Below are testimonials from speakers, sponsors, promotional partners and previous New Partners for Smart Growth Conference attendees, highlighting both their real-time conference experiences, as well as the impact attending the event has had on their work.
The New Partners for Smart Growth provided a well-balanced conference with plenty of seminars to educate everyone from a newly elected to a seasoned government official. As our world changes, local legislators are faced with new challenges in sustainability and this conference provides both a forum for discussion as well as resources for cities.
– Victoria Martinez, Council Member, City of El Monte, CA
What’s interesting about the smart growth conference is the diversity of the groups that are here, it’s always a fresh group of people, it’s not a monoculture. There tend to be people that look at the cross connections of different policies.
– Joe Minicozzi, Principal, Urban3 LLC
I find this to be one of the best places to go if you are a planner who thinks outside of particular silos. It brings together many different kinds of folks on the ground doing really important work. Whether you are a planner, a policy person, a community organization, an industry person or a regulator, this is a good conference to bring all those things together.
– Martha Matsuoka, Occidental College
It’s an incredible place to network with cities that are really trying to do things… this is a place where you can really talk about what’s working when you actually try to implement it and start trying to make the change happen.
– Andrea Gardner, Senior Technologist-Sustainability, CH2M HILL
This conference brings together local government officials, planners, health care advocates, bicycle advocates… as the name implies, all the new partners you can imagine, to discuss areas of mutual interest and how we can grow smarter, so that is the great value, brining all those people together working for the same goal.
– John Frece, Director, Former Office of Sustainable Communities, U.S. EPA
The opportunity for networking is like none other, this is a wonderful place to interact with people from all over the country and in fact, all over the world.
– Former Mayor Nancy Chaney, City of Moscow, ID
You find out that there really are kindred spirit of people trying and wanting and desiring to make their communities a better place for all of us to live and work and that’s why this conference is so important.
– Mayor Bob Dixson, Greensburg, KS
It’s the main conference I go to… because its one of the best places you can go to get the topical knowledge, most up to date information on key issues and best practices.
– Clark Anderson, Colorado Program Director, Sonoran Institute
I have been to almost every LGC conference since the mid 90’s. This is where I go to get all the information I need to go back to my city and make it a better place. I look forward to it every year.
– Councilmember Tom Butt, City of Richmond, CA
It’s exciting to see a growing number of communities rethinking how to use public space. One of the great benefits of parklets is how easily they can be installed or modified with little capital expense to meet community needs.
– Dena Kennett, Vice President, Lee and Associates, Inc.; Former Manager of Professional Practice, American Society of Landscape Architects
The New Partners for Smart Growth Conference has been the most beneficial conference that I have attended in my political career. The necessary tools and resources that I have received from the conference will directly impact the City of Artesia as we look forward to making the city more walkable and user-friendly for everyone.
– Miguel Canales, Vice-Mayor & LGC Boardmember, City of Artesia
I come to absolutely every single New Partners for Smart Growth conference there is… What I get out of the conference is first of all, the networking… and hearing from top level speakers on things I care about a lot.
– Dan Burden, Executive Director, Walkable and Livable Communities Institute
The people who have attended the New Partners for Smart Growth conferences have accomplished a great deal. I am proud of them, and proud of heading the organization that brings them together year after year and helps them stay at the cutting edge of their disciplines.
– Judy Corbett, Former Executive Director , Local Government Commission
I was blown away by the numerous multi-disciplinary sessions dedicated to helping economically struggling communities from across the nation reinvigorate their communities by implementing smart growth techniques.
– Dean Katerndahl , Director, Government Innovations Forum, Mid-America Regional Council , Kansas City, MO
This conference is important because it can help us turn the corner collectively by providing the space and resources necessary for a meaningful dialogue about how to create livable cities and communities for everyone. These complex disparities require the engagement of urban, rural, and waterfront communities of all belief systems, races, ages and ethnicities to make it work.
– Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director , UPROSE
I’ve found that the NPSG is a great way to hear about cutting edge, successful applications of smart growth techniques in other communities. It is also really the only opportunity I have to network with my peers from other EPA regions and Headquarters. I’ve also found the field trips offered during the conference are great ways to see application of SG firsthand and talk to the implementers.
– David Doyle, Sustainable Communities Coordinator, Office of Sustainable Communities , U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7
The New Partners conference has been integral as a place where smart growth itself grows and evolves, responding to the changing environment, and reflecting the knowledge gained from years of practice. It has become a “must-attend” conference for great networking, learning about best practices, recruiting smart growth talent, and publicizing our work.
– Geoffrey Anderson, President/CEO, Smart Growth America
There are a lot of success stories from across the nation and Oklahoma City has a lot of them. The New Partners for Smart Growth Conference provides the perfect opportunity for communities from across the nation to come together to share these success stories, envision future strategies to tackle today and tomorrow’s toughest problems, and learn from each other’s creativity, hard work and enthusiasm.
– Mayor Mick Cornett, City of Oklahoma City
Because the event is independent of any specific profession, there has been an extraordinary amount of cross-discipline synergy and creativity.
– Jim Charlier, President, Charlier Associates, Inc.
For ten years, the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference has been bringing together a broad cross section of professionals, elected officials and community activists to share ideas, to learn from each other and inspire action for quality growth and investment in communities across the nation. It has become a treasured resource.
– Sue Schwartz, FAICP, Former President, American Institute of Certified Planners (APA) ; Director of Planning and Community Development, City of Greensboro, SC
The impact of this event continues to be felt through the creation of more livable, sustainable and vibrant communities across the country.
– Paul F. Morris, FASLA, Former President , American Society of Landscape Architects; President & CEO, Atlanta Beltline Inc.
Through the sessions I attended I have a better understanding of Smart Growth and particularly the environmental justice and equity issues facing many of our communities. It is so important to keep these issues in mind in all of our planning work including working with the local units of government, the model zoning we are developing, as well as updates to the General Plan.
– Kristin Smith, Senior Planner, Leelanau County Planning Department, Michigan
It is a challenge to hold back the superlatives for the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference. During the course of the past decade I have had the opportunity to attend many national and international conferences, including many health, town making, development and governance professional annual training sessions. The New Partners conference stands above the rest, and by far.
– Dan Burden, Executive Director , Walkable and Livable Communities Institute
New Partners for Smart Growth is ground zero for forging the alternative for America’s future. It’s where new ideas were hatched that have inspired metropolitan regions, city neighborhoods and rural and suburban towns. It’s where fresh dialogue has enriched our common understanding of what’s right for communities and what’s healthy for people. It’s where groundbreaking new alliances have emerged.
– Rick Cole, Deputy Mayor for Budget & Innovation at City of Los Angeles
It’s great to come together with like-minded folks from across the country that care deeply about the future of our communities, and the need to strike a harmonious balance between growth, environmental protection and community livability.
– Vernice Miller-Travis, Senior Associate, Skeo Solutions
The San Diego conference gave me new ideas on how my city, Lawrence, Kansas, could better plan for and make a better future. I have met with several of my city commissioners to explore ideas for jump-starting a planning effort that would allow us to build a better future for Lawrence.
– Eric Kirkendall , Community Member City of Lawrence, KS
Attending the New Partners for Smart Growth conference is an important step toward becoming a leader in the emerging smart growth movement. The conference provides the peer learning opportunities and networking the movement needs. I highly recommend the conference for those interested in connecting with the best thinkers and do-ers in the smart growth field.
– Ben Starrett, Executive Director, Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities
As someone who speaks frequently at conferences, this is one I attend to hear new ideas, cutting-edge research, innovative policy, and implementation tips. The folks who attend New Partners for Smart Growth conference- from both public and private sector- are refreshed, energized, and armed with practical strategies to change how their communities are growing and developing.
– Harrison Rue, Administrator, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Program, City of Honolulu, Hawaii; Former Principal, ICF International
Whether you are a community leader, design professional, policy wonk or developer, New Partners for Smart Growth can help you figure out how to bring the “big ideas” into your everyday work. Provocative and practical conversations can be expected not only in the hallways of the conference venue, but in the conference sessions themselves, which are of consistently high quality.
– Ellen Greenberg, AICP, Principal, Arup
Two years after beginning my service as Greening Chair of the PPNA Greening Committee, I can look back and say that I did what I set out to do. And the reason that I can say this is because of all that I learned at the 2010 smart Growth Conference! That is the truth. That conference changed my life. It made me much more informed, knowledgeable leader, and it sent me home ready to lead my neighborhood to achieve a greener, more sustainable future.
– Robbyn Lewis, Chairperson for the PPNA Greening Committee
Since attending the conference, I have become acquainted with a number of techniques, resources and practices that I was able to use immediately with the communities I serve. The powerful collaboration of Housing-Transportation-EPA is a great model to follow and the Conference provides insights on how that collaboration can happen at the local level.
– Catalina Landivar-Simon , Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission
This has to be one of the most useful and well-organized conferences in the nation.
– 2014 Conference Attendee
I just love getting together with people all over the country who are caring and
sharing the knowledge that they have so that we can all live better.– 2014 Conference Attendee
I did truly enjoy the interaction with people from many different parts of the Country whose area of practice and experiences are different from mine. This conference is unique in that it really does provide a forum for sharing and learning from the variety of disciplines that are represented.
– 2014 Conference Attendee
This conference was a chance for me to gather ideas and information about what could be done within my own community and it was also a great way to talk to people who have face current problems that I have and give me a possible solution.
– 2014 Conference Attendee
I always gain information and increase my knowledge base from the sessions presented during this conference. The networking opportunities are also highly valued.
– 2013 Conference Attendee
This conference re-energized me to do the important work of reinvesting in our urban cores.
– 2013 Conference Attendee
This was by far, the best professional conference I’ve attended because there was a very diverse group of people willing to share their expertise and experiences.
– 2013 Conference Attendee
I love this conference, the networking and new ideas are fantastic!
– 2013 Conference Attendee
This week we’re at @NewPartnersConf with lots of other great green community-minded partners
– 2013 Conference Attendee
So pleased to be at the @NewPartnersConf! Lots of great ideas and inspired stories, and its only the first day!
– 2013 Conference Attendee
When I go to a conference, a big part of why I go is to be inspired. I want to leave saying, “Yes!” That’s why I’m in this field! Now I feel re-motivated and ready to change the world again!
– 2011 Conference Attendee
I think this conference is wonderful and really opened my eyes to the necessary connectivity that needs to occur between all aspects of local government to ensure long-term sustainable growth.
– 2011 Conference Attendee
This is the type of event I would like to expose my entire team to over the coming years.
– 2011 Conference Attendee
I think this was by far the best conference I’ve been to in almost 20 years of working for a local government.
– 2011 Conference Attendee
I was impressed at the extent to which topics and sessions at the conference felt current and new. I’ve been involved with smart growth for a long time but found that there were some interesting sessions dealing with topics I hadn’t heard of or thought much about.
– 2011 Conference Attendee