Paying for Growth, Prospering from Development

This paper addresses the difference between growth and development, the reasons communities seek growth, the ways in which local governments unwittingly worsen growth problems in their attempts to solve them, and how communities can develop viable local economies without growth. Residents of many growing towns and cities are learning the hard way that growth is not the solution to their economic woes. While they enjoy the benefits of growth, they also are vexed by the problems it causes: traffic congestion, crime, long commutes, air pollution, increasing intolerance, disrespect for traditional leadership, and increasingly cutthroat competition in local business. Rapid growth often causes higher rents, housing shortages, spiraling costs, and demands for higher wages to meet the higher cost of living.

Advancing the Regeneration of the Cuyahoga Valley

This report describes the Cuyahoga Regeneration Project, a community effort focused on several projects that simultaneously restore natural systems and strengthen economic development along the Cuyahoga River ship channel. The report contends that environmental restoration is no longer an option for American cities; it's an imperative. Though many people regard efforts to rebuild environmental assets as burdensome to a local economy, environmental restoration, when pursued intelligently, is both a minimum requirement for, and a path to, a strong economic future. The Cuyahoga Regeneration Project advances these beliefs.

For the Least Among Us: New Approaches to Refugee Care

This article describes how environmental degradation has created millions of refugees around the world and new efforts to improve sustainable development and refugee care. These refugees are disproportionately located in the developing nations. Cameron Burns argues that continuing desertification of sub-Saharan regions, climate change and rising sea levels, ongoing resource shortages and the violence resulting from such shortages—not to mention natural disasters—will all be felt by the poorest members of society first. The article describes some solutions to this monumental problem, including sustainable architecture and energy efficiency techniques. The article also describes the sustainable development work of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees and RMI's work on new approaches to refugee care.

Cuyahoga Valley Initative: A Model of Regeneration

In 2003 and 2004, a team from RMI worked with the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission and its advisors to develop recommendations for regeneration of the environment, economy, and community of the Cuyahoga River Valley. RMI's methodology for such tasks is whole-systems integration of the activities, products, waste streams, commercial activities, and industrial and manufacturing processes of the people, businesses, institutions, and industries located in the Valley. This report summarizes RMI’s recommendations, then describes integrated solutions and how to build community capacity to put the Cuyahoga Valley vision to work. Each section describes recommendations, benefits, reasons the ideas will work in Cuyahoga County, barriers to implementation, and steps to overcome the barriers.

Framework for Community Sustainability: Ten Ingredients for Long-Term Success

The Framework for Community Sustainability was derived from the experiences of North American communities that understand that community, economy, and environment are not competing interests, but complementary parts of a whole. This framework outlines the components of smart and sustainable community governance, suggesting how to weave sustainability into the public, private, and nonprofit fabric of a community. Community decision-makers are becoming more aware of the interconnections between their economy, community, and the environment. Ways to strengthen all three aspects are outlined and ten ingredients to sustainable governance are provided. [Originally published in 2003; updated in 2007]

Building Community Prosperity Through Natural Capitalism

This document provides guidance for communities that are attempting to grow economically regardless of physical size. The guide lists dozens of ways communities are tapping their potential today through natural capitalism. Many of these actions are well known, others innovative. They distribute benefits widely across the community and they’re compatible with the environment. Most require little or no community expansion. While not all apply to every community, the length of this list highlights the undeveloped wealth-generation power in virtually every community, regardless of whether it’s growing in size. [Originally published in 2001; updated in 2007]

Grappling with Growth: Building a Strong Economy and Great Place to Live

This paper was written for communities that are conflicted over issues surrounding local growth and development. Michael Kinsley argues that the word, "growth," is deceptive and has many meanings. Separating the concepts of development (the things that make a community better) and expansion (the things that make a community bigger) help inform the argument. "Smart growth" is a popular but incomplete concept. Instead of smart growth, an understanding of natural capitalism offers a more comprehensive way to maximize a community without necessarily requiring expansion. Investing in resource productivity, shifting to biologically inspired economic models, and reinvesting in natural capital are concepts of natural capitalism that can effectively inform development in a manner that creates jobs and wealth while protecting the environment. This document was originally published in 2001 and updated in 2007.

Project Assessment Worksheet: a Community Decision Making Tool

This worksheet is designed to be used by communities when planning projects to encourage well-informed decisions and project design. It can be used at multiple stages in the project design process. It can help communities clarify a proposed project, determine project strengths and weaknesses, discover aspects of the project that might otherwise be missed, explore creative changes that may make the project more compatible with the community, its economy, and the environment, and decide whether to pursue or support the project

Critical Thinking for Sustainable Community Decision-Making

This Community Leadership Tool encourages community leaders to make informed decisions about sustainable development issues. Community leaders faced with an important decision can use it to discover many aspects of a proposed action that might otherwise be missed. It will help them think about aspects that are often left out of decision making (for instance those that influence quality-of-life) in addition to the financial and technical information normally considered in community decisions. This tool can be used to identify the best of several alternative actions and to decide for or against a proposed action. Discussions that take place during its use might lead to creative changes to a proposed action that make it more compatible with the community, its economy, and the environment. The objective of using this tool is to involve participants in a comprehensive and meaningful discussion about an important decision. Though this tool does not guarantee that resulting actions will be sustainable, it will help evaluate options in a more systematic manner.

La Pine Community Design Charrette

This presentation provides an example of one community that used an RMI Charrette to design a town center, a pedestrian-friendly highway, and the location of future public facilities. A community design charrette brings the wisdom and experience of local residents together with the technical expertise of outsiders to solve local design problems. In particular, the La Pine charrette supported the community’s Strategic Plan by offering greater detail for future decisions. Its results, offered here, suggest the locations for, and relationships among an array of prospective community projects. Charrette results suggest development nodes, ways to increase community “walk-ability” support local business, increase pedestrian safety on portions of the nearby highway, connect the community more directly with its natural surroundings, and strengthen the community’s gateways. This report includes photos, drawings, and text that describe community design principles, La Pine's vision and goals, the public facilities is hopes to build, the design process and results, and next steps.