The New Partners for Smart Growth Conference has grown significantly since it began several years ago — increasing in scope, attendance, and prestige — and is now considered to be the "premier" smart growth conference held each year. The strength of this conference comes from the variety of participants and speakers who cross disciplines to share experiences and insights, and valuable tools and strategies to encourage smart growth implementation and "get it done."

The 2008 conference continues this exciting trend and includes more new partners than ever. We expect this to be our largest ever, surpassing the tremendous success of the recent 2007 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Los Angeles which boasted over 1500 participants, 300 speakers, and 96 sessions over three full days.

Washington, DC is the ideal location for this event. Bringing together the cultural vibrancy and economic growth with the iconic history of our nation's capital and its neighborhoods, this region provides a wealth of innovative policies at the state, local and federal levels to examine. Whether it’s the overwhelming success of the transit system, creative housing strategies to promote affordability or environmental benchmarks to ensure clean air and water, significant lessons about smart growth can be learned here. Participants will come to see a region that is setting the pace for livable communities both inside and outside the Beltway.