10th Annual Southwestern PA Smart Growth Conference:
Regional Collaboration: Investing in Sustainable Communities

Friday, October 15, 2010
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, downtown Pittsburgh
Final agenda
Conference summary
SPC Summary from Public Input to Long Range Transportation and Development Plan
Conference photos
Winners of the 2010 Tipping Points for Sustainability Competition

REGISTRATON CLOSED. THANKS TO ALL WHO ATTENDED AND TO OUR PARTNERS AND SPONSORS.

This conference was the downtown host side for Car Free Friday. Individuals were encouraged to use "Active" Transportation to get to the conference and receive discount vouchers to local businesses. Cyclists received the added bonus of free breakfast. More information here. Sponsors included Levy Restaurants and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
For this 10th anniversary, the conference will be a milestone for the high stakes surrounding the region's capacity building for smart growth. Focus will be on alignment with the Obama Administration's Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities (comprising federal DOT, EPA, and HUD) in supporting integration of housing, transportation, water infrastructure, energy conservation, and land use planning and investment. As such, this one-day, conference will identify barriers and solutions to cross-jurisdictional coordination for regional smart growth and sustainable community development policy and implementation. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan hit home the need and opportunity of our times in recently stating, "Our challenge now is to bring that holistic view of community development into the mainstream -- to help build sustainable neighborhoods, communities and regions that are as interconnected as the challenges they face." 

The conference will again serve as a public input session to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission's process of updating the region's Long Range Transportation and Development Plan. This update will be distinguished by addition of enhancements appropriate to a regional sustainable development plan per the six "Livability Principles" prioritized by the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities. 

The conference will feature:
- John Frece, Director, Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Beth Osborne, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation
- Mariia Zimmerman, Deputy Director, HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities
- Representatives of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will discuss the U.S. government's interagency partnership to support and promote sustainable communities.
- Keynote address by Peter Calthorpe, Principal, Calthorpe Associates - Urban Designers, Planners, Architects
- Allen Biehler, Secretary of PA Department of Transportation 
- John Hanger, Secretary of PA Department of Environmental Protection 
- SPC public process per the region's sustainable development plan 
- Four pressing issues interwoven in deliberations: Transportation Funding Crisis, Water & Sewer Infrastructure, Marcellus Impacts, Affordable Housing
- Panel strategy session with: Steve Bland, Port Authority of Allegheny County; Caren Glotfelty, The Heinz Endowments; Elizabeth Hersh, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania; Doug Hill, County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania; John Schombert, 3 Rivers Wet Weather
- Formal presentation of competition results – “14 Essential Tipping Points for SWPA Sustainable Community Development" (Learn how to enter the competition)
- Launch of the online Sustainable Community Essentials Rapid Assessment
- Learn what federal and state agencies are looking for in capacity and qualification for sustainable community investment 
- Identification of actionable steps whose implementation will position our region to accelerate sustainable development and be a priority place for investment 
- Crafting of a summary of participants' input and resulting action plan for presentation to the candidates for Governor, other candidates and incumbents, and community leaders

Southwestern PA is a contemporary proving ground for hastening the new American dream found in revitalizing livable, sustainable communities through smart growth policies that discourage sprawl, congestion and pollution. Come be part of continuing the region's sustainability renaissance for economically competitive, environmentally sustainable, opportunity rich communities. More than a one-time event, the conference will be a point of acceleration and innovation for the region's positive path. 

Peter Calthorpe has been named one of twenty-five "innovators on the cutting edge" by Newsweek Magazine for his work redefining the models of urban and suburban growth in America. Starting practice in 1976, he has a long and honored career in urban design, planning and architecture, combining his experience in each discipline to develop new approaches to urban revitalization, suburban growth, and regional planning. His early published work included technical papers, articles for popular magazines, and a number of seminal books, including Sustainable Communities with Sim Van der Ryn, and the Pedestrian Pocket Book with Doug Kelbaugh. The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community, and the American Dream, published in 1993, introduced the concept of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and provided extensive guidelines and illustrations of their board application. His latest book with William Fulton, The Regional City: Planning for the End of Sprawl, explains how regional-scale planning and design can integrate urban revitalization and suburban renewal into a coherent vision of metropolitan growth. 

Presented by Sustainable Pittsburgh's Sustainable Community Development Network in collaboration with: 3 Rivers Wet Weather, 10,000 Friends of PA, Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Community Design Center of Pittsburgh, CONNECT, Green Building Alliance, Group Against Smog and Pollution, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, Local Government Academy, Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network, Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development, Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 10, District 11, and District 12, Pennsylvania Resources Council, Remaking Cities Institute, Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County, Southwest Chapter of the Pennsylvania Planners Association, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Pittsburgh, Young Preservationists Association

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