New EPA office focuses on supporting 'smart community' development

If you're thinking about starting some sort of smart transportation, smart water or any other project focused on improving the sustainability profile of your community, you might be able to borrow some resources from the Environment Protection Agency's new Office of Sustainable Communities.

Or at least, maybe you can borrow some ideas.

The focus of the new organization is to help cities and other local neighborhoods or economic regions take an integrated approach to transportation and housing decisions with the ultimate aim of "protecting the environment, promoting equitable development and helping address the needs of climate change."

An initial pilot being spearheaded by the new office will focus on helping communities in California, Maryland and New York work within clean water funding systems to improve water management. There's also a focus on revisiting "brownfield" sites: this is land that has been contaminated by one thing or another over time that communities hope to reclaim for new uses. The five areas being targeted initially are: the Fairmount Line in Boston, the Smart Growth Redevelopment District in Indianapolis, the La Alma/South Lincoln Park neighborhood in Denver, the Riverfront Crossings District in Iowa City, and the Westside Affordable Housing Transit-Oriented Development in National City, Calif.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com