Focus Areas Housing and development A smart growth approach to housing aims to build more homes in the right places at the right price so that everyone can live in a community that supports them at every stage of life. The current rules limit what you can build and where you can build it. We’re working to change that. For too long, housing has sprawled out, become astronomically expensive, and offered little choice in the types of places we can call home. That’s no accident! Our rules, policies, and choices have created today’s housing crisis. We’re short 4.7 million homes, and across the country, housing is increasingly out of reach for too many people. 0 Why smart growth is the right strategy for housing and development How we lead Smart Growth America helps local leaders, advocates, and developers in large metro areas and small towns reshape the rules to meet today’s housing needs—and plan for tomorrow’s. Smart Growth America leads two programs that advance zoning reforms and bring together smart growth developers:
The Center for Zoning Solutions is SGA’s home for the zoning reform movement. We work alongside communities to update their local land use regulations to allow for more housing in the right places.
LOCUS brings together purpose-driven investors and partners to advance and affect smart growth policy and outcomes at the federal, state, and local levels. Our housing and development work Increasing access to walkable places Despite reporting to the contrary, our signature report, Foot Traffic Ahead, finds just the opposite: the city endures, and across most metros, grew walkable urbanism.
The report also provides policymakers with recommendations on how to increase both the supply of and access to equitable, walkable urban development while safeguarding affordability and providing benefits such as improving community health, lowering emissions by reducing car use, and advancing equity by bringing access to economic opportunity. 1 Programs and coalitions Smart Growth America programs and coalitions advance land use reforms to help create healthy, prosperous, and resilient communities: Center for Zoning Solutions The Center for Zoning Solutions is reimagining zoning laws to make the dream community a reality, one code at a time.
LOCUS LOCUS advocates for real estate policies that are as economically viable as they are socially responsible and environmentally sound. National Brownfields Coalition The National Brownfields Coalition is leading the charge to transform Brownfields into viable community assets. Get the latest news from our programs and coalitions in your inbox! Advocacy Help us shape the future of sustainable and equitable communities. Be an advocate for smart growth policies for healthy, prosperous, and resilient neighborhoods. Act now! Join the Movement Support policies and initiatives that promote smart growth, equitable development, and access to affordable housing.