information from Futurewise

Futurewise announced State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon as its 2015 Community Champion, honoring his advocacy and environmental leadership in Olympia. His efforts to clean up Puget Sound, expand transit, make walking and biking safer, conserve our agricultural and forest lands, and protect and improve our land use laws is commendable. Join Futurewise on March 17th at The Westin Hotel at Noon for the Annual Spring Awards Luncheon where Rep. Fitzgibbon will receive his award. The Community Champion award recognizes an individual who demonstrates an inspiring commitment to protecting our environment and building communities for which we can all be proud.

The Luncheon also features the presentation of the Livable Communities Award which recognizes individuals, local governments, and organizations that are developing innovative projects, policies and programs to create thriving communities, ensure healthy waterways, and protect our natural resource lands. Futurewise will also present Livable Communities awards to Sustainable Thurston, Capitol Hill EcoDistrict, and the King County ORCA LIFT Reduced Fare Program. Past Community Champion award recipients include Tacoma Mayor, Marilyn Strickland, Former Congressman, Norm Dicks, former Governor Booth Gardner, US Senator Maria Cantwell, Billy Frank Jr. of the Nisqually Tribe, and more.

Anthony Townsend, PhD., an international thought leader on the future of our cities, will be the event’s keynote speaker. Townsend has spent years exploring the intersection of two trends that will dominate the 21st century – urbanization and ubiquity. With more people living in cities than ever before, mobile broadband connections outnumbering fixed phones, and driverless cars on their way, our cities are undergoing mass transformation.

Townsend is a Senior Research Scientist at New York University's Rudin Center for Transportation. He is also the author of Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia. Townsend also explores the future of our cities, taking a broad look at the people – mayors, engineers, developers, entrepreneurs, and civic coders – and the technological forces that will transform the design of cities. Townsend says, “There's not a single technology, or a single decision, or a single economic force that's going to shape the outcome. It's actually the interplay of lots of different forces, including the policy and planning choices we make.”

The Luncheon will host 500+ guests, including state and local elected officials, business community members, urban designers, architects, engineers, environmentalists, engaged citizens, and community-based organizations.

The Luncheon will also highlight and celebrate Futurewise’s 25 year anniversary as a leader in creating healthy thriving communities and protecting our state’s most valuable natural resource lands. During more than two decades of hard work Futurewise has:
· Increased affordable housing, transit oriented development, transit, bicycle and pedestrian investments, and reduced sprawl.

· Protected nearly 2 million acres of working farms, forests and rural lands.

· Protected over 5,000 miles of shorelines and 25 threatened wildlife species.

· Defeated over 2,500 bad bills in Olympia that would harm our state’s social, economic and environmental health.

Through these successes, Futurewise is advancing healthier communities and helping protect our state’s landscapes to improve the quality of life for present and future generations.

The Futurewise anniversary milestone also coincides with the 25-year anniversary of the Growth Management Act (GMA).

The GMA was passed in 1990 thanks to the leadership of Governor Booth Gardner, Senator Maria Cantwell, Speaker of the House Joe King, and many other local lawmakers and citizens. At the time, Washington State was one of only a few states in the country to enact such a law that places growth in urban centers, provides affordable housing and multi-modal transportation, protects our shorelines, fish and wildlife habitat, and ensures working farmlands and forests.

The GMA has helped cities and counties accommodate our state’s population growth, reduce the cost of providing services, and prepare for the continued economic growth of our region.

You can register for the fundraiser at www.futurewise.org. A $150 donation is suggested for each attendee. Table sponsorships are still available.

About Futurewise:
For 25 years, Futurewise has worked throughout Washington State to create healthy livable communities and protect our working farmlands, forests and shorelines. Futurewise’s research, planning, policy and advocacy work is helping to create thriving and innovative cities, while safeguarding our natural resource areas to ensure a better quality of life for present and future generations.
www.futurewise.org