Phoenix (September 21, 2010) — Growth was buzzing around the country 5 years ago, but Atlanta had a very different response than most burgeoning cities. The Livable Communities Coalition was formed to slow down growth in metro Atlanta, help figure out how to accommodate 2 million more people by 2030 and help the Atlanta region grow in a sensible, sustainable way.

The Coalition proposed ideas such as the preservation of green space, increased density around town center, connecting those centers with transit and providing a multitude of housing options for its citizens. Just like the rest of the country, the fast pace of growth came to a screeching halt and now the Coalition is adapting its message accordingly.  But isn’t less growth and less sprawl exactly what they wanted?

The Coalition has since evolved into more of a public policy and advocacy organization focused on transportation and land-use. Its recommendations at its inception still ring true to address quality of life, mixed-use development, affordable housing choices, integrating transportation with land use, and greenfield development.  These recommendations ultimately make good economic sense by building on past investments but will they ring true when the economy rebounds?

To say that the Coalition has been busy over the past 5 years to influence these objectives on a local, regional and national basis is an understatement.  The Coalition boasts an impressive list of accomplishments including: advocating for transit funding advocacy, developing a comprehensive workforce housing analysis for DeKalb County, helping shape a new transportation policy for Georgia, influencing Federal transportation spending in Georgia, introducing the region’s first comprehensive Smart Growth Scorecard, creating a land use handbook for local officials, building support for density, winning a ballot initiative to preserve the Tax Allocation District (TAD) study, preparing a template for retrofitting close-in suburbs and defining key principles for smart growth.  The Coalition has engaged in all of these efforts by an impressive public outreach that addressed hundreds of thousands of metro Atlantans through publications, electronic communications, news media coverage, and presentations to audiences.

Read more at Saporta Report…