About Smart Growth

The Ten Principles of Smart Growth

In practice, smart growth implementation is shaped by 10 principles:

1. Provide a Variety of Transportation Choices
2. Mix Land Uses
3. Create a Range of Housing Opportunities and Choices
4. Create Walkable Neighborhoods
5. Encourage Community and Stakeholder Collaboration
6. Foster Distinctive, Attractive Communities with a Strong Sense of Place
7. Make Development Decisions Predictable, Fair and Cost Effective
8. Preserve Open Space, Farmland, Natural Beauty and Critical Environmental Areas
9. Strengthen and Direct Development Towards Existing Communities
10. Take Advantage of Compact Building Design and Efficient Infrastructure Design

Each of these principles is explained below:

Most communities built within the last 40 years are designed so that residents are almost completely dependent on driving. With no other options, we have to take our cars to run every errand (going to the store, going to school, going to a park, etc.)  Many places don't allow us to take even short walks to nearby shops because there are no sidewalks. Providing a variety of transportation options - like safe and reliable public transportation, sidewalks, bike paths and walking trails -promotes and improves our health, conserves energy and safeguards the environment. We can only reduce our dependency on automobiles if there are other attractive and convenient ways to get where we want to go.

There are also many members of our communities who can't drive or don't have access to a car. Providing transportation options creates communities where our seniors, young people below driving age, and the disabled can all live comfortably.

Mixing land uses is critical to creating walkable neighborhoods. In appropriate locations, building stores, offices and residences to be next to (or on top of) each other allows people to work, shop and enjoy recreation close to where they live.  It makes walking more convenient (encouraging a healthier lifestyle) and also protects the environment and conserves energy by reducing our dependence on cars.

Not everyone has the same housing wants or needs. Some singles prefer to rent small apartments, young couples need starter homes, empty nesters look for a condominium close to town, and retirees need a caring community. Our neighborhoods should offer a range of options: single-family houses of various sizes, duplexes, garden cottages, condominiums, affordable homes for low or fixed-income families, "granny flats" for empty nesters, and accommodations for dependent elders.  Our neighbors who do important work for our community (policemen, firemen, teachers, etc.) should be able find homes they can afford to live in within the community. The citizens of our communities should also be able to continue to live close to their families and friends even as their life-stages and needs (including the need to work from home) change.

Such places offer not just the opportunity to walk -sidewalks are a necessity -but also somewhere to walk to. It can be the to the corner store, the transit stop or to school. A compact, walkable neighborhood encourages healthier lifestyles (more walking!) and protects the environment and saves energy by reducing our dependence on cars. Walkable neighborhoods are also safer neighborhoods for our children (they can walk or bike to the local park and not have to dodge high-speed traffic) and are healthier environments for our seniors (they can get their daily exercise by walking to their friends' homes or to a nearby restaurant). Walkable neighborhoods also create more opportunities to get to know our neighbors when we meet them on the sidewalk (rather than just recognizing each other's car as we drive past each other).

We encourage and nurture the community spirit when ordinary citizens, civic and business groups, and institutions come together to identify the shared values and common vision of what we want our communities to be.  We strengthen our communities even further when we work cooperatively to realize our shared vision.

Community spirit, built on the pride of association and the sense of civic responsibility, creates strong, cohesive communities-the kind of places where our young people can grow to understand the responsibilities of citizenship and where everyone can give back to the roots that nurtured them.

We give everyone who lives in our communities a greater sense of belonging (and "being home") when we create distinctive communities that celebrate our natural settings and reflect the character and values of the people who live there.  We also contribute to our community's unique sense of place when intentionally provide welcoming public spaces, preserve spectacular vistas, define well-designed focal points (including civic buildings) and encourage appropriate architectural styles and scales of neighborhoods.

Development tends to follow the path of least resistance, so the development that is the most desirable should be the easiest to do.  There should as few barriers (if not fewer) to restoring historic buildings and creating infill development as to building on green fields. Projects that fit with the community's vision should also be fast-tracked for approval. Design and construction standards, review and approval processes should be clear for all types of projects because uncertainty creates misunderstanding,   aggravates disagreements, costs developers money and ultimately serves no one in the community.

Communities that care for the environment invest not only in the beauty that surrounds them, but also preserve the very wealth and resources that will sustain their children and all future generations. Protecting the environment (keeping our air, water and soils clean, conserving valuable farmlands, preserving critical areas) also safeguards our own health and can shield us from severe weather and natural disasters.

We maximize our community's investments in public infrastructure (roads, water, sewer) and save tax money when we strengthen and direct development towards established places. We strengthen and revitalize our neighborhoods when we encourage and facilitate infill development, the redevelopment of underutilized or derelict properties, the rehabilitation of brownfield sites, and the adaptive reuse of older structures. These practices also help us to care for our natural environment and preserve it for future generations.

Higher density development and compact building patterns are more energy efficient. By adopting these patterns, we reduce the amount of land we consume and leave more for future generations. We also minimize the amount of infrastructure we have to build and service to support our community. This translates to lower municipal costs, keeping our tax rates down.

Asking for public infrastructure that is energy efficient also protects and preserves our environment.