APA Awards 2009: Greensburg Sustainable Comprehensive Plan - Greensburg, KS

Greensburg Sustainable Comprehensive Plan
Greensburg, Kansas

On May 4, 2007, an EF-5 tornado hit the town of Greensburg, Kansas, leveling over 90 percent of the town's buildings and killing 10 people. Greensburg's economy and population had been in decline for several decades, so the tornado's path of devastation seemed like the finishing blow for this Kansas town. The citizens of Greensburg, however, decided to rebuild.

This community based their recovery strategy on their respect for the land and a vision of a sustainable future. Meetings were held in open air tents and FEMA trailers to create a plan that goes beyond disaster recovery and aims to overcome population decline and a struggling economy. The plan protects social equity and maintains cultural heritage by establishing a framework for affordable, diverse housing and ensuring the new built environment maintains the town's cherished rural character while symbolizing the community's goal of being a sustainable model for other communities. In addition to attracting new high quality jobs to the town, the Greensburg City Council enacted a requirement that all publicly funded buildings over 4,000 square feet must be built to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Platinum certification level, the only city in the world with that level of commitment to sustainable building standards.

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Education

Tags:

• APA Awards
• American Planning Association
• Greensburg
• Kansas
• tornado
• disaster recovery
• comprehensive
• plan
• planners
• affordable housing
• environment
• sustainable
• green building
• LEED
• US Green Building Council
• communities

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