• Green Neighborhoods
  • Learn
  • Plan
  • Act
    • Characteristics
    • Policy Levers
      • Capacity Building
      • Financial Solutions
      • Regulatory Levers
  • Leading Actions
Stakeholders
Many different people are involved in neighborhood planning - and each one demands careful attention to gain their support and understanding.

Residents
Our lives are wrapped up in how our neighborhoods function.  Conventional development patterns are the outcome of attempts to achieve a “triple dream” of home, nature, and community (Hayden, 2003), which results in driving long distances between destinations and high levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

Green neighborhoods will probably succeed best if people perceive them as a new, better way to achieve this dream. 

Elected Officials
Elected officials bring a focus on the needs and wants of their constituents to discussions of green policies.  The officials are especially conscious of how constituents perceive issues, so they need to understand the benefits of green neighborhoods in terms they can stand behind and communicate easily.

Staff
To create green neighborhoods, most city or county governments need to change regulations, codes and standards. Besides facilitating green development, the changes need to minimize their exposure to risk and give them a quick way of assessing development proposals.  Staff members need opportunities to learn how alternative approaches can address risk and make their lives easier.

Developers
Green neighborhoods – especially infill and suburban retrofits – represent a new product type for many developers, with different financing, technical considerations, and practical skills.  Local governments that help developers become adept at building green neighborhoods will build important allies within the development community.

Lenders
Lenders of development capital typically perceive mixed-use, walkable communities to be higher risk than low-density, single-use developments.  A number of factors contribute to this perception, some of which can be addressed by education.  Documenting past successes is a key strategy to help lenders overcome perceptions of risk.  Another option is to encourage lenders to investigate partnerships with “patient equity” providers. These investors are interested in medium- to long-term returns, complementing conventional lenders’ interest in short-term return on investment.

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