Orlando's Baldwin Park neighborhood is featured in This is Smart Growth, a new publication from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the Smart Growth Network, supported with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The announcement was made recently by Geoffrey Anderson, Director of U. S. EPA's Development, Community, Environment Division.
Baldwin Park was chosen because it turned a closed military facility into an attractive new neighborhood that brought homes and other amenities to Orlando. This redevelopment benefited the entire community and brought new life to the area. Coincidentally, Baldwin Park has been the site of the Orlando Regional Chamber’s annual “Politics in the Park” event, which draws residents, business and community leaders together to mix and mingle with elected officials and candidates prior to the November election.
This Is Smart Growth illustrates how communities can turn their visions, values, and aspirations into reality, using smart growth techniques to improve the quality of development. Our community is one of forty, from around the country that is featured in the publication. The writing team was inspired by our community's success in using smart growth principles to create more opportunities, better environmental and economic outcomes, and a lasting legacy for future generations.
This Is Smart Growth describes how, when done well, development can help create more economic opportunities, build great places where people want to live and visit, preserve the qualities people love about their communities, and protect environmental resources. Many people want to know what smart growth looks like; This Is Smart Growth illustrates and explains smart growth concepts and outcomes.
The publication features 40 places around the country, from cities to suburbs to small towns to rural communities, where good development has improved residents' quality of life. Photos illustrate how these communities have invested taxpayer money wisely, offered people more choices in housing and transportation, protected natural and working lands, promoted healthy environments, created a lasting legacy for the community, and achieved other accomplishments.
Development and publication of This Is Smart Growth was funded through a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and ICMA. Free copies are available from the EPA National Service Center for Environmental Publications at 800-490-9198 or via e-mail at ncepimal@one.net. Ask for publication number 231-K-06-002. This is Smart Growth is available electronically at www.smartgrowth.org.
Thirty-two national organizations -- representing housing, environmental, community design and development, real estate, transportation, local government, and other interests -- have approved
This Is Smart Growth. The following thirty-one Smart Growth Network partners join ICMA in releasing This Is Smart Growth:
American Farmland Trust, American Institute of Architects Center for Communities by Design, American Planning Association, Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Congress for the New Urbanism, Enterprise, Environmental Law Institute, Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Local Government Commission, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, NACO Center for Sustainable Communities, National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals, National Association of Realtors, National Multi-Housing Council, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Trust for Historic
Preservation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northeast-Midwest Institute, Rails to Trails Conservancy, Scenic America, Smart Growth America, State of Maryland, Surface Transportation Policy Project, Sustainable Communities Network, The Conservation Fund, Trust for Public Land, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Urban Land Institute, Virginia Tech Metropolitan Institute and Urban Affairs & Planning Program.
The 6th annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference will be February 8-10, 2007, in Los Angeles. Find information about the conference at www.newpartners.org.
For more information on This is Smart Growth, contact,
Development, Community & Environment Division: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth
Smart Growth Network: http://www.smartgrowth.org
Along these lines, the “How Shall We Grow? – Creating a Shared Vision for Central Florida” Campaign is again reaching out to citizens across Central Florida for input on projected growth for our region. The Campaign is a fifteen-month process that brings together local, regional and state agencies in a partnership to design our collective future. The Florida Department of Community Affairs, Florida Department of Transportation, the Central Florida MPO Alliance, East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, and myregion.org have combined their professional talents and resources to take this message to the people of our region.
To review past meeting summaries, presentations, audio and visual graphics, visit our blog: www.howshallwegrow.org.
myregion.org - A Regional Development Program - is an organization of citizens and leaders from public, private and institutional sectors who have launched a program to prepare the Central Florida Region to compete more effectively in the 21st century while enhancing the quality of life of its citizenry.
