The Application Consortium adopted the following priorities that align to the following Sustainable Communities' Livability Principle:

Coordinate Policies and Leverage Investment
Align federal policies and funding to remove barriers to collaboration, leverage funding, and increase the accounability and effectiveness on all levels of government to plan for future growth, including making smart energy choices such as locally generated renewable energy

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• Develop regional planning capacity by leveraging existing sub-regional and local capacity and expertise and institutionalizing a framework to facilitate ongoing collaboration and dialogue across functions and political boundaries.
• Create an accessible repository for information on federal and state investments in communities across the region
• Plan infrastructure growth and reinvestment that is in line with optimal desired patterns of population and economic growth across the region. This will include:
  • Generating a regional land use plan to assess infrastructure needs under multiple scenarios
  • Addressing redundant infrastructure and services by identifying areas where combined public services make sense
  • Encourage alternative new sources of energy to reduce environmental impact in urban, suburban, and rural communities
• Develop ongoing regional planning protocol that will build consensus around smart growth implications on local zoning. This protocol will:
  • Include guidelines for how to approach planning across different categories that includes policy, incentives, and education
  • Allow the “boundaries” of natural, economic, and human systems rather than municipal and county lines to drive planning
  • Establish consensus on the balance between regional influence and local control
  • Create incentives for public/private partnerships