History of the Coalition for Smarter Growth

In the early 1990s, several environmental and historic preservation groups worked together to defeat the Disney Company's proposed theme park near Manassas National Battlefield Park in rural Virginia. Recognizing the need for continued coordination on regional growth and transportation issues, the groups founded the Coalition for Smarter Growth to push a positive alternative to poorly managed growth in the D.C. Region.

The Coalition

The Coalition works in partnership with our members, local, regional and national environmental and civic organizations such as Audubon Naturalist Society, Broad Run Civic Association, Campaign to Reinvest in the Heart of Oxon Hill, and Friends of Manassas National Battlefield Park and Surface Transportation Policy Project. Coalition members manage the strategic direction, and the executive director and staff manage the daily activities. Together, members, staff, and hundreds of volunteers implement the overall strategy.

Founded in 1997 , the Coalition has achieved continued success in advocating and implementing smart growth in Metropolitan Washington. We have knit together an extensive network of environmental, civic, taxpayer, bike and transit groups, and hundreds of community activists and volunteers. Formation of the Coalition has improved cooperation and coordination among these groups.

Together, we employ three major strategies to support and cultivate community participation in growth and transportation decisions: a media campaign; outreach & organizing efforts; and involvement in specific transportation, land use and development plans.

Read About our Accomplishments

Publications:
• Blueprint for a Better Region (2002) click to view our PowerPoint presentation outlining smart growth concerns in the DC region
• Highway Robbery (1997) detailing the link between the development industry and highway proposals.