Vision Long Island Announces
2009 Smart Growth Summit

Friday, November 20th
Melville Marriott
8am-3pm

Vision Long Island is pleased to announce the 2009 Smart Growth Summit, to be held on Friday, November 20th from 8:00-3:00 at the Melville Marriott.

Since the 1950s, Long Island has been the cultural center for what is now a traditional vision of "Suburbia." The Levittown planners couldn't have predicted that their American Dream would soon turn into an unsustainable, sprawling land use model. Fast forward to 2009, where an economic recession has given rise to enormous planning opportunities. Not only do we have millions of dollars coming into the region from the federal stimulus for transportation and infrastructure projects, but we are also beginning to see a large scale attitude shift in what kinds of communities people want to live in. Consumer preference is shifting away from single-family McMansions, SUVs, and a driving culture, and towards multi-family residences, hybrid cars, and walkability. The culture of excess may finally be reversing itself in light of larger goals of economic and environmental sustainability. Local elected officials are getting the message, as we see more and more municipalities on board for Smart Growth projects. People want the denser, walkable, Smart Growth communities. It's what we've been fighting for for years, and we're excited.

The conditions of this year have led way to some great projects. At the large, regional scale, we've seen progress on the Lighthouse at Long Island. The plan will redevelop 150-acres surrounding the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum into a large, mixed-use, destination suburban center. Plans to redevelop the waterfront in Glen Cove have also been moving forward, in collaboration with a new ferry service made possible in part by the federal stimulus. East Side Access was also federally funded this year, a multi-billion dollar regional project that will route Long Island Rail Road trains into Grand Central Station, improving the commuter experience for Long Islanders. Medium-scale projects come in the form of downtown revitalization plans, including the mixed-use "New Village" plans for downtown Patchogue. The new Bay Shore Marina is functioning and near completion, offering a thriving public space for residents. On the small scale, we have seen some great building projects approved, such as the Marquis at Mineola--an apartment building that follows the walkability credo of the Village's Master Plan. Hawthorne Court in Valley Stream offers a great example of compact development that caters to a young demographic. Plans are approved to build an apartment building in place of the much-maligned Courtesy Hotel, directly adjacent to the West Hempstead LIRR station. This is just a sampling of the dozens of active projects we have seen on Long Island this year.

The fact of the matter is that the recession has allowed for innovative planning: these cutting-edge projects are designed to spur economic growth for the future. The trends lean toward place-based economic development: downtowns are poised to serve as upcoming economic generators. Now comes the challenge: how can we rise out of the sober financial reality of the recession in order to get these local and regional projects implemented? This will be the challenge studied at this year's Smart Growth Summit.

Topics at this year's Summit include:

- Affordable Housing in a Changing Market
- Global Warming & Clean Energy
- Sewers and Infrastructure
- Downtown Revitalization
- Transit Oriented Development
- Taming the Big Box
- Regional Planning
- Changing Demographics
- Light Imprint Urbanism
- Land Use
- Transportation Coordination
- Youth Summit (by invitation only)
- Civic Summit (by invitation only)
- and more

Plenary sessions in the morning will focus on Town and Village leadership while the luncheon session will focus on New York State policies, regulations, and legislation.  Each year, the Summit brings together a broad range of action-oriented decision-making Long Island leaders from community, civic, and governmental sectors.

Each year, the Summit brings together a broad range of action-oriented decision-making Long Island leaders from community, civic, and governmental sectors. The Summit includes a morning plenary session, a luncheon, and over a dozen workshops throughout the day. We invite you to participate in the Summit by attending, sponsoring, and submitting your early ideas on themes as we plan the workshop sessions.

In such difficult economic times, Vision excels in keeping costs low and yielding positive results. The relationships that Vision builds with sponsors and supporters help our grassroots efforts in communities.

If you are interested in participating at any level or if you have any questions, feel free to contact our office at any time at 631-261-0242 or by visiting our website at visionlongisland.org.

A registration form is available here or at the end of this email.

We look forward to seeing you on November 20th!

Register Today!

[ ] Visionary - $15,000 [ ] Leader - $10,000 [ ] Gold Sponsor - $5,000

[ ] Sponsor - $2,000 [ ] Seat(s) at $125 each

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Registration can be sent to our office by fax, email, or mail:

24 Woodbine Ave. Suite One Northport, NY 11768. Phone: (631) 261-0242. Fax: (631) 754-4452.
Email: info@visionlongisland.org

For more information about Vision Long Island, visit www.visionlongisland.org