The 20th century was very good to High Point, N.C., the capital of America’s furniture industry. For decades, though, thanks largely to overseas competition, its population has been contracting and the city itself is stagnating....
Greater Capital Area Association Takes the Lead in Smart Growth – Twice!
Development in Montgomery County, MD, just north of the nation’s capital, is growing fast. The Greater Capital Area Association of REALTORS® (GCAAR) wants to make sure it grows smart, as well. Two Smart Growth Grants from NAR have been helping it do so. The 8,500-member association used the first one…...
Delaware Association Uses Smart Growth Grant to Launch “Complete Communities” Summit
Delaware, the second-smallest – but sixth most-densely populated – state in the nation, has a vested interest in the concept of smart growth. Leaders of the 3,000-member Delaware Association of REALTORS®, in conjunction with state government leaders began brainstorming about creating a master ‘planning book’ for the state. Then they…...
Orlando Association Gets On Board With Commuter Train Travel
December 2012 While the 9,000-member Orlando Regional REALTORS® Association (ORRA) has been energetically supporting SunRail, central Florida’s first commuter rail project, association leaders felt some first-hand exposure for their members and local decision makers would kick it up a notch. Using a $1,500 Smart Growth Grant from NAR, ORRA was…...
St. Louis Association Makes Great Strides Toward Walk-able Communities
The St. Louis Association of REALTORS® (SLAR) combined U.S. government resources and an NAR Smart Growth Grant to produce a two-part program on walk-able communities -- one that it hopes may serve as a national model. Tapping the expertise of a national “walk-ability expert,” the 7,000-plus member association hosted two…...
Hilton Head (SC) REALTORS® Partner With Mayor for Balanced Land Management
In the lovely resort town of Hilton Head, South Carolina, the natural environment is carefully protected, and the built environment is subject to strict regulations. But its low-key commercial areas were in need of polishing. The 850-member Hilton Head Area Association of REALTORS® worked with the town’s mayor and a…...
Santa Fe REALTORS® Help Bring New Life – and Housing – to “Tired” Commercial Area
Thanks to a Smart Growth Grant from NAR, the Santa Fe Association of REALTORS® (SFAR) is boosting the re-development of a dated and underutilized commercial corridor. Santa Fe REALTORS® could see potential in the mile-and-a-quarter stretch anchored by the Santa Fe University of Art and Design at one end and…...
Nashville REALTORS® Support Collaborative Mass Transit Alliance
From commuter-frustration to air quality, the Greater Nashville Association of REALTORS® (GNAR) understands the critical impact that transportation issues have on the quality of life in their region, -- and they’re doing something about it. With an NAR Smart Growth Grant, GNAR provided $10,000 in funding to the Transit Alliance…...
Taos County(NM) Scores Two Land Use Victories
The Taos County Association partnered with NAR and the REALTORS® Association of New Mexico (RANM) to successfully fight two onerous land-use proposals. One would cloud titles of thousands of properties and the REALTOR® effort was able to stall it for now. The other would have placed unfair development restrictions on…...