Trailnet's Livable St Louis Conference today

Trailnet's Livable St. Louis Conference was held today.

The St Louis Post-Dispatch quoted Phil Valko of Trailnet:

In its fourth year, Trailnet's Livable St. Louis Conference seeks to solve local problems with regional solutions.

"The census numbers don't lie," said Phil Valko, the active living program manager at Trailnet, a St. Louis-based nonprofit advocacy group that promotes outdoor activity.

"Every time the numbers come out, we are struck by our need to do something differently."

Valko said what other communities have done to serve their residents, grow and encourage innovation can guide solutions to St. Louis' problems.

Trailnet's web site gives more details about the conference:

The full-day conference features an extraordinary line-up of national and regional speakers on a range of topics related to creating livable communities.  With the theme Linking Local and Regional Solutions, the 2011 Conference will highlight successful approaches at all scales—from benches, to blocks, to neighborhoods, to the region—and how the various approaches can be coordinated to build on one another to create a more livable region.  The 2011 Livable St. Louis Conference will serve as a kick-off event for the St. Louis region’s $4.6 million HUD Sustainable Communities planning grant.

The conference agenda includes an impressive line-up of national and regional speakers: Tom Downs (the former CEO of Amtrak), John A. Powell (Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute and equity scholar), Roger Geller (Portland’s Bicycle Coordinator), and John Nations (CEO and President of Metro) are among the confirmed speakers, and Secretary Ray LaHood of the US Department of Transportation has been invited (pending availability).  Along with these speakers, many other regional and national experts will be presenting in breakout sessions on six topics, including: effective strategies for shifting behaviors, the connection between land-use and transportation policy, revitalizing retail corridors, racial and economic equity, low-cost innovations, and food policy. These sessions will include speakers from the St. Louis region, as well as Portland, New York City, Nashville, Dallas, St. Paul, and Oakland.