New contact information:

Beginning September 23rd, Grow Smart is proud to be taking up residence at The Foundry, 235 Promenade Street, Providence. Grow Smart is required to move since its current space on South Main Street will no longer be available. According to Executive Director Scott Wolf, "We're pleased to have found a new home that truly reflects the success of the smart growth movement in Rhode Island." The Foundry office complex is now 99% occupied.

Grow Smart is grateful to Foundry partners Tony Thomas and Tom Guerra for their efforts on behalf of Grow Smart.

Looking to connect with public or private partners to capitalize on smart growth development opportunities? Grow Smart has launched the Smart Growth Pages, a fully-automated online resource directory. The purpose is to foster a more organized network of development professionals, community leaders, government officials and citizens to capitalize on a movement that has become a major influence in Rhode Island's economic development strategy.

Among the early bird registrants are:

The fee for a one-year listing is $175, and the online process can be completed in as little as 3 minutes. Registrants can pay by check or instantly online through Paypal, a secure internet payment service. Click HERE to learn more.

Rhode Islanders have an excellent opportunity to make an investment in protecting our environment for future generations by voting YES on Question 8, the Open Space, Recreation, Bay and Watershed Protection Bond. Funds from the 2000 Open Space and Recreation and Clean Water Bonds have almost run out. But needs for open space, water protection and recreation space are increasing. Urban population growth and continued expansion into rural areas are causing pressure on three key elements of our quality of life: Open space, Water quality and Recreation resources.

This bond would provide $70 million, which would leverage private donations and federal grants to provide over $165 million for preserving open space, farms, forests and recreation lands; building state and local recreation facilities; and protecting and restoring the watersheds of Narragansett Bay, its tributaries and drinking water resources.

Read a description of the Bond (pdf)

Portsmouth

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

National

The 13 members of the Rhode Island Housing & Conservation Trust Study Commission, which was established by the 2004 Rhode Island Housing Act, held their organizational meeting on August 23rd and elected Grow Smart's Executive Director Scott Wolf as Chair. The Housing Act charges the commission with:

1. Studying the potential contribution of community land trust mechanisms to the development of low and moderate income housing and evaluating appropriate organizational structures and financing mechanisms for such land trusts in Rhode Island
2. Assessing the potential and viability of the Rhode Island Housing and Conservation Trust Fund
3. Reporting its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President by February 1, 2005

All Commission meetings and subcommittee meetings are open to the public. Meeting dates will soon be posted on the Grow Smart website under "calendar" and will also be listed on the Secretary of State's website beginning in the late fall. If you would like to receive meeting notices and minutes by email, contact Jennifer Holske.

Thursday, September 30 (8:30a - 12noon)

In a recent letter to RIPTA General Manager Alfred J. Moscola, Grow Smart Executive Director Scott Wolf cited Grow Smart's "...deep concern about the social, environmental and economic consequences of the recently proposed cutbacks in RIPTA's service."

Grow Smart is a strong advocate for a robust and efficient mass transit system in Rhode Island, believing that such a system is critical to expanding economic opportunity for residents of modest means, to assist in the revitalization of our urban neighborhoods and to reduce air and water pollution that results from excessively heavy use of single passenger automobile transportation.

The latest round of proposed RIPTA cuts underscores the fact that Rhode Island's existing system for funding public transportation is broken and needs to be replaced, not just tinkered with in perpetual crisis management mode. That is why we also agree with our colleagues that the Transit Commission recently enacted by the General Assembly needs to be activated to find a long-term solution to RIPTA's budget challenges.

Read Scott Wolf's 9/14 letter to RIPTA