In Traverse City, Michigan’s desirable downtown neighborhoods, affordable housing is scarce, and the land base is already largely built. With a Smart Growth Action Grant, the Traverse Area Association of REALTORS® engaged a consulting firm to create a 3D economic model demonstrating the potential tax revenue from various development configurations…...
Summit County REALTORS® Use Education to Prevent Wildfires & Costly Legislative Mandates
Wildfires are a serious threat to properties in Summit County, Colorado, and so are expensive mitigation mandates that the state legislature had been poised to impose on property owners. With a REALTOR® Party Game Changer Grant, the Summit Association of REALTORS® showed that education could be just as effective in…...
Greater Lansing REALTORS® Help Elect a City Council Candidate for Much-Needed Change
East Lansing, Michigan, home of Michigan State University, is a town with serious budget troubles. Escalating legacy costs had been kicked down the road for years, explains Mark Dickens, Vice President of Policy and Operations at the 1,000-member Greater Lansing Association of REALTORS® (GLAR), adding that the City Council, mired…...
REALTORS® in Ottumwa, Iowa Help Bring Life Back to Their Downtown
With a Smart Growth Action Grant, money of their own, elbow grease and lots of enthusiasm, the South East Iowa Regional Board of REALTORS® partnered with the Better Block Foundation and other community leaders to host the Main Street Ottumwa Better Block Party, October 12-15. “Overnight, our quiet and struggling…...
Smart Growth Toolkit
Engage your community. Build coalitions. Advocate for Smart Growth Development. Smart Growth Toolkit: A Guide to REALTOR® Involvement in Community Development is a collection of strategies, resources, and success stories meant to inspire REALTORS® and Associations on ways they can help improve their community’s land use and transportation systems for…...