The origins of this conference can be traced to late 1995 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency first launched its Smart Growth Program. As part of this effort, the EPA sought to organize a national conference that would focus on environmentally sensitive growth and development.

In 2001, CivicWell (then the Local Government Commission) partnered with the Centers for Disease Control, the California Department of Transportation and Penn State University to produce a first-of-its-kind national, multidisciplinary event titled “Redesigning Community: A Smart Growth Approach to Street and Neighborhood Design, Crime Prevention, and Public Health and Safety” in San Diego.

Immediately following that event, the EPA approached CivicWell about merging their collective efforts. Addressing the key issues on the table, the appropriately titled “New Partners for Smart Growth” multidisciplinary conference made memorable stops in San Diego, New Orleans, Miami, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Albuquerque, Seattle, Charlotte, Kansas City, Denver, Baltimore, Portland and St. Louis—building momentum and attracting new supporters every year.

The enduring strength of the New Partners conference comes from the diversity of participants who cross disciplinary lines to share experiences, insights, inspiration, valuable implementation tools and strategies.