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Starting Ground Series

Ground Rules: Answers to Smart Growth Questions

Over two dozen questions raised by local leaders concerning the implementation of smart growth practices are answered in a few pages.

Land Use Mediation

Read about how mediation and consensus building can help local communities transform adversarial decision making through collaborative processes.

Local Environmental Ordinances

This book describes and contains extensive text of several local environmental ordinances adopted and enforced by communities in New York.

Intermunicipal Land Use Cooperation

Find out how local governments band together to act regionally in a "home rule" state.

Meeting Housing Needs

This book explains the relationship between comprehensive planning and achieving demographic balance and how a desirable balance of income groups, workers and retired, young and old can be achieved by effective local housing initiatives.

Smart Growth Case Studies

A good complement to Smart Growth Strategies, this book presents case studies of New York communities that have adopted noteworthy smart growth initiatives.

Significant Land Use Cases

Featuring cases that have helped to form our understanding of how communities can use their land use authority.

Smart Growth Strategies

What is "Smart Growth"? How can it be promoted? Answers to these and other questions can be found here.


Open Space Preservation

Describes in detail how local governments have used their regulatory and financial authority to create comprehensive approaches to open space preservation.

Gaining Ground: A Training Book for Land Use Leaders

An overview of the land use system and many examples of how local leaders have crafted innovative solutions to challenging land use issues.

Online Resources

Featured Resource

Gaining Ground Ordinance Database - A free, online database of land use resources and ordinances from across the United States.

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