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Cities Programs
Cascade Agenda Cities v.
Green City Partnerships
An in-depth comparison of Cascade Land Conservancy's two programs to improve our communities.
The Cascade Agenda Cities Program
Description
The Cascade Agenda Cities Program enlists the region’s cities to improve the livability of our communities - making them complete, compact and connected - and spectacular enough to make people choose to live there, saving the region’s natural and working lands from sprawling development. We educate partner cities about what it takes to become a truly livable city, help these cities-and their citizens-understand their options and make smart choices for future growth, and provide a framework for continuous improvement and sharing best practices that enables cities to make their communities better and better.
Goals
The Cascade Agenda Cities Program envisions cities that are complete, compact and connected.
- Complete - Urban neighborhoods have a vibrant mix of people, public gathering places, civic and cultural anchors and retail establishments.
- Compact - New development is designed to make neighborhoods efficient, walkable and affordable.
- Connected - People live near transit connections and can walk and bike safely to daily destinations.
Services
To drive local innovation in land use policy and programs, we have developed a 4-step process for assisting member cities in developing and adopting innovative policies and programs that will result in on-the-ground improvements in urban livability.
- Assessment – Provide a baseline as cities enter the program and identify opportunities for action.
- Education – Educate city leaders and citizens on how to make smart choices about growth and improve the livability of their city.
- Policy Development – Research best practices (locally, nationally and beyond) and facilitate development of model policies and programs with city leaders, regional experts as well as developers and builders.
- Advocacy – Engage local citizens in advocating for quality growth in their communities and bring together a diverse coalition of interests to advocate for public investments at the state level.
Leadership Cities: Tacoma, Kirkland, Issaquah and Tukwila
Member Cities: Shoreline, Ellensburg, Edmonds, Snohomish, Mountlake Terrace, Buckley and Mill Creek
Learn more
Cascade Agenda Cities Website
Contact Jeff Aken, Cascade Agenda Project Associate at Jeffa@cascadeland.org
Description
The Green Cities Program consists of a series of public-private partnerships between CLC, municipal agencies, and citizens to develop civic-based stewardship programs for forested parklands and other green infrastructure. The Green Cities Program builds a comprehensive vision for urban forest restoration and long-term care by identifying present conditions, assessing current capacity, and providing a full account of the resources required to realize this vision in a 20-year strategic plan of action for each city. The long-term strategy embodied in these plans then becomes the driving force to engage community groups and build a network of support to achieve city-wide forest and natural area restoration goals.
Goals
The Green Cities Program has three goals which help shape each partnership:
- Connect people to nature and improve the quality of life in cities by restoring urban forested parklands and other green infrastructure;
- Galvanize an informed, involved, and active community around urban forest restoration and stewardship; and
- Improve urban forest health, and enhance urban forest long-term sustainability, by removing invasive plants and maintaining functional native forest communities.
Services
The Green Cities Program recognizes that success can only be achieved if we are explicit about the volunteer, staffing, and other resources needed to address the major restoration and maintenance challenges in each city. By taking a broader and longer-term view of solutions, and building a network among cities to share best management practices and capacity, the Green Cities program offers a variety of services to our partnerships, including:
- Establishing a baseline of ecological condition of forested areas;
- Coordinating a community and civic capacity assessment;
- Engaging the community in a coordinated effort of restoration and management;
- Collaborating with an established network of Green Cities and other partners;
- Creating restoration and long-term management plans;
- Building a local forest stewards network; and
- Developing training programs, best management practices, and forest stewardship guides and publications.
Learn more
Green Cities Website
Contact Green Cities Director, Ara Erickson, at arae@cascadeland.org.
Partnership Cities
