Influencing Where People Choose to Live

After going back and forth on an the appropriate use of Social Marketing as a tool for affecting land use issues, we have narrowed our focus, and would appreciate some feedback, or examples of other outreach efforts that might be models for our own. Our objective is to influence the decision making process so that a home buyer or renter more carefully considers some of the unseen costs of moving out of town, and suburbanizing the landscape; costs to themselves, to wildlife habitat, to community character, to the neighborhoods they leave . The theory is that by doing so, we will release pent-up demand for smarter housing options, which will complement our various tools for guiding sustainable growth and preventing sprawl. I am only familiar with one other effort with a similar mission. Canada Home Mortgage Corporation, offered a brochure and web page entitled "Your Next Move: Comparing Neighborhoods for Sustainable Features" Beyond this, is anyone familiar with attempts to market to this? I'm particularly interested in any attempts at public service announcements or broader media campaigns.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Patrick Wright

NOAA Coastal Associate
State Planning Office
38 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0038
207.287.1491
[email protected]