Mission

The purpose of the Coalition for a Livable Future is to protect, restore, and maintain healthy, equitable, and sustainable communities, both human and natural, for the benefit of present and future residents of the greater metropolitan region.

Objectives

The work of the Coalition is guided by a set of members' common and overlapping objectives for the metropolitan region. These objectives are:

1. Protecting, maintaining and restoring the social and economic health of our urban, suburban, and rural communities, especially the distressed parts of the urban region;
(a) Preventing displacement of low and moderate income residents and people of color as neighborhoods improve;
(b) Assuring easy and equitable access to employment and affordable housing throughout the region;
(c) Promoting the preservation and development of housing affordable to low and moderate income residents throughout the region;
(d) Protecting, maintaining and encouraging the development of living wage jobs, small businesses, and community-based and sustainable economic development, throughout the region;
(e) Reversing the polarization of income and raising income and opportunities for the region's low income residents;
(f) Preserving and enhancing a high quality public education system for all parts of the region and all residents;
(g) Encouraging the development of food production, processing, and distribution strategies that contribute to the local economy and ensure access by all community members to healthful and affordable foods within each neighborhood;

2. Developing a more sustainable relationship between human residents and the ecosystems of this region;
(a) Reducing consumption (particularly of non-renewable resources), pollution, and waste;
(b) Changing the patterns of urban expansion from low-density suburban sprawl, which relies on the automobile and wastes valuable farm and forest lands and other natural resources, to more compact neighborhoods with a mix of uses conveniently served by public transportation;
(c) Expanding transportation options, including reducing dependency on automobiles and vehicle miles traveled per capita and increasing transit, bike and walking opportunities throughout the region;
(d) Protecting, restoring and maintaining healthy watersheds, fish and wildlife and their habitats, greenspaces, and other natural resources within and outside urban growth boundaries;
(e) Ensuring that the built and natural environment are integrated in a sustainable manner that supports neighborhood livability and protects wetlands, streams, water quality, air quality and the natural landscape and recognizes that both natural resources and humans are part of the urban ecosystem;
(f) Addressing past, present and future issues of environmental equity including: the siting and clean up of polluting industries and waste disposal sites, remediation of toxic waste sites and water pollution, and the distribution of neighborhood parks, trails, and greenspaces;
(g) Encouraging the development of food production, processing, and distribution systems that regenerate and support natural systems and biodiversity, enrich neighborhood development patterns, and build community;

3. Assuring the fair distribution of tax burdens and government investment within the region;

4. Promoting a diverse and tolerant society;

5. Increasing public understanding of these regional growth management issues, developing effective democratic discourse, and promoting broader citizen participation in decision-making regarding growth in our region.