New coalition helps communities face common development problems

A recently formed coalition, Livability Solutions, has received a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency that will help it give technical assistance to communities that face common development problems such as outdated zoning codes and a lack of consensus on where and how to grow.

Livability Solutions was established in 2010 by Project for Public Spaces, Reconnecting America, the Congress for New Urbanism, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, National Center for Bicycling & Walking, the National Charrette Institute, the Local Government Commission, the Surface Transportation Policy Project, Paul Dreher of the Newport City (Vermont) Renaissance Corporation, and Leigh Lane of the Center for Transportation and Environment at North Carolina State University.

The new organization works with communities on livability, sustainability, placemaking, and smart growth; it consolidates and coordinates the founding groups’ initiatives and tools. Livability Solutions received the grant from the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program, administered by EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities. With the funding, Livability Solutions will provide one or two days of technical assistance in the coming year for six to 12 communities. To learn more, contact livabilitysolutions@pps.org.