City Planner to Present at 2014 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Denver
Providence – Bonnie Nickerson, Director of Long-Range Planning in the city of
Providence’s Department of Planning and Development, will be a featured speaker in a
special panel presentation at the 2014 Smart Growth annual conference, this week in
Denver, Colorado. The presentation: «What We Did, How We Did It and Why We Are
Better For It: A Conversation with Partnership for Sustainable Communities
Grantees,» will made up of four experts who have participated in the Federal
Partnership for Sustainable Communities’ initiatives, including Providence, Ranson
(West Virginia,) Columbus (Ohio,) and Salt Lake City (Utah.)
The Partnership has provided more than $4 billion in funding to 700-plus communities
«in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico since 2009,» including
Providence, according to the Conference website (http://newpartners.org/. The
purpose of the partnership has been to leverage federal dollars to «attract new
investment to their regions, urban neighborhoods, suburban centers and rural small
towns; allowing people to live closer to jobs; and creating a strong foundation for
future prosperity.» This 13th annual conference will highlight successful
partnerships among federal agencies, and public- and private entities, including the
U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Transportation, and
the Environmental Protection Agency.
«The conference is a great opportunity to highlight the exciting work that the
Planning Department has been doing in Providence to closely integrate land use
planning, transit and the arts with the support from the Sustainable Communities
program at HUD.»
The conference runs from February 13 to February 15, and will examine strategies for
sustainable development natinwide. It is sponsored by the Local Government
Commission, EPA, AARP, Kaiser Permanent, CH2MHILL, the Kresge Foundation and others.
For more information visit
http://newpartners.org/2014/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/NPSG14_Conference_Flier.pdf