How You Can Help Make A Difference In Your Community?

We all have an interest in making our growing Atlanta community a better place. Our continued growth and development involves many choices: where people will live, how the transportation system will work best, how to balance economic and environmental needs, and how to create communities where all citizens can attain the highest quality of life. How we grow matters and you can help. Here is how.

Support Local Officials who embrace quality growth principles.

Encourage your local officials to make decisions which are consistent with the Coalition?s four principles:

1. Support greater densities and mixed use developments in appropriate areas, especially in our region?s centers and transportation corridors. Given the job-housing imbalance of up to seven jobs for each housing unit in our region's activity centers and major corridors, these areas provide the greatest opportunities for more housing choice, as they have existing transportation access, water/sewer infrastructure and underutilized parcels, such as failing strip retail centers that are ripe for redevelopment. More housing opportunities closer to jobs will reduce the distances workers must travel, and clustered, higher density, walkable development in appropriate places can also support transit.
2. Increase housing choices by removing barriers that artificially restrict the market. People of different ages, life-stages, incomes and lifestyles need housing.  To meet demand, the market must provide a variety of housing including small and big apartments, condominiums, townhomes, senior and special needs housing, and single-family residences ranging from cluster homes to estate lots.  The critical factor in providing these housing opportunities is local zoning.  Consumer choice is restricted by zoning that uniformly prohibits apartments, townhomes, and condominiums.  In turn, developers must respond by providing quality, innovative development types with good design consistent with community desires, and the financial community must reduce the barriers to financing these projects.
3. Integrate transportation with appropriate land use. Those areas that accommodate higher-density development must be assured that infrastructure improvements such as road, transit and pedestrian/bicycle upgrades will be made available to serve these areas. Jurisdictions that allow for land use and development that promote the efficient use of transportation investments should receive priority over other jurisdictions where no effort is made.
4. Guide how greenfield land is developed, promoting more land-efficient development, water resource conservation, open space preservation and infrastructure optimization. Much of the future growth in metro Atlanta will be in greenfields ? vacant, previously undeveloped land. It is vital for development in greenfields to be more land-efficient and allow for a more orderly and efficient expansion of the region?s infrastructure.

Urge your local elected officials and planners to utilize quality growth principles when they develop policies and review development projects.

Urge your local officials to hire professional staff who embrace quality growth principles.

Learn More

Visit the suggested web site links for more information about quality growth in metro Atlanta and nationwide.

Call or email the Livable Communities Coalition to find out about current workshops and projects. 770.567.3406 or .

Get Involved

Contact your local government planning office through our database.

• Find out how projects are reviewed and permitted in your community.
• Check to see if your local zoning and comprehensive plan is consistent with quality growth principles.

Ask your local and state officials to utilize quality growth policies in all projects and programs.