SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES

 

Sustainability: “Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” (“Our Common Future”, 1987, published by the World Commission on Environment and Development, AKA the “Brundtland Report”.

 

Washington is a young state compared to most of the rest of the country. When granted statehood in 1889, the census population in the state was only about 350,000 people. In 1970, there were 3.4 million people in Washington. In the next thirty years, the population grew to nearly 6 million. By 2025 there could be as many as 9 million people calling Washington home.

 

The questions are, given the anticipated growth, what can be done now to assure that the quality of life – environmental, social and economic – is maintained and improved? How can we assure that this generation passes on a legacy to future generations that we can be proud of?

 

Growth management planning, community design, green building practices and environmental mitigation all play a role in maintaining the quality of life while accommodating growth through sustainable development strategies.

See the following links for more information on sustainable development.

General

• Smart Growth Network . They provide good information on their website. They also produce a free electronic newsletter.
• Sustainable Communities Network. A good web site with lots of tools, articles, and links. Take a look at "Place-making: Tools for Community Action.”
• The US Energy Office - Smart Communities. This site has a lot of good reference material. A search for "tool kit" yields a collection of visioning, design, and planning tools to aid in planning sustainable communities.
• Smart Growth on the Ground. A Canadian site focused on fostering smart growth in three communities. Good applied examples and helpful technical bulletins.

City Sustainability Programs

• Austin, Texas
• San Diego, California
• Seattle, Washington
• Bloomington, Indiana
• Palo Alto, California
• Portland, Oregon
• Newburg, New York
• San Francisco, California
• Toronto, Ontario
• Santa Monica, California
• Vancouver, British Columbia
• City of Calgary, Alberta

• Bay Area Alliance. A multi-stakeholder public/private coalition established in 1997 to develop and implement an action plan that will lead to a more sustainable region.

Sustainability Indicators

• Sustainable Measures. Free training materials and a searchable database of indicators.
• Central Texas Sustainable Indicators Project. Check out their annual report.
• International Sustainability Indicators Network. Click on the Resources page to see a list of links to communities and organizations currently working on indicators.

Other States

• Minnesota
• Oregon
• Colorado
• Massachusetts
• New Jersey

• University of British Columbia James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Livable Environments. Good technical bulletins under “Research”, some case studies, and a site design manual.
• Sustainable Seattle
• New Jersey Sustainable State Institute

Low Impact Development, Stormwater Management

• United States Green Building Council. Building industry coalition working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work.
• Washington Department of Ecology. Green buildings page