A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Sustainable Communities and Office of Environmental Justice has been added to the Research Center's best practices database.

The National Association of Regional Councils' review of literature about livability has been added to the Research Center's best practices database.

Smart Growth & Economic Success The EPA's Smart Growth Program has released a new report, Smart Growth and Economic Success, on the economic advantages of smart growth development. As this report shows, smart growth development -- compact, walkable, and diverse -- is attractive to developers, investors, local governments, and communities because it offers new opportunities for economic growth that is also environmentally sustainable: Compact: Using land and resources more efficiently and redeveloping old or neglected areas while retaining existing infrastructure can create economic advantages for real estate developers and investors, businesses, and local governments. Compact development can generate more revenue per acre because it uses land more efficiently. It can reduce the costs of land and infrastructure for individual projects and the costs of providing fire and police protection, utilities,…

Smart Growth America and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Sustainable Communities will hold an informational webinar on Friday, Sept. 21, from 1:00-2:30 PM EDT. The webinar will provide a comprehensive look at the free technical assistance available to communities, including the programs, processes, and application timelines that each grant recipient offers.

The federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities has launched of the Sustainable Community Case Study database. This online resource provides access to research and reports on communities that are working with HUD, DOT, EPA, and other Federal agencies to invest in transportation, affordable housing, and environmental protection.

The Office of Grants and Deparment will host an EPA Grants Award Process Webinar on Feb. 23 at 2pm EST. The webinar will cover grants management topics, including how to find and apply for grant opportunities; FFATA reporting requirements; and preparing a proper budget detail. In addition, we will be hosting a Q&A session during the second half of the webinar.  More information is available here.

  Last year, the Obama administration launched a first-of-its-kind effort to break down the walls between agencies that had, in the past, inhibited cooperative efforts to accomplish shared goals.The Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which brought together  Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, began in June 2009 with the goal of targeting resources to help communities strengthen their economies by developing more sustainably, removing regulatory and policy barriers to make it easier for state and local governments to access federal resources, and aligning the agencies' policies and priorities.

The other day, the Partnership for Sustainable Communities released "Partnership for Sustainable Communities: A Year of Progress for American Communities," which looks at the progress the partnership has made in its first year.

[Editor's Note: Reconnecting America is an active participant in the sustainable communities movement and a strong supporter of the new federal  Partnership for Sustainable Communities. When we learned of  the Initiative for Sustainable Communities and States we asked them to tell us little about their work. Here's what they had to say.]