IV. Solutions: Smart Growth
A. Question Growth
1. although change may be inevitable, growth is not
2. How much growth does the community really want? Which kinds? Not all growth is good:
   a) some forms are good -personal income, health, quality of life
   b) some forms are bad -gridlock, pollution, crime, poverty
   c) some forms are mixed bags -population, economic, land area covered
3. strive to make communities Better, not necessarily Bigger
   See how these cities are putting smart growth into action.

   a) rapid growth doesn't necessarily lead to economic prosperity or improved quality of life new jobs may not go to local folks if new people keep moving in negative consequences of growth may outweigh its benefits b) "development" doesn't have to mean "getting bigger"; it could mean creating jobs, income, and savings by doing more with a community's existing human and natural resources


B. Manage Growth via Better Urban Planning
1. Asses Goals -figure out what kind of community is desired, the try to acheive it
2. recognize and evaluate impacts to overall community welfare
3. integrate transportation planning with land-use planning, doing both at the metropolitan region level, not only at the city or county level
4. growth management may impose some restrictions, but it also reduces uncertainty about future changes

C. Land Use
1. shift toward mixed-use development that's more compact and pedestrian-friendly
   a) mixture of apartments, town houses, and single-family homes
   b) mixture of residential, commercial, and public buildings to bring destinations closer to homes
   c) smaller lot sizes in some ares, even for single-family homes
   d) neighborhoods more walkable and accessible by mass transit (its cost-effectiveness depends mainly on population density)
2. promote infill development -channel some new growth inward, not outward, via renovation of central cities and older inner suburbs
3. preserve adequate urban open space -greenbelts, parks, wilderness areas, farmland
4. urban growth boundaries
   a) after intense local discussions, each town draws a line around itself
   b) during the "planning period" (typically 20 years), all new development must occur within the boundary
   c) new non-farm dwellings in rural areas are prohibited
   d) implemented statewide in Oregon in mid-1970s; results to date are mixed

D. Transform Transportation Policy
1. reduce car dependency -give people more choices about how to get around and fewer reasons to need to
2. build systems to serve people, not their cars; "more vehicle flow" isn't always the best way to improve access
3. stop trying to fix congestion by building more roads. The public may be demanding more roads, but the answers you get depend on the questions you ask:
   a) Typical Questions: "Should we build more roads to fix traffic congestion?"
   b) Typical Answer: "Yes."
   c) More Realistic Question: "Would you rather spend government transportation money widening roads to achieve moderate and temporary reducations in traffic congestion, while bearing numerous sizable but hidden economic, social and environmental costs, or would you rather invest in a more balanced transportation system?"
   d) Answer: ???
4. shift some state transportation money from highways to mass transit

E. Quit Subsidizing Sprawl, Begin Favoring Smart Growth
1. make market forces work for us, not against us -regulating without removing subsidies is like tapping on the brake with one foot while keeping the accelerator to the floor with the other
2. make the problems pay for the solution
   a) make new development pay its own way -impact fees, utilities rates, property taxes
   b) make drivers pay the full costs of driving
   1. pay all the costs to society directly
   2. pay according to the amount driven when the costs depend on the amount driven
   3. Potential Results -imposing parking fees, rush-hour access fees, mileage-based registration and insurance, emissions fees, etc. while making reasonable alternatives to driving available could reduce trips by 20-40% (see Figure 2)
3. change the rules so that businesses can make higher profits by developing our communities in sustainable ways rather than by squandering resources wastefully
   a) give vehicle-makers incentives to cut pollution
   b) give developers incentives to minimize negative impacts of growth
   c) the multi-billion $ oil, highway, and real estate interests can be challenged if we only have the will (consider the tobacco corporations)

V. DEBUNKING CRITICS and AVOIDING STEREOTYPES
A. You Tree-Huggers are Just Another Special Interest
1. special interest -having a financial stake in an issue
2. public interest -looking out for the general public good on an issue

B. Challenging Sprawl is Anti-Car
1. the goal isn't giving up cars, it's reducing car-dependence
2. citizens deserve more choices, and non-drivers deserve access
3. more cars, roads, and driving isn't necessarily a good thing

C. Growth is Inevitable/ Growth is Always Good (see previous section)
D. The Smart Growthers Want to Tell Me Where/How to Live
1. Smart Growth is not about:
   a) making all cities look like Manhattan
   b) outlawing strip malls
   c) eliminating the rural lifestyle
2. Smart Growth is about:
   a) making urban development pay its own way
   b) making drivers pay the full costs of driving, in proportion to the amount driven
   c) increasing consumer choice via more balanced and innovative zoning and investment in alternatives to driving
   d) preserving urban greenspace via normal market transactions
   e) not allowing existing urban investments to decay or be discarded

E. You're a Communist! Limiting Capitalism or Individual Rights is Un-American and Un-Constitutional
1. indivisual rights, government, and society
   a) the role of state "police power" (government's right to interfere with private activity)
   1. a certain amount is completely legitimate under the Constitution and numerous US Supreme Court rulings
   2. essential for the protection of public health, safety, and general welfare
   3. Examples -zoning, building codes, pollution controls, rules of the road, rules for signs and billboards
   b) government sets and enforces the rules under which capitalism operates (even in the US)
   c) absolute individual freedom is not written into the Constitution
   d) complete absence of government involvement means anarchy; how many of us really want that?
2. "Limiting Rights" vs. "Balancing Rights" -which individuals have which rights?
   a) Transportation
   1. your right to drive vs. my right to achieve access without driving
   2. your right to use a highly polluting vehicle vs. my right to clean air
   b) Zoning and Land Use
   1. your right to buy and develop any urban land vs. my right to urban greenspace
   2. your right to develop wetlands vs. downstream owners' right to natural flood protection
3. is it really a legal "right", or just resistance to change?
   a) "right" to bigger roads or car-oriented development
   b) "right" to articially cheap American Dream or individual vehicle travel

F. Free Markets are Best; Keep the Government Out of It
1. generally, markets shouldn't be absolutely free -government has a legitimate and proper regulatory role in a democracy
2. even unregulated land use and transportation margets are not now "free" -government taxing and spending policies distort them
3. markets don't tell the whole story -they omit some aspects of quality of life (gridlock delays, dirty air and water)
4. sometimes costs accrue to individuals, while benefits are dispersed throughout society as a whole; this warrants government involvement to correct the imbalance (exhaust pipe emissions controls on cars)
5. freemarkets vs. efficient markets
   a) wanting free markets is political ideology (opposing government involvement); wanting efficient markets is the economic goal of maximizing overall societal benefits (on the whole, using our resources most wisely)
   b) free markets aren't necessarily efficient, because sometimes markets don't work right; achieving efficiency often requires government intervention
   c) markets work well (i.e., efficiently) only if the prices are right; since the prices for both new urban development and driving are artificially low, society has "too much" of both

VI. Resources
A. Web Pages
1. Sierra club Pages:
   a) National Sprawl Page -http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/
   b) National Transportation Page -http://www.sierraclub.org/trans portation/
   c) Oklahoma Chapter Sprawl Page -http://www.sierraclub.org/c hapters/ok/sprawl/
2. Surface Transportation Policy Project -http://www.transact.org
3. Victoria Transportation Policy Institute -http://www.islandnet.com/~litman
4. Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse -http://www.sprawlwatch.org
5. Smart Growth Network -http://www.smartgrowth.org
6. American Planning Association Policy Guides -http://www.planning.org/govt/po licygd.htm

B. Magazines
1. Sierra, from Sierra Club National
2. Amicus, the NRDC journal (Natural Resources Defense Council)

C. Books
1. A great environmental textbook -"Living in the Environment, 10th ed." by G. Tyler Miller, Jr., 1998
2. On Sprawl:
   a) joint project of STPP & NRDC -"Once There Were Greenfields: How Urban Sprawl is Undermining America's Environment, Economy, and Social Fabric," by F. Kaid Benfield, Matthew D. Raimi and Donald D.T. Chen, 1999
   b) "Better not Bigger: How to Take Control of Urban Growth and Improve Your Community," by Eben Fodor, 1999

D. SC National Email Discussion Lists
1. CONS-SPST-SPRAWL-TRANS
2. CONS-SPST-SPRAWL-DEV

E. Activism
1. toolkits by SC National and by Natural Resources Defence Council/STPP
2. Two SC National booklets -on why sprawl is a problem (1998) and on smart growth (1999)

Return to the Oklahoma Sierra Club Chapter home page.