December 11, 2014 - The City of Knoxville and the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) announced today that efforts to better serve Knoxville's mass transit needs and the City of Alcoa's redevelopment efforts have helped the region win two nationally competitive awards.

Smart Growth America - a national nonprofit that advocates for better cities, towns, and neighborhoods - announced today that the Knoxville region will receive two of 14 free technical assistance workshops awarded to winning communities in 2015. Through the program, the City of Knoxville and the TPO will each receive hands-on assistance from national experts on how to cultivate investments that will spur quality growth and transit-oriented development.

"Through the City of Knoxville's grant, Knoxville Area Transit and the Office of Sustainability will be able to strategically think through options for pursuing transit-oriented development in Knoxville," said Erin Gill, Director of the Office of Sustainability. "We are grateful for the recognition of our efforts by Smart Growth America, and we are excited about working with them."

"This award is a testament to the hard work Knoxville has already done through the Plan East Tennessee effort," said Roger Millar, Vice President of Smart Growth America's Leadership Institute. "Our program was more competitive this year than ever before, and the Knoxville region stood out as a community doing great work. We're excited to be able to help you continue on to the next stage of this work."

In addition to the direct benefit that this technical assistance will provide to Knoxville, the TPO and the City of Alcoa will use their workshop outcomes to engage other communities in the region in the conversation, thereby spreading ideas about quality downtown development and redevelopment to other communities seeking similar outcomes.

Smart Growth America received over 120 applications for technical assistance from 35 states for its 2015 workshops. The full list of winning communities includes: Cheyenne Metropolitan Planning Organization, WY; City of Bentonville, AR; City of Charlottesville, VA; City of Columbia, MO; City of Fort Pierre, SD; City of Franklin, TN; City of Indianapolis, IN; City of Knoxville, TN; City of Sanford, FL; City of SeaTac, WA; City of Spokane, WA; Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, TN; Macon-Bibb County, GA; and Tucker County Planning Commission, WV.

About Smart Growth America's free technical assistance
Smart Growth America offers 12 types of technical assistance workshops that help communities build stronger local economies, protect the environment, preserve sense of place and improve overall quality of life. The technical assistance is funded through a grant to Smart Growth America from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Sustainable Communities under their Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. The Building Blocks program funds quick, targeted assistance to communities that face common development problems. Through the program, Smart Growth America has already provided free assistance to over 50 communities across the United States, from Hawaii to Maine.

Smart Growth America is the only national organization dedicated to researching, advocating for and leading coalitions to bring smart growth practices to more communities nationwide. From providing more sidewalks to ensuring more homes are built near public transportation or that productive farms remain a part of our communities, smart growth helps make sure people across the nation can live in great neighborhoods. For additional information visit www.smartgrowthamerica.org.

The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) coordinates a comprehensive, multimodal transportation planning process for the Knoxville Urban Area. Member jurisdictions include Knox County and the urbanized areas of Anderson, Blount, Loudon and Sevier Counties and includes the following cities: Alcoa, Clinton, Knoxville, Lenoir City, Loudon, Maryville and Oak Ridge, the Town of Farragut, Tennessee Department of Transportation and East Tennessee Development District. For additional information about TPO please visit www.knoxtrans.org.