Livability Solutions are pleased to announce the 10 communities selected to receive free technical assistance this year, thanks to a grant to Project for Public Spaces from the United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Sustainable Communities under their Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program.These governments and organizations represent a diverse group of communities from across the United States, from large cities to rural counties. All have a strong commitment to sustainability and smart growth and are poised to implement positive change by making use of the assistance we are offering.The communities are:
- University City District, Philadelphia
- West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, Eau Claire, Wis.
- Lower Eastside Action Plan, Detroit
- Toledo-Lucas County Sustainability Commission, Maumee, Ohio
- Colfax on the Hill, Inc., Denver, Colo.
- City of Blue Springs, Mo.
- Charlotte County, Fla.
- Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention, Little Rock, Ark.
- Anthithesis Research, Wellpinit, Wash.
- Gulf Regional Planning Commission, Gulfport, Miss.
Each community will receive a one- or two-day training session with a livability expert from Project for Public Spaces or one of our Livability Solutions partners on the issue of their choice. Our partners who will be delivering technical assistance this year include:
- Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT)
- Congress for the New Urbanism
- Local Government Commission
- National Charrette Institute
- Reconnecting America
- Walkable Livable Communities Institute
Project for Public Spaces and our partners at Livability Solutions received 64 applications from local governments and community organization for this technical assistance. While all of the applications were worthy, the 10 communities selected represented the strongest commitment to, need for, and capability to achieve livability solutions using the tools we offer.
This technical assistance is made possible by a grant to Project for Public Spaces from the United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Sustainable Communities under the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program. The Building Blocks program funds quick, targeted assistance to communities that face common development problems. Three other nonprofit organizations – Forterra (formerly Cascade Land Conservancy), Global Green USA, and Smart Growth America — also received competitively awarded grants under this program this year to help communities achieve their sustainable development goals.
We encourage interested communities to continue to check the Livability Solutions website for additional opportunities for technical assistance. We also welcome interested foundations, organizations, and individuals to contact us if they are interested in supporting assistance to one of the 53 other qualified applications we received.
Click here for information on other opportunities to work with Livability Solutions or here for training and technical assistance offered by Project for Public Spaces or our partners.