Sprawl Has A Solution

Gov. Patton of Kentucky, Gov. Glendening of Maryland and Louisville Mayor Dave Armstrong (left to right) recently released a new National Governors Association report about urban sprawl.

WASHINGTON - According to a new report by the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices, there is a solution to urban sprawl. The New Community Design (NCD) will promote vibrant neighborhoods of housing, parks, and schools within walking distance to shops, civic services, jobs and transit. The NCD is an antidote to sprawl and a powerful tool for addressing many quality-of-life issues, like traffic congestion, according to the report. The plan will offer distinct alternatives to the developmental "sprawl" that has dominated real estate growth over the last 50 years.

"Combining two core elements of Smart Growth, density and quality design, can go a long way toward creating the types of communities more and more Americans want to call home," said NGA Chairman Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening. "Families want close-knit communities, good schools, open space and easy access to transit. Smart Growth gives them those options." New Community Design to the Rescue: Fulfilling Another American Dream is the final report released under Gov. Glendening's yearlong initiative, "Where Do We Grow From Here?"

According to NGA's report, many homebuyers are fooled by cookie-cutter suburban subdivisions with attractive names such as "villages," but which are really no different than sprawl communities. To help understand the true solution to sprawl, the report includes an NGA checklist to evaluate communities and projects for their consistency with "smart growth" principles. To get a copy of the report, visit www.nga.org for more information.