At a time when high energy costs and a crumbled credit market are spurring local, state and federal governments to tighten their belts in a bid to contain costs, a unique partnership between Emory University and the surrounding Atlanta neighborhood of Clifton promises to bring benefits to residents of both communities, according to organizers behind the initiative.

“The Clifton Community Partnership, or CCP, was launched in the spring of 2006,” says Bryan Cooke 02MBA, executive director of the CCP. “The idea was to provide a framework to discuss common quality of life issues within the Clifton community, an area made up of neighborhoods in a three mile radius surrounding Emory's 700-acre campus.”

Right now the partnership, which is made up of university members, outside professionals, and an advisory group of local civic and other leaders is completing an urban design study.

Among other goals, the partnership aims to make the area pedestrian friendly, enabling residents to reduce their dependence on gas-guzzling automobiles.

“It’s designed to offer long-term benefits,” says Cooke, who is an alumnus of Emory’s Goizueta Business School. “The study will recommend revisions to traffic patterns, housing, and other matters that will enhance the Clifton community. We believe the scope and depth of the commitment makes this a unique university-community partnership.”

In April, for example, the partnership sponsored a public design forum that focused on establishing pedestrian and bicycle lanes on a stretch of local roads.

The university has also rezoned a 50-acre portion of the campus for mixed-use purposes.

Despite a slow national economy, a tight credit market, and the near-collapse of the residential building segment, Cooke says this a good time to lay the groundwork for a long-term, area-changing program.

“Real estate, credit and other markets move in cycles,” he says. “We may be in a difficult period right now, but that’s likely to change in the next year or so. Meanwhile, we’re laying the groundwork by engaging in studies, and by working with community leaders and others to develop the basic structure of this program. We’re planning for the long term, so I’m not overly concerned about challenges that are relatively short-term in nature.”

Cooke, who has lived in the Clifton communityfor 17 years, formerly worked in the software industry as a project manager and consultant. Cooke says he was selected to head the Clifton partnership because of his issue-resolution skills.

“I can identify challenges, assign the right resources to them, track the progress and ultimately resolve the issues,” he says. “It’s a full life-cycle approach to the project.”

The three-mile radius of the Clifton Community Partnership is large enough to make a positive impact on a sizeable population, but small enough to enable significant interaction between the university and the residents who live nearby.

“The CCP focuses on four concepts that we believe will benefit the community and the university,” says Cooke. “The first is Live Locally, a program to encourage the construction of local housing that will offer economic and other appeal to our employees. It will enable them to live close to their job, offering a shorter commute that would yield additional work-life balance while reducing the number of automobiles on area roads.”

“We’re planning a balanced, eco-friendly development that will feature some conference center and office space, and retail and residential development,” says Cooke. “One central feature is that about 25 acres will be kept in a natural state, prohibited from being developed. That will leave us with 10 acres for the office-and-conference center section, and 15 acres for mixed-use, or residential and retail development. We envision about 70,000-square-feet of retail space alongside a mixture of rental-and condo housing comprised of townhomes and apartments. We hope to begin marketing it in early 2009 for occupancy in mid-2010.”

Emory already encourages its employees and students to live in nearby developments, notes Cooke.

In addition to the Live Locally concept, the university’s Walk Anywhere program supports safe and vibrant streets in the Clifton community.

“Besides offering health benefits, walking can be a viable option to commuting,” says Cooke. “Walking can also be the most efficient way of getting from one place to another.”

The Walk Anywhere component incorporates Urban Design Guidelines that provide for an integrated approach that joins structural architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design in a themed approach that promotes an environmentally responsible and contextually sensitive design.

The urban design guidelines focus on elements required to create attractive, safe streetscapes and connections along major corridors in the area.

“Focusing on improving pedestrian navigation through the community brings additional benefits,” says Cooke. “It supports neighborhood activity centers and reduces dependence on single occupancy vehicles.”

Other universities are engaged in similar projects, but the Emory partnership stands out, according to David Dixon, the principal in charge of planning and urban design at the Boston-based architectural firm Goody, Clancy & Associates.

“We’re seeing an increase in sustainability efforts across nation,” says Dixon, who is writing a book on the way urban design values are changing. “Besides working with Emory on the Clifton project, we’ve worked with Ohio State, Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions. But Emory is unique because it is a suburban location, and because it is so committed to drawing in community input.”

One unique challenge is that suburbs tend to depend on automobiles, while a university thrives on walking, observes Dixon.

“Emory is engaged in a remarkable campaign of transformation, merging the campus and the suburban community in a way that everyone will benefit,” adds Dixon.

The Walk Anywhere concept ties into Emory’s third Clifton component, Alternative Transportation, explains Cooke.

“The idea is to encourage people to use the university’s alternative transportation to get to and around campus during peak travel times,” he says. “We have incentive systems in place aimed at getting people to consider transportation methods like carpooling, transit, biking, vanpooling, or walking.”

Finally, the CCP’s Enhance Vibrant Neighborhoods initiative ties the other projects together by outlining ways to improve the community by supporting local shops, restaurants, entertainment and activities.

Emory University has a long history of committing resources to the surrounding community.

Among other activities, the university has placed students and faculty into Atlanta neighborhoods to mentor middle school girls, help elderly immigrants study for their U.S. citizenship exams and worked on solutions to real-world issues ranging from AIDS to education.

In 2006, the institution’s work was recognized by the prestigious Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which named Emory one of the first schools in the country to receive the organization’s new “Community Engagement” designation. Emory was one of only 76 institutions to receive the Carnegie endorsement.

The university’s Clifton Community Partnership has about six other projects that will be considered by its advisory board, according to Cooke. “The study initiatives being considered include supporting the local public education system.

He adds that the partnership is also looking into an expanded affordable housing program “that would let more people who work at the university live close by” and enhancing gateways into the university area, but also creating bicycle lanes as an environmentally friendly balance.

“In the early stages we had to work hard to gain credibility,” says Cooke. “The concept was a new one for many people, and it took a lot of explaining and discussion. But once we got the right community leaders on board, the Clifton Community Partnership got a lot of buy-in.”

Sally Sears, who has lived in the Clifton neighborhood for 17 years about 200 feet from the Emory Campus, says local residents value the town-and-gown project.

“The partnership offers a chance to enhance both Emory and the area around it,” says Sears, a reporter for local ABC Television affiliate WSB-TV. Her son is a senior at the local high school and Sears is an active member of Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, which is situated near the main entrance to the campus. “The process, particularly when we all put together the project’s guidelines, has helped us realize that what we have in common with each is much greater than our differences. We are really all part of a wonderful tapestry, working to manage growth for the best interests of the largest number of people.”

The collaboration will benefit the neighborhood, and the success will also enhance Emory’s reputation as an educational institution that attracts world-class faculty and students.

“A great city is made up of many great communities,” says Cooke. “In turn the Clifton community is made up of many wonderful neighborhoods where people live, learn, worship and play. Our plan is to encourage this with pedestrian friendly streetscapes and engaging storefronts that will help the neighborhood come alive. Under the Clifton Community Partnership, the Clifton community will be enhanced with attractive, well-designed areas of public interest.”