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The U.S. is one of the fastest growing countries on earth, adding more than 30 million people per decade. Cities will continue to grow, but suburbs also face strong development pressures. Although compact, transit-oriented development is one of most sustainable ways for suburbs to grow, for a host of reasons suburban locations can find it challenging to build in compact ways. These challenges include cross-jurisdictional coordination, significant transportation and infrastructure funding needs, community resistance, and other factors.
In recent years, ULI Infrastructure Initiative has explored how suburban locations which are seeking to transform themselves into more compact, sustainable places can approach infrastructure planning and funding. This work has helped to identify and develop new ways of approaching infrastructure and transportation investments in support of compact, sustainable urban and suburban centers.
2011 Forums on Shifting Suburbs
Compact Development in the Suburbs: Solving Infrastructure and Financing Challenges
Minneapolis, Minnesota
October 11, 2011
This forum and subsequent report identify trends in the use of traditional infrastructure funding tools, explore approaches being used by regions and projects, analyze the changing roles of the public and private sectors, and identify policy and practice gaps and barriers.
Retooling Places and Leveraging Transit: Overcoming Funding and Coordination Challenges to Build a Better Region
Atlanta, Georgia
December 6-7, 2011
This forum explored how U.S. metropolitan regions are approaching development around transit in the new economy, and share information on challenges and effective approaches from Atlanta and elsewhere.
Sustainable Suburbs: Developers’ Perspectives on Transportation and Compact Development
ULI Georgetown, Washington, DC
October 8, 2009
This event, held in affiliation with World Habitat Day on October 8, 2009, explored how to leverage transportation and land use investments to promote sustainable growth in the suburbs.