We have choices to make about what, where and how we build next.  These choices must be evaluated for their economic and social benefit for the community. Smart Growth considers reusing, fixing, and conserving what we have before investing in new projects. We need to think about the future and do good planning for the growth and progress of our community and region across geographic, racial and economic boundaries. The community needs to be a part of these discussions and be able to consider all of the available options.

Smart growth maintains the investments we have already made and makes sure new investments in infrastructure don't come at the expense of what we already have, including our existing schools, transportation system and natural places. We want to ensure great neighborhoods that meet people's needs today and prepare for the needs of the future.

Develop in the Right Places
The key to smart growth is helping development go to the right places so there is less pressure to develop in the wrong places. The right places to develop include vacant lots at metro stations, reclaiming wasted parking lots, and graceful expansion of small towns.  This will relieve pressure to build on farmland and open space where the economic, social, and ecological costs of development are high.

In addition to focusing growth in the right places, it is important to have a balance of jobs and housing in each jurisdiction throughout the region and to focus on transit-oriented development.

Smart growth also emphasizes the importance of mixed-use development in town centers (commercial, residential, etc.)so people can walk, bike, take transit, or drive and park once to their destinations. This allows developers to minimize per unit infrastructure costs and creates a market for retail shops and homes.

With smart growth development, it is important to develop a state/local partnership for growth management, identify a plan to focus development at transit stations and revitalize our cities, and to identify measurable steps to reduce the amount that people have to drive. Without smarter growth, pouring billions of dollars into transportation - most of it into costly highway expansion projects - will only make traffic and development problems worse.

Through smart growth, local governments save money by preserving open space where it is fiscally and environmentally beneficial, and placing development where it makes both economic and social sense. Such development benefits government, business, homeowners, and the community as a whole.

View our Regional Smart Growth Solution: Blueprint for a Better Region

More on Smart Growth:
Solutions: Steps to Better Managing Growth
Principles of Smart Growth
Contacts

Related Issues:
The Effects of Sprawl
The Cost of Sprawl
Sprawl
Land Use
New Urbanism
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)
Open Space