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Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities
This video from Housing & Community Solutions, Inc. (HCSI) describes how community members in the 26th Ward of St. Louis, MO worked with HCSI to apply for technical assistance through EPA's Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. A walkability audit was conducted in the 26th Ward as part of this technical assistance. 
- Background
- Assistance from EPA
- Tools Offered
- Communities Selected in 2013
- Communities Selected in 2012
- Communities Selected in 2011
- Assistance from Grantees
- Other Tools and Technical Assistance Programs
On October 23, 2014, EPA announced a Request for Letters of Interest (RFLI) inviting communities to apply for assistance. Apply by Nov. 20, 2014. Please see Assistance from EPA for details.
On Nov. 11, 2014, EPA grantee Project for Public Spaces called for applications for technical assistance. Apply by Jan. 9, 2015. Learn more: http://www.pps.org/livability-solutions/epa/
Background
Many communities around the country are asking for tools to help them achieve their desired development goals, improve quality of life, and become more economically and environmentally sustainable. In response to this demand, EPA developed the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program.
Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities provides quick, targeted technical assistance to selected communities using a variety of tools that have demonstrated results and widespread application. The purpose of delivering these tools is to stimulate a discussion about growth and development and strengthen local capacity to implement sustainable approaches.
A tool includes:
- An agenda, presentations, and exercises that help facilitate discussion around a given topic.
- Data or information from the community that can be analyzed, helping to drive a conversation.
- An action-oriented process that leads to a set of potential next steps.
In addition to the EPA Building Blocks assistance described on this page, EPA provides grants to nonprofit organizations to provide similar assistance to communities. Learn more about the grantees' programs.
Assistance from EPA
Each technical assistance project in a community will involve a team of EPA-led experts and will include:
- Public engagement through a one- to two-day workshop.
- Direct consultation with relevant decision-makers.
- A memo outlining specific steps the community could take to implement the ideas generated during the workshop.
Technical assistance will be delivered by EPA staff and EPA-hired consultant teams.
On October 23, 2014, EPA announced a Request for Letters of Interest (PDF) (9 pp, 158K, About PDF) inviting communities to apply for technical assistance on one or more of the following topics:
- Bikeshare planning
- Equitable development
- Infill development for distressed cities
- Sustainable strategies for small cities and rural areas
- Flood resilience for riverine and coastal communities
Please see the RFLI for application details. Applications are due by 5 p.m. Eastern, November 20, 2014.
On October 30, 2014, 3:00-4:00 Eastern, EPA will host a free webinar to explain the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program and the application process.
Learn more about the Building Blocks program on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Tools Offered
EPA has offered a variety of tools through the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program. Not every tool is offered in every round. Once EPA has used a tool in several communities, the tool will be refined to create a product that any community can use with limited outside assistance.
- Green and Complete Streets: Teaches communities how to set investment priorities, draft policies, and implement changes to make their streets safe and appealing to all users, including drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders.
- Creating a Green Streets Strategy: Helps communities begin to develop strategies for greening their streets by adapting national best practices and case studies to their local context.
- Green Building Toolkit: Assists local governments in identifying policies that support compact development that features sustainably built homes and buildings.
- Land Use Strategies to Protect Water Quality: Helps local governments examine land use approaches to green infrastructure that manage stormwater.
- Neighborhood Planning for Healthy Aging: Explores the role of supportive neighborhood design in creating great places for aging residents.
- Parking Audit: Evaluates local parking policies and offers advice on parking management strategies, drawing from successful strategies in other communities.
- Bikeshare Planning: Provides a framework to explore establishing a bikeshare program in a community.
- Preferred Growth Areas: Offers a process for communities to review values, opportunities, tools, and constraints to determine the most environmentally beneficial locations for growth.
- Smart Growth Guidelines for Sustainable Design and Development: Helps the community understand the key principles and decisions at the location, site, and building levels that can result in a more sustainable plan or development proposal.
- Supporting Equitable Development: Helps communities evaluate their needs around equitable development and identify strategies to manage neighborhood change and support community goals around housing, culture, and local businesses.
- Sustainable Land Use Code Audit: Evaluates local land use codes, including zoning and subdivision regulations, for opportunities to incorporate community sustainability goals, remove barriers, and create incentives.
- Sustainability Strategies for Small Cities and Rural Areas: Offers a menu of quick fixes that rural and small-town governments can make to their zoning codes and planning documents to protect community character and quality of life. This tool used to be called "Smart Growth Zoning Codes for Small Cities and Rural Areas."
- Using Smart Growth to Produce Fiscal and Economic Health: Helps communities evaluate how to get better economic results from private development and public investments.
- Walking Audit: Guides communities in assessing the pedestrian environment and forming a vision for short- and long-term improvements to sidewalks and streets. This tool, completed in 2012, is now online: Walkability Workbook .
Communities Selected in 2013
In February 2013, EPA selected 42 communities in 27 states to receive Building Blocks assistance. Nine tools were offered:
- Creating a Green Streets Strategy: Bellevue, Nebraska; Dayton, Ohio; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Lynchburg, Virginia; Maui, Hawaii
- Green Building Toolkit: Boise, Idaho; Vinton, Texas
- Land Use Strategies to Protect Water Quality: Atchison, Kansas; Beaverton, Oregon; Caddo, Louisiana; Dubuque, Iowa; Gun Lake Tribe, Michigan; Jersey City, New Jersey; Lake Zurich, Illinois; Petersburg, Virginia; Washoe Tribe, Nevada
- Neighborhood Planning for Healthy Aging: Chattanooga, Tennessee; Inyo County, California; Pompano Beach, Florida; Seneca Nation, New York
- Parking Audit: Brunswick, Maine; Carpinteria, California; Lawrence, Kansas
- Planning Bikeshare Programs: Bridgeport, Connecticut; Denver, Colorado; Fort Collins, Colorado; New Orleans, Louisiana; Portland, Maine
- Supporting Equitable Development: Atlanta, Georgia; Buffalo, New York; Stamford, Connecticut; Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Sustainable Strategies for Small Cities and Rural Areas: Bowling Green, Florida; Brattleboro, Vermont; Maui, Hawaii; Murray, Kentucky; New Castle, Delaware; Vinton, Texas; Williamson, New York; Yurok Tribe, California; Zolfo Springs, Florida
- Using Smart Growth to Produce Economic and Fiscal Health: Fargo, North Dakota; Lake Worth, Florida; Omaha, Nebraska
Communities Selected in 2012
In 2012, EPA selected 56 communities in 26 states to receive technical assistance through the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program.
- Complete Streets: Binghamton, New York; Burlington, Vermont; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Modesto, California; Pocatello, Idaho; and Roxbury, Massachusetts.
- Green Building Toolkit: Dunwoody, Georgia and Niles, Illinois.
- Green Streets Strategy: East Lansing, Michigan; Passaic County, New Jersey; Northampton, Massachusetts; and Surprise, Arizona.
- Linking Land Use to Water Quality: Campton Hills, Lakemoor, and Round Lake Heights, Illinois.
- Parking Audits: Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Greensburg, Pennsylvania; Hennepin County, Minnesota; Holyoke, Massachusetts; Roanoke, Virginia; Simsbury, Connecticut; and Trenton, New Jersey.
- Preferred Growth Areas: Dickinson, New England, and Richardton, North Dakota.
- Smart Growth Guidelines for Sustainable Design and Development: Greensboro, North Carolina; Hazel Crest, Lansing, and Olympia Fields, Illinois; and Salina, Kansas.
- Smart Growth Zoning Codes for Small Cities and Rural Areas: Dallas Center, Iowa; Hays, Kansas; Marietta, Pennsylvania; Onondaga County, New York; Onslow County, North Carolina; University City, Missouri; Van Meter, Iowa; Wakulla County, Florida; and Woodward, Iowa.
- Sustainable Land Use Code Audit: St. Joseph, Missouri.
- Using Smart Growth to Produce Fiscal and Economic Health: Fall River, Massachusetts; Henderson, Nevada; Kelso, Washington; Northampton County, Pennsylvania; Stony Point, New York; and Topeka, Kansas.
- Walking Audit: Blue Springs, Missouri; Contra Costa County, California; Corpus Christi, Texas; Daytona Beach, Florida; Jackson, Michigan; Jersey City, New Jersey; Lewes, Delaware; Newtown Borough, Pennsylvania; Olympia, Washington; and Port Arthur, Texas.
Communities Selected in 2011
In 2011, EPA selected 32 communities from two sources to receive Building Blocks assistance.
- Complete Streets: McKinney, Texas; Nashville/Davidson, Tennessee; Portland, Maine; and Wichita, Kansas.
- Preferred Growth Areas: Bluffton, South Carolina; Ranson, West Virginia; and Rockport, Texas.
- Smart Growth Guidelines for Sustainable Design and Development: Hellertown, Pennsylvania; Kayenta Township, Arizona; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Syracuse, New York.
- Smart Growth Zoning Codes for Small Cities and Rural Areas: Cambridge, Maryland; Essex, Connecticut; Reedsburg, Wisconsin; and Spencer, North Carolina.
- Sustainable Land Use Code Audit: Dover, New Hampshire; Granville, Ohio; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Shelburne, Vermont.
- Using Smart Growth to Produce Fiscal and Economic Health: Bemidji, Minnesota; Chelmsford, Massachusetts; Deerfield Beach, Florida; Erie County, New York; Muskegon, Michigan; and Pike's Peak Council of Governments, Colorado.
- Walking Audit: Helena, Montana; Renton, Washington; and St. Louis, Missouri.
- Linking Land Use to Water Quality: Fitchburg, Wisconsin, and Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.
Assistance from Grantees
EPA has awarded Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities grants to four nonprofit organizations, each with extensive expertise in community sustainability. Under these EPA grants, each grantee offers a community assistance program that capitalizes on tools the grantee has chosen or developed. Communities are selected for assistance annually through competitive processes administered independently by the grantees.
The Building Blocks grantees assisted 54 communities in 2012, 39 communities in 2013, and 26 communities in 2014.
FORTERRA
In 2012, Forterra and the organizations it partnered with assisted 21 communities:
- Association of Bay Area Governments, California
- Austin, Minnesota
- Blue Earth, Minnesota
- City of Kirkland, Washington
- Federal Way, Washington
- Foxboro, Massachusetts
- Gloucester, Massachusetts
- Issaquah, Washington
- LaCrescent, Minnesota
- Lexington, Minnesota
- Makah Tribe, Neah Bay, Washington
- Maynard, Massachusetts
- Mountain View, California
- Newton and Needham, Massachusetts
- Pine River, Minnesota
- Prior Lake, Minnesota
- Quinault Indian Nation, Taholah, Washington
- San Jose, California
- Santa Clara County, California
- Tukwila, Washington
- Walnut Creek, California
2012 is the only year in which Forterra provided assistance. Visit here for further information on Forterra's program.
GLOBAL GREEN, USA
In 2012, Global Green assisted eight communities:
- Dearborn, Michigan
- Eden Prairie, Minnesota
- Greensboro, North Carolina
- Lafayette, Indiana
- Lakewood, Colorado
- Louisville, Kentucky
- Oakland, California
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
In 2013, Global Green assisted the following eight communities, which included targeted assistance to two communities recovering from Hurricane Sandy:
- Burlington, Vermont
- Camden, New Jersey
- Cary, North Carolina
- Hoboken, New Jersey (hurricane recovery)
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Montgomery, Alabama
- Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY (hurricane recovery)
- Toledo, Ohio
In 2014, Global Green is assisting the following eight communities:
- Chippewa-Creek tribe, Montana
- Dubuque, Iowa
- Long Beach, California
- Long Beach, New York (hurricane recovery)
- Los Angeles, California
- Oak Forest, Illinois
- Santa Monica, California
- Westerly, Rhode Island (hurricane recovery)
Visit here for further information on Global Green's program.
PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES
In 2012, Project for Public Spaces and the nonprofit organizations they partnered with assisted 10 communities:
- Blue Springs, Missouri
- Denver, Colorado
- Detroit, Michigan
- Eau Claire, Wisconsin
- Gulfport, Mississippi
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- Maumee, Ohio
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Port Charlotte, Florida
- Wellpinit, Washington
In 2013, Project for Public Spaces and their partners assisted the following nine communities:
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Detroit, Michigan
- Lee County, Florida
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Seattle, Washington
- Spartanburg, South Carolina
- Twinsburg, Ohio
- Valley Metro (Phoenix), Arizon
- Village of Hyde Park, Vermont
Visit here for further information on Project for Public Spaces' program.
SMART GROWTH AMERICA
In 2013, Smart Growth America assisted the following 22 communities:
- Blue Springs, Missouri
- Boulder, Colorado
- Buena Vista, Michigan
- Campbell, New York
- Carlisle, Iowa
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Chula Vista, California
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Cuyahoga County, Ohio
- Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Graham County, North Carolina
- Harlem Park, Maryland
- Houston, Texas
- Missoula, Montana
- Park Forest, Illinois
- Port Isabel, Texas
- Reno, Nevada
- Silverthorne (Northwest Colorado Council of Governments), Colorado
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Winchester, Connecticut
In 2014, Smart Growth America is assisting the following 18 communities:
- Cedar Hill (North Central Texas Council of Governments), Texas
- Des Moines, Iowa
- East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, Florida
- Emmett, Idaho
- Fort Peck Assinboine/Sioux Tribes, Montana
- Green River, Wyoming
- Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Huntington, West Virginia
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Kauai County, Hawaii
- Kenosha County, Wisconsin
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Pasco County, Florida
- Person County, North Carolina
- Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- Queensbury, New York
- Salisbury, Maryland
- San Diego, California
In 2015, Smart Growth America will assist the following 14 communities:
- Bentonville, Arkansas
- Charlottesville, Virginia
- Cheyenne Metropolitan Planning Organization, Wyoming
- Columbia, Missouri
- Fort Pierre, South Dakota
- Franklin, Tennessee
- Indianapolis, Indianapolis
- Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, Tennessee
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Macon-Bibb County, Georgia
- Sanford, Florida
- SeaTac, Washington
- Spokane, Washington
- Tucker County Planning Commission, West Virginia
Visit here for further information on Smart Growth America's program.
Other Tools and Technical Assistance Programs
Please see our Making Smart Growth Happen page for links to more tools and technical assistance programs.