Livability Experts To Address "Livability and Jobs" at the St. Louis Fed

ST. LOUIS - Three nationally known experts on the topic of livable communities will join local officials to discuss “Livability and Jobs” at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on Tuesday, March 20, 2012.The event, which will be held from 8 a.m. – Noon, will be streamed live at www.stlouisfed.org/live/ and will feature:

• Dan Burden, executive director, Walkable and Livable Communities Institute; Port Townsend, Wash.;
• Robert McNulty, president and CEO, Partners for Livable Communities, Washington, D.C., and
• Andre Pettigrew, executive director, Climate Prosperity Project, Washington, D.C.

The conference, which is part of the St. Louis Fed’s “Exploring Innovation in Community Development Week,” will focus on the growing importance of livability - the sum of factors that make up a community’s quality of life -  in crucial areas such as job creation and economic competitiveness.  Local experts who will participate in the panel discussion include:

• Eric Friedman, president, Housing and Community Solutions, St. Louis;
• Maggie Hales, deputy executive director, East-West Gateway Council of Governments;
• Nate Johnson, 2011 president, St. Louis Association of Realtors;
• Cynthia Jordan, vice president, Community Affairs manager, Regions Bank, St. Louis.
• Lesley Morgan, graduate student, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, and
• Phil Valko, director of sustainability, Washington University.

For more details, see the full agenda.

"Recent research related to the economic vitality of thriving communities emphasizes the sense of 'place' as an important factor in decisions by employers and workers regarding where to locate. The sense of place is closely related to livability,” said Yvonne Sparks, senior manager of the St. Louis Fed’s Community Development department. “Livability is comprised of a set of factors that make a community welcoming and provide opportunities to live, work and grow businesses as well as accommodate diversity.

“All of these elements contribute to the community economic developmental potential of towns and cities,” Sparks added. “It is important to explore this emerging perspective as a driver in innovation in community development."