Livable Communities & Smart Growth

Building Healthy Communities 101 - A primer on growth and housing development intended for Los Angeles neighborhoods.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Smart Growth website - With an emphasis on environmental issues, this web site provides public resources to help create communities that promote the sustainability of America's environment, economy, and quality of life.

Sprawl Hits the Wall: Confronting the Realities of Metropolitan Los Angeles - This report, by the USC Southern California Studies Center and the Brookings Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, shows that the Los Angeles region is at a crisis point and that the region should, and can, grow differently.

Local Government Commission - A non-profit organization of local elected officials, city and county staff, planners, architects, and community leaders who are committed to making their communities more livable, prosperous, and resource-efficient.

Presentations from LGC's Developing Smart Growth Zoning Codes workshops - Tools for fine-tuning or completelyrevamping a community's zoning codes and policies to create more livable communities

The Economic Benefits of Walkable Communities [PDF, 788KB] - An LGC report that outlines the economic case for pedestrian-friendly communities.

Smart Growth Online - A service of the national Smart Growth Network, including a smart growth resource library and calendar, funding opportunities and index of Smart Growth quotes.

Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation - A popular, 100-page primer from an ongoing series describes concrete techniques for putting smart growth principles into practice. Order a free print copy or download a PDF.

Getting to Smart Growth II: 100 More Policies for Implementation - Follow up to Getting to Smart Growth, this report offers more policies, case studies and funding options. Order a free print copy or download a PDF.

Smart Growth America - A coalition of national, state and local organizations working to improve the ways we plan and build the towns, cities and metro areas we call home. A variety of online resources.

Measuring Sprawl and Its Impact: The Character and Consequences of Metropolitan Expansion - A report from Smart Growth America, based on research at Rutgers and Cornell, that defines, measures and evaluates metropolitan sprawl and its impacts.

Envision Utah Quality Growth Strategy - A regional growth vision for the Salt Lake City region.

California Inter-regional Partnerships - This site documents a variety of regional planning projects in California intended to balance job and housing growth.

Neighborhood Knowledge, California 2.0 - An innovative online resource for neighborhood research, data and mapping in California.

Walkable Communities, Inc. - Walkable Communities, founded by "walkability guru" and community design innovator Dan Burden, has worked in many communities across the U.S. and produced resources on community design.

Form Based Codes

Louisville Land Development Code - Another example of form-based development code, grew out of the Cornerstone 2020 regional vision plan for the Louisville, Kentucky metropolitan area.

MIT graduate thesis on the effectiveness of form-based codes by Todd Kohr [PDF, 5.5MB]

Commentary on form-based codes from Ferrell Madden Associates LLC, a planning firm involved in the Columbia Pike Initiative and others.

Columbia Pike Form-Based Code - Form-based zoning codes focus on regulating building, public space and neighborhood form rather than land use. The Columbia Pike code covers a revitalizing corridor in Arlington County, Virginia