Smart Growth and Sustainable Development on new U.S. Agenda

portland

The Environmental Protection Agency is joining forces with the Department of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development to create a strategy for sustainable, smart growth in the US.   The new partnership means that there will be a new focus on environmental issues when the nation’s housing and transportation needs are being considered.

According to the NRDC, the new partnership will:

• Provide more transportation choices. Develop safe, reliable and economical transportation choices in order to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our nations’ dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote public health.
• Promote equitable, affordable housing. Atlanta’s Livable Centers Initiative was another EPA smart growth award winner (courtesy of USEPA) Expand location and energy efficient housing choices for people of all ages, incomes, races and ethnicities to increase mobility and lower the combined cost of housing and transportation.
• Increase economic competitiveness. Enhance economic competitiveness through reliable and timely access to employment centers, educational opportunities, services and other basic needs by workers as well as expanded business access to markets.
• Support existing communities. Target federal funding toward existing communities to increase community revitalization, the efficiency of public works investments and safeguard rural landscapes.
• Leverage federal investment. Cooperatively align federal policies and funding to remove barriers, leverage funding and increase the accountability and effectiveness of all levels of government to plan for future growth.
• Value communities and neighborhoods. Enhance the unique characteristics of all communities by investing in healthy, safe and walkable neighborhoods – rural, urban or suburban.