U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 7
11201 Renner Blvd., Lenexa,
KS 66219
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations
EPA to
Provide Smart Growth Technical Assistance to Lawrence, Kan.
Contact Information: Kris Lancaster, 913-551-7557, lancaster.kris@epa.gov
Environmental News
(Lenexa, Kan., February
7, 2013) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that the
City of Lawrence, Kan., will receive technical assistance through the Building
Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. The announcement was
made at the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Kansas City, Mo.
EPA
awarded Lawrence, Kan., a Parking Audit Workshop. The workshop will provide Lawrence
with key assistance to manage parking supply and demand in the Oread
neighborhood. The Oread neighborhood is located in central Lawrence, with the
main campus of the University of Kansas (KU) on the west and downtown Lawrence
on the east. The neighborhood’s proximity to KU creates regional impacts on
area streets and traffic volumes due to the daily travel to and from campus by
staff and students.
“The
Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program coordinates federal
investments in infrastructure and helps communities make smart planning choices,”
said Karl Brooks, EPA Region 7 Administrator. “We expect the Lawrence workshop
to engage residential and commercial property owners, students, faculty, city
planners and others in addressing parking challenges in the Oread
neighborhood.”
Across
the nation, EPA awarded 43 communities with technical assistance through the
Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. EPA selected this year’s
recipients from 121 applicants through a competitive process in consultation
with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S.
Department of Transportation. The partnership is helping communities across the
country create more housing choices, make transportation more efficient and
reliable, reinforce existing investments, and support vibrant and healthy
neighborhoods that attract businesses.
With assistance from EPA-funded private sector experts, the communities will
focus on a specific development tool, such as green building, land use
strategies to protect water quality and using smart growth to produce economic
and fiscal health. Communities will also learn about other strategies for
development that can improve the environment and the economy.
# # #
More information on the Building Blocks for Sustainable
Communities: www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/buildingblocks.htm
More information on the Partnership for Sustainable Communities:
http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/partnership/index.html
Connect
with EPA Region 7 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion7