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SMART GROWTH
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of the
Administrator
(MC1808)
EPA231-F-01-001A
April 2001
http://www.epa.gov
What Is
Smart Growth?
Smart growth is development
that serves the economy, the
community, and the environment.
It changes the terms of the
development debate away from the
traditional growth/no-growth question
to "how and where should new
development be accommodated?"
Smart growth is development that
simultaneously achieves:
• Economic development and jobs—
that create employment and
business opportunities, improves
local tax base, provides
neighborhood services and
amenities, and creates
economically competitive
communities.
• Strong neighborhoods—that
provide a range of housing options
giving people the opportunity to
choose housing that best suits
them. Smart growth provides the
choice to walk, ride a bike, take
transit, or drive. It maintains and
enhances the value of existing
neighborhoods and creates a
sense of community.
• Healthy communities—that provide
families with a clean environment.
Smart growth balances
development and environmental
"The goal of smart growth is not no
growth or even slow growth. Rather,
the overall goal is sensible growth
that balances our need for jobs and
economic development with our
desire to save our natural
environment."
Parris Glendening, Governor,
State of Maryland
"With smart growth we will save
acres, save money on roads and
sewers, keep homes more affordable,
and make our cities and town centers
thrive. That's good growth."
Christine Todd Whitman,
as Governor of New Jersey
protection—accommodating
growth while preserving open
space and critical habitat, reusing
land, and protecting water supplies
and air quality.
Prevailing development patterns of the
last 50 years have brought benefits and
concerns for communities across the
country. Though supportive of growth,
communities are questioning the
economic costs of abandoning
infrastructure in the city and rebuilding it
further out. They are questioning the
necessity of spending increasing time
in cars, locked in traffic or traveling
miles to the nearest store. They are
questioning the practice of
abandoning brownfields in older
communities while developing open
space and prime agricultural lands at
the suburban fringe, which damage
our environment.
Smart growth recognizes the many
benefits of growth. It invests time,
attention, and resources in restoring
community and vitality to center cities
and older suburbs. Smart growth in
new developments is more town-
centered, is transit and pedestrian
oriented, and has a greater mix of
housing, commercial and retail uses.
It also preserves open space and
other environmental amenities. Smart
growth recognizes connections
Smart Growth Principles
• Mix land uses
• Take advantage of compact building design
• Create a range of housing opportunities and choices
• Create walkable neighborhoods
• Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place
• Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical
environmental areas
• Strengthen and direct development towards existing communities
• Provide a variety of transportation choices
• Make development decisions predictable, fair and cost effective
• Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development
decisions
Smart Growth Fact Sheet
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Smart Growth Fact Sheet
between development and quality of
life. Smart growth is:
• Not anti-growth; it's about better
growth—growth that makes sense.
Smart growth leverages new
growth to improve the community
and finds ways to meet economic,
environmental, and quality-of-life
goals.
• Not anti-automobile; it's about
having transportation options—to
drive, walk, bike, or take public
transit.
• Not anti-suburb; it's about building
better places to live in existing
suburbs, cities, and new
communities. It's about protecting
existing investments and quality of
life in areas where people,
communities, and governments
have already made a commitment.
"Smart growth is pro-growth. We
know that developers, banks, and
the entire community rely on
growth to fuel the economy. The
goal is not to limit growth, but to
channel it to areas where
infrastructure allows growth to be
sustained over the long term."
Hugh L. McColl,
Chairman and CEO, Bank of
America
• Not about big government; it's
about improving market efficiency,
making it legal to construct the
small towns and neighborhoods we
used to build, making brownfield
redevelopment easier, and getting
more value from the tax dollars we
spend on roads, sewers, and other
taxpayer investments.
The features that distinguish smart
growth vary by community. No two
streets, neighborhoods, or cities are
SUISUN CITY, CALIFORNIA
In 1989, the San Francisco Chronicle rated Suisun City, California, a town of
25,000 people midway between San Francisco and Sacramento, the worst
place to live in the Bay Area. At that time, Suisun City's historic Main Street
was a strip of boarded-up storefronts, vacant lots, and auto body shops.
Several blocks away, an oil refinery sat at the head of the heavily polluted, silt-
laden Suisun Channel. Today Suisun's harbor is filled with boats and lined with
small businesses. A train and bus station that connects the city to the rest of
Northern California sits a few blocks away. The town is diverse, walkable, and
picturesque. Its crime rate is low and its housing affordable.
How did Suisun City transform itself in a decade? Was it the beneficiary of a
huge government redevelopment grant or a gift from a rich foundation? No
such luck. Instead, Suisun City's residents, businesses, and elected officials
agreed on a common vision for their town's future. Clean-up polluted Suisun
Channel and make the waterfront a focal point of theirtown, they said. Re-
establish historic Main Street as a social and retail gathering place. Strengthen
municipal finances by encouraging tax-generating commercial development
such as retail shops and restaurants along Main Street and the waterfront.
In its rebirth, Suisun City avoided large-scale redevelopment projects such as
shopping centers and industrial parks that would have obliterated its historic,
small-town character. Suisun City is still a work-in-progress. But this once-
troubled town has turned the corner. Suisun City is invigorated with new
businesses and residents, rekindled community spirit, and unbridled optimism
about its future.
identical. There is no "one-size-fits-all"
solution. Smart growth in Portland,
Oregon, has different characteristics
than smart growth in Austin, Texas—
and it should. For that reason, smart
growth does not prescribe solutions.
Rather, it provides choices and seeks
to build on proven successes. The
Smart Growth principles (see box on
opposite page) reflect the experience
of localities that have successfully
created smart growth communities.
These communities had a vision of
where they want to go and of what
things they value in their community.
Spurring the smart growth movement
are demographic shifts, a strong
environmental ethic, increased fiscal
concerns, and more nuanced views of
growth. People know there is a better
way to grow. The result is both a new
demand and a new opportunity for
growth that emphasizes preservation
of open space and farmland, greater
choice in housing and transportation,
efficient investment of limited
infrastructure dollars, and the
strengthening of existing
neighborhoods. Smart growth can
make these alternatives a reality.
To learn more about Smart Growth and the
Smart Growth Network, please go to
http://www.smartgrowth.org.
EPA's mission is to protect public health and the environment. How and where communities grow and develop impacts
public health and the environment. Therefore, EPA works with states and communities to find ways to grow while
minimizing environmental and health impacts. Studies have demonstrated that smart growth development approaches
have clear environmental benefits, including improved air and water quality, increased wetlands preservation, more
brownfield sites cleaned and reused, and increased preservation of open spaces.
5 Printed on 100% recycled/recyclable paper with a minimum 50% post-consumer fiber using vegetable-based ink.
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