Placemaking Tools for Community Action offers a sampling of strategies available to architects who are guiding community development efforts. While the booklet may be a refresher for some architects and planners, for others it will present basic ideas and help identify new resources.

The booklet, for example, highlights the steps a community might take when exploring how new programs, such as visualization software or geographic-information systems, are integrated into their planning processes. Placemaking offers:
• An overview on how tools improve decision-making
• A discussion of the goals, values, and design principles involved
• A description of selected planning tools
• Sample scenarios
• Case studies
• A list of tools by category
• A selection of resources and a glossary.

It may prove useful to give this starter kit to community members, city officials, or planners as they prepare for and advance through the planning and design process. It will help them assess the applicability and appropriateness of their decisions to the specific project issues. The booklet builds on the work being done at Placematters.com. Click here to link to the PDF document or click here to download a copy now. (1.7mb)

Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation is back in print. This primer from the Smart Growth Network and International City/County Management Association (ICMA) serves as a roadmap for states and communities that have recognized the need for smart growth but are unclear on how to achieve it. Click here to link to the PDF document or click here to download a copy now.

Audiotapes from the 2nd Annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference in New Orleans are now available. The event, organized by the Local Government Coalition and Pennsylvania State University and cosponsored by the AIA, focused on forming new networks and creating new levels of understanding among multiple smart-growth interests. Representatives from a wide selection of professional disciplines, including elected and civil-service officials, public-health experts, law-enforcement officers, and a youth delegation of college and high-school students, joined planners, architects, developers, and community leaders to discuss ways to find interdisciplinary solutions and to make federal and state policies work in regional, city, and neighborhood settings. Click here to learn more about the program and purchase the audiotapes. (All tapes are $10 each unless otherwise noted; eight tapes in a binder cost $70; and 16 tapes cost $130.)

Introduction to Smart Growth: More Choices for Our Families is a PowerPoint presentation developed through a collaborative project of individuals and organizations operating under guidance of Smart Growth America. Research assistance was provided by the U.S. EPA. The presentation is intended to be used by individuals and organizations committed to helping communities achieve the objectives of Smart Growth. Click here to access the presentation.

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