« Air Transport Association Expects 4 Percent Decline in Air Travel Over 12-Day Thanksgiving Holiday Period | Main | National Organic Standards Board Votes to Crack Down on Organic Personal Care Cheaters »
New Nonprofit Promotes Sustainable Community Development
November 9, 2009Changing local land use policies to reduce sprawl and encourage reinvestment in established neighborhoods is critical to make American cities and towns sustainable, according to a new nonprofit group that began operations here this month. The Partnership for Sustainable Communities (PSC) operates nationally to promote land use policies and development practices that encourage high-density transit oriented development and housing and economic opportunity for persons of all incomes, said its president and founder Andre F. Shashaty. "The housing market crash and the new alarm about the dangers of global warming mark the beginning of the end of the 'General Motors model' of community planning that dominated post-war America," said Shashaty. "With increasing fears of climate change on their minds, progressive cities and states are going far beyond just green building. They are changing land use policies to reverse our love affair with car-dependent, carbon-spewing, cost-inflating sprawl. They are working to facilitate more compact, transit-oriented development and vibrant, diverse communities." Full release.