Since Partners' inception as a nonprofit in 1977, the organization has worked to improve the livability of communities and recognizes that there is a constant and growing need for a universal definition of livability.

In the past, Partners has defined livability using period-appropriate sets of values and principles. As such, the definition of livability has evolved over the years. Recently, the concept of livability has been applied to an increasingly diverse set of community elements, from health care to environmental protection to economic development and the accessibility of the arts. It is a positive sign that so many sectors have come to be concerned with and invested in what makes a community livable. However, this has led to confusion in how to balance one set of values against another.

Partners is in the process of developing a “Grand Alliance” of organizations with an interest in livability issues to cooperatively define the virtues of a livable community in these hard times. Rather than 'reinvent the wheel' of what makes a livable community, the goal is to work in concert with other major organizations to create a balanced and composite definition. Over the next two years, Partners will work with the members of the Grand Alliance to announce this new definition and livability audit in 2010/2011, and strive to bring them to the fore as a national policy standard.