Smart growth is an innovative way to boost your local economy, increase your community’s sustainability and attract and retain the creative class to your community. In addition to this, it also helps communities use land more effectively and efficiently and can reduce the amount of sprawl your community goes through as it increases in size. If smart growth is done right, it can be the foundation of economically and environmentally sustainable neighborhoods.

The Better Government Competition is an annual idea contest that attracts the interest of experts and citizens across the United States.

 Surveys have shown that 71% of city managers were under the age of 40 in the early 1970s while today only 13% of city managers are under the age of 40 (Henderson, 2008). While this may not seem like a big deal, it does mean that there is the potential for local governments to go through massive knowledge drains as long term city managers and department heads finally retire. Only 25% of respondents in the 2009 International Public Management Association for Human Resources said that their local government had an official succession plan in place. If your local government is part of the 75%

Fast Forward Fort Lauderdale: Our City, Our Vision 2035 is the City of Fort Lauderdale’s long-term community Vision Plan.

GIS can serve many purposes for local governments looking to make data driven decisions, such as benchmarking and strategic planning. GIS can also be used to increase local government transparency, for example for local governments now use GIS to track 311 calls and make these maps publically available. Some communities are even using GIS to increase citizen engagement! It is a truly remarkable tool worth exploring for local governments of every siz