by Christiana McFarland

The 6th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference in Los Angeles will span three days, Feb. 8-10, 2007, and will feature cutting-edge smart growth issues, the latest research, implementation tools and strategies, successful case studies, interactive learning experiences, new partners, new projects and new policies.

Most importantly, the event will offer local elected officials and city staff the opportunity to network and coordinate with their peers, as well as practitioners from many different disciplines with the same goal ? building safe, healthy and livable communities for all.

The conference has grown significantly since it began several years ago ? increasing in scope, attendance and prestige ? and is now considered to be the premier smart growth conference. The strength of this conference comes from the variety of participants and speakers who cross disciplines to share experiences and insights, and valuable tools and strategies to encourage smart growth implementation.

This year, the conference will include new partners who recognize a viable solution to the many challenges posed by smart growth. These new partners may see smart growth  as a smart investment, an opportunity to spur economic development, and/or a way to improve the public health.

The conference will be presented by the Local Government Commission and co-sponsored by NLC.

Details: Visit www.newpartners.org for more event details. Online registration will be available this month.