So you have a plan — or at least a concept — that will enhance the livability index for your community by offering some great new opportunities for walking and bicycling. Maybe it’s a conceptual layout for a beautifully landscaped riverwalk, or a shared-use pathway that would strategically meander from key residential areas to the central business district, and onward to the town park. Maybe it involves establishing safer routes to school. At any rate, your local group (be it a municipal board or a citizens’ advisory committee) is pretty proud of its plan, and you have a strong community consensus giving the green light to go ahead and build it.

But how are you going to pay for it? Read more »

Is your community walkable? Can the people in your neighborhood safely get from their homes to the central business district without a car if they choose to? Can your children walk (and/or bike) safely to school? Does your community have the basic recreational facilities needed to offer healthy lifestyle alternatives for adults and children alike?

Many communities around the state are grappling with these issues and finding cost-effective ways to enhance their local multi-modal transportation for all of their citizens — including those who choose to walk or bike for short errands or for sheer exercise. Read more »

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is making available technical assistance for special pilot projects revolving around the achievement of sustainable outcomes in local brownfields projects. According to EPA’s Carl Jones (jones.carl@epa.gov), Read more »

This late-breaking item, from the latest issue of Grants Action News: Though the deadline is very close, community leaders and county planners will want to take note that the Environmental Protection Agency is making local grants available for projects designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read more »

This late-breaking news reprinted from Grants Action News: New York State will provide grants to community-based non-profit organizations to provide new or enhanced services aimed at preventing sub-prime foreclosures. Read more »

Sustainable communities need to have sustainable infrastructure. Now you can check the safety of the bridges you cross in upstate New York — or anywhere else in the U.S.

This MSNBC map shows the condition and inspection dates for more than 100,000 bridges in the U.S. Read more »

It seems that communities and organizations everywhere are continually buffeted by a host of trends, pressures and occasional crises that demand immediate, focused attention - and a timely response. If you’re a local elected leader or a nonprofit manager in upstate New York, it probably won’t take you too long to think of a half-dozen examples. Read more »

We see encouraging signs that New York State agriculture is making strides towards adopting more sustainable management practices - and Finger Lakes viticulture is no exception. The other day we were pleased to see a newsletter in the mail from Hosmer Winery which among other things talked about the progress they are making towards sustainable grape production. The folks at Hosmer recently completed a “Sustainable Viticulture Self-Assessment Workbook” in order to take a close look at their production practices and how they might be improved. Read more »

Where is upstate New York headed? I believe the whole upstate region has enormous potential, and through wise management we may face a very bright future indeed. Your community does not have to be a place that young people just want to leave as soon as they graduate. My community does not have to be the place that cars only pass through on their way to Somewhere Else.

My community today actually shows some promising signs that it is becoming a destination in its own right — indeed, a place where young people would prefer to raise their families. What about your community? Read more »

At a recent NYCOM conference in Buffalo we learned about the “university connection” and the important role it can play in helping upstate New York communities achieve their goals with respect to economic development, “Main Street” revitalization and sustainable paths to local prosperity.

By the “university connection” we mean the whole constellation of colleges and universities all across the state, and the many different ways in which their resources and services can be tapped by local leaders in our towns, villages and cities. We are indeed fortunate to have here in New York one of the highest concentrations of institutions of higher learning of nearly anyplace in the whole country. Upstate New York communities - including very small communities in some of the most rural counties of the state - need to get in touch with what our universities have to offer. Read more »