science

Smart Growth America

Smart Growth America is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Smart Growth America rather than just read about it. In short: Smart Growth America (SGA) is a US non-profit 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. Smart Growth America focuses on three specific priorities: Climate change and resilience, advancing racial equity, and creating healthy communities.

Key takeaways

Smart Growth America belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Smart Growth America to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Smart Growth America from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Smart Growth America (SGA) is a US non-profit 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. Smart Growth America focuses on three specific priorities: Climate change and resilience, advancing racial equity, and creating healthy communities. SGA covers interrelated areas, including housing, zoning, planning, land use, economic development, transportation, and others. SGA is also the leader of several advocacy programs that have a stake in how urban sprawl affects the environment, quality of life and economic sustainability.

History Smart Growth America was established in 2000. In 2002, SGA included over 70 groups, such as American Farmland Trust, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the League of Women Voters for Smart Growth, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and the Enterprise Foundation. In 2003, Parris Glendening became the president of SGA's Leadership Institute. In October 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) collaborated with SGA to create the Transit-Oriented Development Technical Assistance Initiative. The initiative uses federal funds to improve public transportation systems in order to foster economic development. SGA offers this initiative on-site aid, a network of allies, and communicative support.

Approach to smart growth In 2004, SGA commissioned the first survey examining neighborhood preferences among Americans, finding that almost 50% of households prefer transit accessibility and commercial proximity. In a 2005 report detailing the interconnection between inner ring suburbs and metropolitan growth, SGA defines smart growth as follows: "Smart growth is well-planned development that protects open space and farmland, revitalizes communities, keeps housing affordable and provides more transportation choices." In a 2006 study examining the transportation benefits associated with smart growth policies, SGA "estimates that 69 percent of increased traffic can be attributed to factors associated with sprawl."

Programs

LOCUS In 2008, SGA launched LOCUS, an alliance for promoting sustainable urban development in the United States. LOCUS is a national network of real estate developers who launched the Rebuild America's Neighborhoods Campaign, promoting investment towards equitable and green urban development projects.

Transportation for America In 2008, SGA, Reconnecting America, and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership started a Transportation for America campaign aiming to reform the federal transportation law. Transportation for America advocates for a transportation system that emphasizes maintenance, implements safety designs, and unites the public.

National Complete Streets Coalition In 2012, Smart Growth America the National Complete Streets Coalition, which advocates for safe and convenient transportation access. The coalition is composed of policy organizations, including the American Planning Association, and user groups, including America Bikes. By 2011, 125 jurisdictions across 38 states had implemented a Complete Streets policy.

State Smart Transportation Initiative SGA co-operates, alongside the University of Wisconsin, the State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI). SSTI encourages environmentally sustainable transportation fostering economic development, while maintaining governmental transparency.

Form-Based Code Institute Form-Based Code Institute (FBCI) strives to improve the general understanding of form-based codes through creating standards, offering educational programs, and fostering discussions. In a 2016 report about new urbanism in North Texas, FBCI advocated for the importance of form based codes in regulating physical development, rather than zoning areas by their usages.

Partners Partners include national, state and local groups, working on behalf of the environment, historic preservation, social equity, land conservation, neighborhood redevelopment, farmland protection, and labor. Member groups include the statewide "1000 Friends" organizations, Futurewise, GrowSmart Maine, New Jersey Future, Idaho Smart Growth, and the San Francisco Bay Area's Greenbelt Alliance.

Financials Smart Growth America's Form 990 shows that their donations rose from $4,826,301 in 2014 to $6,337,043 in 2017.

SGA's Form 990 shows that their compensation related expenses rose from $3,619,183 in 2014 to $4,028,232 in 2017.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Smart Growth America

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Smart Growth America claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Smart Growth America before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Smart Growth America ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Smart Growth America

In research: Smart Growth America appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Smart Growth America in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Smart Growth America is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2000 establishments in Washington, D.C., American organizations established in 2000, Charities based in Washington, D.C., so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Smart Growth America outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Smart Growth America” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Smart Growth America in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Smart Growth America means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Smart Growth America out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Smart Growth America in simple terms?

Why does Smart Growth America matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Smart Growth America?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Smart Growth America.