Smart Growth

Data from Traverse REALTORS® Proves Invaluable to Downtown Development Planning for Affordable Housing

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…...

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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…...

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Customized State Smart Growth Legislation Program

The Customized State Smart Growth Legislation Program provides assistance to state REALTOR® Associations to take the lead in writing and introducing legislation to help the state better address the challenges of growth and improve local communities. NAR will offer the services of respected land-use consultant, Robinson & Cole, to draft…...

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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…...

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Pacific Southwest REALTORS® Advocate for Transit-oriented Smart Growth

To help find solutions to the severe housing shortage in San Diego, the REALTORS® of the Pacific Southwest joined forces with a coalition that proposed numerous Transit-Oriented Development strategies to the city. Shortly thereafter, the City Council unanimously adopted five new incentives to encourage in-fill development, especially along transit routes.…...

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Scottsdale REALTORS® Bring City Leaders Together to Plan for Smart Growth

Using consecutive REALTOR® Party Smart Growth Action Grants, the Scottsdale Area Association of REALTORS® has initiated a series of high-level workshops to focus the city's leadership on key development issues. The city of Scottsdale now looks to the REALTORS® for expertise and forward momentum....

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Asheville REALTORS® Help Find Happy Ending for its ‘Pit of Despair’

With help from a REALTOR® Party Level III Smart Growth Action Grant, the Land of the Sky Association of REALTORS® takes a leadership role in finding a winning balance of parkland and mixed-use development for an unsightly property in the heart of the City of Asheville, North Carolina....

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Washington REALTORS® Help Revitalize Downtown Bellingham

Using a REALTOR® Party Smart Growth Action Grant, the Whatcom County Association of REALTORS® (WA) was a major sponsor of a dynamic placemaking competition that drew 24 participants and more than 500 community members. Judging from its success, the REALTORS® know it will make an impact—and plan to make it…...

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East Central South Dakota REALTORS® Make Smart Moves for Future Growth

The East Central South Dakota REALTORS® (ECSDR) can tell you, the immense growth that Brookings, SD, is enjoying is tempered by a housing crisis and heightened by issues ranging from geological obstacles to student demand to millennial preferences. With the help of a Smart Growth Action Grant, the board brought…...

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