Discussions of livability typically focus exclusively on urban living, yet 20% of the country lives in rural areas or small towns. As speaker Rachel Goslins pointed out at Partners’ "Building Livable Communities” forum, “It’s not necessarily true that a livable community is a city.” Goslins, the executive director of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, asked us all to consider what livability means for small towns and what urbanites can learn from them.
Her observation is a fitting one. Small towns fare well in many aspects of livability, boasting low crime rates, access to natural amenities, affordable housing and land, ease of mobility (for most), and engaged citizens with a strong sense of community. Yet there are many barriers to livability in small towns, as they strive to deal with changing demographics, the decline of traditional industries, environmental damage, and deteriorating infrastructure. These woes may sound familiar to residents of any size city, but the effect and the solutions for small towns are often different. Long distances between amenities, limited resources, and negative stereotypes about rural America can make these challenges more difficult to surmount.
How does a city aspire to be livable when the outside public seemingly brands it as ‘dying?’ How does the city grow when it is told that is 'shrinking’? With eyes that are turning away from the core industrial cities and onto the technological hubs of the twenty-first century: can the city sustain itself?
For Mayor Jay Williams of Youngstown, OH, hearing his city being labeled by Forbes Magazine as one of Americas 10 Fastest-Dying Cities, inspired him to take the city in a new direction; one that leveraged successful development upon its own definition.
At the “Building Livable Communities” forum held at Washington, DC's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on September 22, 2010, Mayor Williams held a detailed discussion on how civic institutions in Youngstown redefined their role to promote dynamic change as amenity rich centers.
President of Partners for Livable Communities, Robert McNulty, was quoted in The Wall Street Journal article “Artists vs. Blight ,” discussing artist occupations of blighted homes and neighborhoods in transitioning communities such as Cleveland and Detroit.
The American Society of Landscape Architect’s weekly blog, “The Dirt: Connecting the Built and Natural Environments,” posts detailed highlights from “Building Livable Communities: Creating a Common Agenda,” Partner’s recent Forum in collaboration with the Hirshhorn Museum. Recapping the panel of Federal officials including HUD, DOT, and their overlapping agendas to create an “infrastructure for livability” through “interdependencies,” the blog also includes highlights from the speakers representing local government, non for profit agencies, and corporate entities. The Dirt showcases some of the newest ideas and agendas surrounding the national livability framework presented at the forum. Read about it here
On August 18th, 2010, Partners President Robert McNulty and Partners Trustee and former Florida Secretary of State and Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood hosted a workshop for over 150 attendees of the annual Florida League of Cities conference in Hollywood, Florida. Entitled “Culture Builds Community,” the 3-hour session explored how in these hard times for local governments and public finance, communities can mobilize a team of new players to support cultural and heritage resources as key infrastructure for their citizens, quality of life, and their ability to attract new investment.
Mixed-Use downtown developments outperform “big box” developments in tax revenue-per-acre, reports Mary Newsom for Citiwire.net. Newsom explains the results of a recent study in Sarasota County Florida, and what it means for the way we grow our communities. Click here for the full story.
For many community leaders, neighborhood development can feel like a high-stakes guessing game. A new tool from Chicago’s RW Ventures firm could help end this frustration, by providing a way to strategically analyze urban neighborhoods.
The tool is part of RW Ventures’ 20 year “dynamic neighborhood” study, and will allow development leaders to tap into neighborhood assets, understand their pattern of development, and strategically identify “key interventions to drive change.” The analysis draws on statistical evidence of successful neighborhoods in order to predict which strategies work best for different types of neighborhoods. Armed with this concrete knowledge, neighborhood development can be less like a shot in the dark, and more like a well-timed business decision.
As many traditional economic drivers leave our cities, institutions like libraries, colleges, and arts organizations are now the key to supporting vibrant communities. Given the right leadership and resources, these “anchor” institutions can act as fulcrums of change for leveraging stronger development agendas.
In order to achieve this goal, institutional leaders across the country are seeking guidance on how to use their own missions to improve their communities. A new report, released by CEOs for Cities and Living Cities, responds to this call for direction. How to Behave Like an Anchor Institution presents six case studies of institutions that have successfully become “community anchors, developers and forces of change for their neighborhoods.”
Read more about the project and download the full report by clicking here. -- Click here to learn more about Partners’ related program, Institutions as Fulcrums of Change, which seeks to initiate changes in the philosophy and programming of community institutions to help them strengthen their communities.
Partners is excited to announce the release of the second volume of the Economics of Sustainability, “The Dollars and Sense of Green Business,” made possible by support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. This publication is a continuation of Partners’ sustainability agenda and explores the innovation and leadership of 22 chambers of commerce from around the country—true champions of the green economy. To read more about Partners’ Economics of Sustainability initiative, click here.
As part of the Green Plus North American Sustainable Enterprise Awards, the Institute for Sustainable Development and Partners for Livable Communities are collaborating in recognizing a Green Plus Chamber of Commerce. “Over the past year, Partners for Livable Communities has explored how business leaders, faced with the challenge of ensuring the future strength of regional economies and local quality of life, have employed creative new agendas that not only help reverse the effects of environmental degradation but leverage the occasion for valuable economic and social gain,” said Carly Grimm, Program Officer of Partners for Livable Communities. Read more about Partners' Economics of Sustainability program.
The award will recognize chambers of commerce that have an exemplary track record in four categories
Regional Leadership: Creating a more sustainable region
Assisting their members in improving their triple bottom line
Making the Economic case for Sustainability
Leading by Example: Chambers that have made their own operations more sustainable
“Chambers of Commerce throughout the country are implementing green business programs, attracting clean industries, and creating green jobs; they are paving the way to the more sustainable and robust communities of the 21st century,” Grimm said. “Partners has now joined forces with the Institute for Sustainable Development to recognize the chamber employing the most innovative and effective green strategies through the Green Plus Chamber of the Year Award,” Grimm concluded.
This report showcases the innovation and leadership of 22 chambers of commerce that when faced with the challenge of ensuring the future strength of their economies, have employed creative new agendas that not only help reverse the effects of environmental degradation but leverage the occasion for valuable economic and social gain. Click hereto download the report.
In his first trip “Down Under”, Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield found many similarities between his community and that of Mayor Paul Pisasale of Ipswich, Australia. Both cities are essentially bisected by waterways and both are focusing on returning to the riverfront, quality of life and sustainable development as keys to a brighter future. “I was very impressed by all that I saw there,” said Littlefield. “Both cities have the same heart. Ipswich even has a walking bridge using an old railroad trestle which mirrors our restored Walnut Street Bridge in downtown Chattanooga.” Littlefield noted that other features were remarkable such as both cities having railroad museums and even such interesting details as back-in angle parking in the downtown area. “We thought that we were doing something different in Chattanooga” Littlefield noted.
Mayor Littlefield was invited to Australia to talk about Chattanooga’s transformation from “the most polluted city in America” in 1969 to a clean, green community of today that regularly the 2 mayors makes top ten lists of most livable cities. While in Australia, he also spoke to attendees at a conference sponsored by the International Riverfoundation, to a gathering of members of Partners for Livable Communities Australia, and a meeting of the Moreton Regional Council. In a meeting with executives of Cisco Systems in Brisbane, Littlefield outlined Chattanooga’s world class fiber optic smart grid system that is moving his community ahead in the digital age and “once more, putting Chattanooga on the short list of progressive cities”.
A nonprofit, multi-art educational center dedicated to bringing a wide range of creative, educational culturally enriching programs to diverse audiences throughout the Hudson Valley.
Neal Pierce reports on Partners' release of the report– “Enterprise at Home–Chambers of Commerce as the New Players in Environmental Sustainability” that focuses on green/climate change initiatives of leading chambers spread from New England to southern California.
Partners' President Bob McNulty stops in on Ipswich, Australia—a city Partners has been working with for almost 10 years—to check out all the new activity and growth the city has experienced in the last 2 years. Read more about his vist to Ipswich>
Development and Partners for Livable Communities are collaborating in recognizing a Green Plus Chamber of Commerce. “Over the past year, Partners for Livable Communities has explored how business leaders, faced with the challenge of ensuring the future strength of regional economies and local quality of life, have employed creative new agendas that not only help reverse the effects of environmental degradation but leverage the occasion for valuable economic and social gain,” said Carly Grimm, Program Officer of Partners for Livable Communities. Read more about Partners' 
t trip “Down Under”, Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield found many similarities between his community and that of Mayor Paul Pisasale of Ipswich, Australia. Both cities are essentially bisected by waterways and both are focusing on returning to the riverfront, quality of life and sustainable development as keys to a brighter future. “I was very impressed by all that I saw there,” said Littlefield. “Both cities have the same heart. Ipswich even has a walking bridge using an old railroad trestle which mirrors our restored Walnut Street Bridge in downtown Chattanooga.” Littlefield noted that other features were remarkable such as both cities having railroad museums and even such interesting details as back-in angle parking in the downtown area. “We thought that we were doing something different in Chattanooga” Littlefield noted. 
mmunity of today that regularly the 2 mayors makes top ten lists of most livable cities. While in Australia, he also spoke to attendees at a conference sponsored by the International Riverfoundation, to a gathering of members of Partners for Livable Communities Australia, and a meeting of the Moreton Regional Council. In a meeting with executives of Cisco Systems in Brisbane, Littlefield outlined Chattanooga’s world class fiber optic smart grid system that is moving his community ahead in the digital age and “once more, putting Chattanooga on the short list of progressive cities”.