Technical Assistance activities include presentations, consulting with member agencies on land use projects or plans, responding to data and information requests, and administering various grants that provide Blueprint supportive technical assistance to member agencies (such as the grant SACOG was awarded by Strategic Growth Council Sustainable Communities Planning Grants and Incentives Program in Round 3).

Community Revitalization

Using grant funds from SGC, SACOG is working with Portland State University’s Urban Sustainability Accelerator (USA) program to provide planning technical assistance to cities and counties in the region on local projects that will help revitalize a Center, Corridor or Established Community. The communities include downtowns, main streets, small town centers, central business districts, commercial corridors, infill sites, older and inner ring suburban areas.

Form-Based Code Handbook

Another example of technical assistance is the Form-Based Code Handbook SACOG created in 2008.  The handbook was created to provide background information about the form-based code approach and provide instructions on how communities can create and develop a form-based code to better address specific community planning issues. Because the successful implementation of the SACOG Blueprint Growth Principles will rely in part on land development regulations, especially related to design, a form-based code is a potentially valuable tool for shaping community character consistent with these principles.