented studies on sustainable development strategies, energy, environment and climate issues, and water and development. Information on these studies and many of the accompanying reports are available from this site. SEI also develops computer-based decision support tools, available for downloading, for assessment, planning and training, including PoleStar for
sustainable development scenarios, the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning system (LEAP), and the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP).
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LAND TRUST SUMMARIZES1998 OPEN-SPACE BALLOT MEASURES
http://www.lta.org/refernda.html
The Land Trust Alliance has summarized the results of some 135 ballot measures related to open-space preservation from around the nation. Voters approved 85 percent of these measures, which will collectively raise $3.8 billion to protect or acquire more open space.
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OPEN SPACE PLANNING PACKET
http://www.canr.uconn.edu/ces/nemo/npubsform.html
What exactly is “open space”? And, how do your identify it, characterize it, prioritize it, acquire it, and fund it? This substantial packet of materials answers these questions, and more! Comprised of 20 individual fact sheets, a set of model open space regulations regarding subdivision, and a manual on how to conduct a natural resource inventory. Information covers two major topics: the open space planning process, and specific tools and techniques for acquiring open space. Although some of the material is specific to Connecticut, most of it is applicable to other states. Produced by Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO), a University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System project.
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