Cities Mull How to Sell ‘Green’ Agendas

City officials, urban planners, architects and a variety of advocacy groups gathered in Portland, Ore., over the weekend for the National League of Cities’ first conference devoted entirely to sustainability.
In addition to providing cities with ideas for sustainable planning, the “Green Cities Conference” has highlighted opportunities for economic development, improved quality of life, urban renewal and historic preservation that can come with sustainable design, public transportation and high-density development.
Prominent among the bits of advice being doled out to city leaders at the conference: ditch the climate-change talk and focus instead on the more concrete benefits of a green agenda.
“If you go at it as a climate change issue, you won’t get anywhere,” said Christine McEntee, an executive vice president at the American Institute of Architects. “I believe it’s a huge moral problem, but not everybody does,” she said. “But everyone wants to see their energy bills lower and see daylight in their buildings and have more walking opportunities.”
Meanwhile, the AARP, which lobbies Congress on behalf of citizens age 50 and older on issues like Medicare funding, appeared to recognize the sustainability movement as an opportunity to reframe some of the community-access issues they’ve long fought to change.
AARP ” isn’t a green organization,” said Elinor Ginzler, the group’s spokeswoman for housing and mobility issues. But, she said, AARP discourages car-centric planning and promotes walkable neighborhoods and public transportation as a means to help maintain independence for citizens who can no longer drive. Sustainability, she said, is also a “legacy issue” for the organization’s members, who are interested in creating communities for future generations.
Kathie Novak, mayor of Northglenn, Colo., and president of the National League of Cities, echoed that sentiment. “We’re all going to be old whether we like it or not,” she said. “If we can use that as the impetus for making our communities more sustainable, I think it’s wonderful.”
Historic preservation and rehabilitation can also provide a lens for promoting sustainability, but green reasoning isn’t usually what wins community support for a project, said Art DeMuro, a Portland developer and a member of the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission. Projects happen because they also boost property values in blighted neighborhoods, spur revitalization in the urban core and maintain a city’s cultural heritage, he said.
“Setting aside material conservation issues,” said Mr. DeMuro, “these buildings are irreplaceable gifts from past generations and we have an obligation to protect those cultural resources.”