Suggested Citation:
Sciara, Gian-Claudia and Deborah Salon (2013) Survey of Local Sustainability Practices in California. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-13-08

This report conveys the Round I results of the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) sponsored survey of local governments’ sustainability practices in California. The report is organized in two sections. Part I discusses the development and administration of the survey. Part II reports and examines the survey results.

The SGC has an important interest in measuring local government activity to improve environmental sustainability. Captured in Spring 2012, these measurements establish a baseline snapshot of city- and county-level efforts to increase the resource efficiency of both local governments and the communities they serve. These baseline data provide a view of local government sustainability activity across various sectors and the factors that may encourage local governments to enhance their efforts further. When paired with future survey measurements, the data will allow the Council to identify trends in local sustainability efforts over time, as well as to assess the impact on local sustainability of the SGC sponsored Sustainable Communities Learning Network.