A team from the Center for Neighborhood Technology describes the relationship between the housing market and markets for energy and transportation and how these markets affect households and the environment. The paper offers funders a perspective on the relationship between housing issues (affordable housing, specifically), transportation and energy use, and environmental impacts and highlights best practices for consideration.
Translation Paper
12 Pages
2007
Kathleen Blaha, formerly of The Trust for Public Land, describes how new strategies that link parks and greenspace with community development, public health, social justice, access, and opportunity are leading to better decisions about how and where communities grow. She describes philanthropic leadership on these issues, and points to eight funder strategies that support the role parks and green space play in building communities.
Examples From The Field
12 Pages
2005
Gary Moll and Jeff Olson from American Forests provide a road map and tools for improving urban environments and making cities better places to live by fitting natural resources more effectively into city infrastructure. City trees comprise an urban forest that can be thought of as a city’s green infrastructure.
Translation Paper
20 Pages
2004
Dana Beach of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League makes the case that comprehensive land use reform can become the organizing principle of the nation’s water quality agenda, suggesting strategies that can be taken at the regional, neighborhood, and site scales to protect aquatic resources.
Translation Paper
20 Pages
2004
Naomi Friedman, writing for the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, presents a framework for understanding the connections between energy and land use that focuses on two primary issues: 1) how to build, which involves neighborhood and building design, and 2) where to build, meaning that location matters. She also suggests ways for funders to help accelerate the merger of these fields.
This unprecedented, multi-year initiative to tackle heart disease and preventable cancer in Minnesota uses community funding efforts to spread active living principles and achieve positive health outcomes.
Special Report
35 Pages
2006
A team from ChildTrends examines how the characteristics of childrens’ homes affect their health, social, and emotional well-being, and offers strategies for funders concerned with improving outcomes for children.
Translation Paper
20 Pages
2005
A team from the Center for Clean Air Policy explores the connection between land development patterns, transportation patterns, and air pollution, and how growing smarter can lead to better air quality.
Examples From The Field
3 Pages
2004
The Inspiring Places initiative of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation seeks to develop and maintain a system of great parks in Atlanta. It’s a continuation of the foundation’s previous $19.2 million investment in local open space acquisition.
Examples From The Field
16 Pages
2003
Writer Rachel Peterson and researcher William Eisenstein explore the concept of ecologically healthy cities. Far more than adorning with trees and plants, it is the density of cities that has become essential to nature’s survival. Although many leading environmental groups can certainly be found under the smart growth tent, in local land use debates it is often environmentalists who balk in their support. This paper serves to help bridge the gap between environmentalism and smart growth.
