SMART GROWTH
„ E T W O R
Putting
Smart Growth
'o Work
ural Communities
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This report was developed under Cooperative Agreement
No. PI-83233801 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. However, the views expressed in this document are solely
those of ICMA and EPA does not endorse any products or
commercial services mentioned in this publication.
The report was written by Nadejda Mishkovsky, an independent
consultant; Matthew Dalbey and Stephanie Bertaina of EPA; and
Anna Read and Tad McGalliard of ICMA. The report was designed by
Will Kemp and edited by Kathryn Lindemuth. ICMA would also like to
thank EPA project manager Danielle Arigoni.
For more information on this report and ICMA and EPA's smart
growth work contact:
Anna Read
Email: aread@icma.org
Phone: (202) 962-3641
Or visit http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth
ICMA
ICMA is the premier local government leadership and
management organization. Its mission is to create excellence
in local governance by developing and advocating professional
management of local government worldwide. ICMA provides
member support; publications, data, and information; peer
and results-oriented assistance; and training and professional
development to more than 9,000 city, town, and county experts
and other individuals throughout the world.
Copyright © 2010 by the International City/County Management
Association. All rights reserved, including rights of reproduction
and use in any form or by any means, including the making
of copies by any photographic process, or by any electrical
or mechanical device, printed, written, or oral or recording
for sound or visual reproduction, or for use in any knowledge
or retrieval system or device, unless permission in writing is
obtained from the copyright proprietor.
Cover photo credits: (Top to bottom) NRCS, US EPA, and Clark Anderson. Inset photo: Stephanie Bertaina.
Inside back cover photo credit: NRCS.
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
Introduction
Communities across the country want to get the most
out of future growth and development. Residents and
leaders from all types of communities—from urban
to suburban to rural—want to achieve the best pos-
sible economic, social, environmental, and public
health outcomes. This desire is particularly evident in
rural communities that may be experiencing changes
in their traditional landscapes and ways of life. In
communities with less diverse economies, the choices
between "what was" and "what could be" are critical.
The reverberations of simple decisions or even of inac-
tion can be relatively dramatic.
Rural economies may be booming, in decline,
or simply in flux—this status shapes priorities and
frames the local debate. In communities facing growth
pressures, there is often a struggle to maintain farm-
land or natural landscapes, small-town traditions,
and rural character while still benefiting from devel-
opment. Growth can bring traffic congestion and
conflicts between the natural resources economy and
residential lifestyles not dependent upon working
lands. Where local economies are struggling to stay
afloat, however, the focus is more often on develop-
ment strategies that will attract public and private
investments.
This publication is designed to provide rural
decision-makers with a resource for balancing com-
peting goals while creating more vibrant, sustainable
communities. It is intended to show how smart growth
approaches can be adapted and applied in the rural
context, particularly in times of change. Following a
brief discussion of key issues facing different types of
rural communities and how smart growth is perceived
in rural environments, the majority of this publication
addresses how to put smart growth into practice in
rural communities. This third section of this publica-
tion is framed around three key goals, which can help
a community pursue its vision for accommodating and
attracting sensible growth in the future, while main-
taining and enhancing its rural character and quality
of life.
The three goals are:
1. Support the rural landscape by creating an eco-
nomic climate that enhances the viability of work-
ing lands and conserves natural lands;
2. Help existing places thrive by taking care of
assets and investments such as downtowns, Main
Streets, existing infrastructure, and places that the
community values; and
3. Create great new places by building vibrant,
enduring neighborhoods and communities that
people, especially young people, don't want to
leave.
Strategies and policy tools (some commonplace,
some cutting edge) supporting each of these three
goals will provide some practical direction for rural
communities that want to ensure that economic
opportunity and growth meet the needs of new and
current residents and businesses without fundamen-
tally altering the community character. While the
process of strategically defining growth in a rural com-
munity is certain to be challenging and require time,
patience, and subtlety—as is the case elsewhere—it
is also likely to yield the most desirable community
outcomes.
Smart growth approaches, when adapted and applied in rural
contexts, can help communities balance competing demands
by supporting the rural landscape, helping existing places to
thrive, and creating great new places.
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2 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
What Is Rural?
Rural can be a difficult word to define. It depends on
whom you ask and where you are—a rural community
in a relatively high-population state can look dramati-
cally different from a rural community in a less popu-
lous state. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Economic Research Service (ERS) defines rural areas
as nonmetropolitan counties. Of the nation's 3,142
counties, nearly two-thirds are rural. By this defini-
tion, rural communities in the United States comprise
17 percent of the population (49 million people)
and about 75 percent of the total land area.1 These
descriptions, however, do not address the interaction
between land and place that is so integral to under-
standing rural development patterns or the challenges
associated with growth and development facing rural
communities.
From a land use and development perspective,
rural America includes towns and small cities as well
as working lands, farms, prairies, forests, and range-
lands. Historically, rural land has been used primar-
ily for the production and extraction of resources.
Towns grew as part of or adjacent to these working
lands to provide a place where agricultural or natural
resources could be traded for value-added goods or
shipped elsewhere (not surprisingly, many towns were
located along rail spurs and river ports or at major
crossroads). Supported by main commercial streets
and relatively dense, walkable neighborhoods, valu-
able infrastructure also developed in towns to serve
civic, cultural, and social needs of rural communities.
But the working lands—farms, prairies, forests, and
rangelands—surrounding these towns were the reason
for their existence. The environment provided more
than attractive vistas—it was integral to the social and
economic life of the town.
Trends Challenging Rural America Today
The land-based economy and its accompanying way of
life in rural communities have been affected by a num-
ber of outside forces. While many of these changes
have been gradual, others have been more immediate.
As these communities continue to change, rural identi-
ties may be altered and communities may lose the
opportunity to set their own agendas. By understand-
ing the challenges that their communities are facing
and thinking strategically about future growth and
development, rural decision-makers can direct growth
in a way that benefits the community while preserving
its rural heritage and traditions.
As these photos illustrate, rural can mean many different things. Rural communities,
whether they are small towns and cities, working lands, or tourist-based economies, are
characterized by an interaction between land and place. Smart growth strategies can
be used to maintain the defining characteristics of rural communities as they grow and
change.
Photos courtesy of US EPA
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 3
A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT RURAL COMMUNITIES
There are many ways to describe rural communities based on
their economic, geographic, or design characteristics. Certainly,
each community is unigue, and rural communities can include a
number of complex and contradictory gualities. However, char-
acterizing them can help identify common challenges they may
be facing as well as opportunities that may help them adopt a
sustainable approach to growth and development in the future.
Most rural communities can be grouped into five categories2,
though many may fall into more than one:
1. Gateway communities are adjacent to high-amenity
recreational areas such as National Parks, National Forests,
and coastlines. They provide food, lodging, and associated
services. Increasingly popular places to live, work, and
play, gateway communities often struggle with strains on
infrastructure and the natural environment.
2. Resource-dependent communities are often home to single
industries, such as farming or mining, so their fortunes
rise and fall with the market value of that resource. A
key challenge facing resource-dependent communities
is diversifying the economy while maintaining their rural
guality of life and character.
3. Edge communities are located at the fringe of metropolitan
areas and typically connected to them by state and
interstate highways. They provide their residents with
access to economic opportunities, jobs, and services. More
affordable housing and access to urban amenities have
made many of these edge areas grow at a faster pace than
their metropolitan areas as a whole. But precisely because
they are such attractive places to settle, edge communities
often face pressure to continue to provide more housing
and services to new residents.
4. Traditional Main Street communities enjoy compact street
design that is often accessible to a transportation hub. In
addition, historically significant architecture and public
spaces provide valuable resources upon which to build. Still,
these communities often struggle to compete for tenants
and customers with office parks, regional malls, and big box
stores.
5. Second home and retirement communities may overlap with
some of the above groups, particularly edge communities
and traditional Main Street communities. Like gateway
communities, second home, and retirement communities
struggle to keep pace with new growth while maintaining
the guality of life that drew in residents in the first place.
Many of the challenges described below are
regional in nature and require regional solutions.
And yet land use decisions are made at the local
level. When appropriate, local governments should
cooperate across boundaries to develop collaborative,
regional solutions to the challenges facing their indi-
vidual communities.
Fewer farms and fewer farmers
Since the end of World War II, farm consolidation and
the transition of agricultural land into non-agricultural
uses have been a challenge for many rural communi-
ties. Farmland has been converted into residential or
commercial uses, and small family farms have been
replaced by large corporate farms. These changes have
reduced the amount of open land, and technological
advancements have further reduced the need for labor
on remaining working lands—a particular challenge
for resource-dependent communities. With fewer
farms and fewer farming families, the skills, tradi-
tions, and culture built around the rural economy are
less likely to contribute to a rural community's sense
Many rural communities are facing challenges, including
decreasing farm employment, lack of amenities, remote
locations, and declining populations.
of place. The 2007 Census of Agriculture found that
65 percent of principal farm operators report working
off-farm, and nearly 55 percent report something other
than farming as their primary occupation.3
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4 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
DEVELOPMENT ON
THIS SITE
The number of farms and farmers has
been declining since the end of World War
II, as farmland has been developed and
large corporate farms have replaced small
family farms.
Loss of forest land
Conversion of forest land in rural communities is also
changing the character of those communities. The
U.S. Forest Service estimates that between 1982 and
1997, 10.3 million acres of forest land were converted
to development. By 2050, an additional 23 million
acres of forest land may be lost.4 This trend indicates a
decline in the ecological health of rural communities,
but it also means that the forestry-based economy of
some rural communities may be in jeopardy and that
the landscapes that have defined many communities
are changing. Many rural communities are concerned
that these changes may have a negative impact on
tourism and their residents' quality of life.
Rapid growth at metropolitan edges
Across the country, the highest rates of population
growth have been occurring at the edges of metro-
politan areas, where suburban and rural areas meet.
In the mid-1990s, three-quarters of all new residential
development was built at or beyond the urban edge.
Nearly all of this development occurred on lots that
are one acre or larger.5 Such development, which con-
sumes 1.2 million acres of prime farmland every year,6
may appear somewhat rural from the road but actually
undermines the viability of a resource-based economy.
Low-density and single-use development patterns also
result in additional population growth and increas-
ing demands for services, often in places where it is
inefficient to provide them. Edge communities, due to
their rapidly growing populations, may face infrastruc-
ture challenges and find it difficult to provide new
infrastructure and services at a rate that keeps up with
population growth. Higher population growth and
commutes to non-farm jobs increase traffic congestion
along rural routes. As growth occurs in some regional
areas, tensions often develop between the "new" and
"old" residents. Edge communities, which border both
urban and rural areas, and resource-dependent com-
munities may see nuisance lawsuits, which are com-
mon, due to newcomers' concerns about the noise,
odor, dust, etc., that occur with normal operation of
working lands.
Shrinking population in other areas
While some areas struggle to keep up with growth,
other regions have the opposite problem. According
to the USDA, one in four rural counties saw a drop in
population between 1990 and 2000, primarily due to
declining farm employment, remoteness from metro-
politan areas, and a lack of amenities like a vibrant
Main Street or natural features.7 Communities with
declining populations or a contracting economy face a
combination of problems: unemployment and poverty,
increasing demands for social services with fewer
dollars to pay for them, an aging workforce, vacant
properties, and loss of historic structures. Attempts to
compete with other jurisdictions for large economic
development projects, such as new manufacturing
plants, office parks, or regional big box retailers, may
come at the expense of local businesses and the com-
munity ties they aim to support.
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 5
Access to jobs and services and a lack of
transportation options
Commutes to distant employment centers require a
greater percentage of the family budget to be spent on
transportation and reduce take-home pay. This trend
particularly impacts low-income families.8 More and
longer auto travel to services outside the community
increases the demand for highway expansions and
the viability of highway-oriented retail development,
thereby reducing demand for Main Street goods and
services. Long commutes have environmental and
social costs as well, increasing air and water pollution
and reducing leisure and family time.
One of the challenges facing rural communities
today is finding ways to provide convenient, cost-
efficient access to jobs, shops, services, education, and
health care. Land use trends have separated many of
these uses, making access dependent on automobiles.
Of course, transportation challenges differ based on
the type of rural community. For example, gateway
communities must focus on bringing tourists to desti-
nations, while resource-dependent communities need
to ensure efficient transportation of goods to markets.
Approaches that combine transportation planning with
better land development policies can help communi-
ties support these high-priority economic issues while
also enhancing quality of life for residents.
Limited planning capacity
While many rural communities view any growth as
an indicator of success and a healthy economy, oth-
ers are realizing that the conventional development
pattern of dispersed development disconnected from
traditional town centers can also pose challenges for
communities to meet their fiscal, social, and environ-
mental aims and, increasingly, public health goals.
As services, products, and amenities formerly found
in compact, walkable places relocate to spread-out
sites across the landscape, they require more costly
infrastructure that adds to the strain on local finances,
degrades the environment, and leads to more car-
dependent communities.
Many small, rural communities face challenges
of local government staffing. Limited staff size and
experience can mean inadequate attention to time-
consuming but important issues, such as a community
visioning process, comprehensive planning, regional
collaboration, and skill development to create and
implement growth and development policies that
support community goals and needs. The result is
often haphazard development that supports individual
landowner and developer interests but does little to
conserve valuable resources or channel new invest-
ment in the most efficient manner for the community
as a whole.
Rapid growth on the edges of metropolitan areas can undermine the viability of rural
resource-based economies, and rapid population growth may result in traffic congestion,
strained services, and tension between the "new" and "old" residents.
Photo courtesy of US EPA
Photo courtesy of NRCS
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6 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
Understanding Rural Smart Growth
Smart growth approaches to development benefit
the community, the environment, the economy, and
public health. Rural communities hoping to imple-
ment smart growth approaches must strategically
facilitate community decision making and policies and
make the most of their natural features and amenities,
recognizing that no community has endless resources.
If rural communities are to meet the broad challenge
of maintaining rural character while also supporting
economic growth and opportunity, they require a set
of tools that can be adjusted to reflect the diversity of
rural communities and that can apply to both expand-
ing and contracting economies. This publication is
designed to provide this set of tools.
A rural community that uses smart growth
approaches has a vibrant downtown, with historical
buildings that have been preserved, a walkable Main
Street or two, and compact neighborhoods surround-
ing the downtown. It is a place with a small-town
feel and sense of community that develop when you
know your neighbors. Residents gather in town for
important events, to shop, and to participate in civic
activities. The local economy—whether it is built
on resource extraction, tourism, or new economic
opportunities that have evolved in rural America—
celebrates, protects, and supports the use of the land.
Local businesses are encouraged to flourish, particu-
larly those that support the community's rural iden-
tity. Housing options support a variety of financial and
lifestyle choices, whether old or newly constructed, in
Smart growth can help create vibrant, walkable Main Streets
in rural communities, while preserving historic buildings and
community character, as seen in Seneca Falls, New York.
town or the countryside, in modest apartment build-
ings or single-family homes. Underutilized lots in
already developed areas are reused whenever possible,
especially before using valuable undeveloped property
for new construction, to control infrastructure costs, to
preserve pristine land, and to provide more options for
transportation. The community has articulated its joint
vision for the future in policy documents so that devel-
opers and the broader stakeholder community alike
have some predictability. With such a vision in mind,
it becomes clear that smart growth strategies enable
the entire community to benefit from its local rural
heritage and resources, just as all can share jointly in
its development and conservation.
THE TEN PRINCIPLES OF SMART GROWTH
Since the mid-1990s, the Smart Growth Network, a network of
non-governmental organizations representing diverse interests,
has been identifying best practices, policies, and strategies that
help communities get the results they want from growth. The
framework for these findings is a set of ten Smart Growth Prin-
ciples (see below), which apply to a range of communities, from
urban to rural, and were developed based on the experiences
of communities around the country. See the Smart Growth
Network Website for a discussion of these principles:
http://www.smartgrowth.org.
• Mix land uses.
• Take advantage of compact design.
• Create a range of housing opportunities and choices.
Create walkable communities.
Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong
sense of place.
Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical
environmental areas.
Strengthen and direct development toward existing
communities.
Provide a variety of transportation options.
Make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost-
effective.
Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in
development decisions.
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 7
Smart growth approaches to development can help
achieve the vision of vibrant, thriving rural commu-
nities outlined in the paragraph above. One way to
structure a rural smart growth approach is to use the
following three goals as a framework for future growth
in rural communities:
1. Support the rural landscape by creating an eco-
nomic climate that enhances the viability of work-
ing lands and conserves natural lands;
2. Help existing places thrive by taking care of
assets and investments such as downtowns, Main
Streets, existing infrastructure, and places that the
community values; and
3. Create great new places by building vibrant,
enduring neighborhoods and communities that
people, especially young people, don't want to
leave.
In areas experiencing rapid growth, the three goals
for new development provide a framework for ensur-
ing that the rural quality of life is supported. Decision
makers and planners can use them to help shape
proposed developments to ensure that they correspond
with the public's vision for growth and the benefits
they wish to see flow from it.
For communities that are not growing, leaders can
use the goals to articulate a vision for the future and
to prioritize. The framework can help communities
more clearly distinguish the existing resources that are
valuable for preservation or enhancement and build
upon them, targeting their efforts toward attracting
investment in various sectors of the economy that
Smart growth strategies can be adapted to individual
community contexts to help guide future growth and
development.
will support the community's chosen direction. Smart
growth approaches are not a guarantee for success in
declining rural communities, but they articulate alter-
native approaches to attracting the large corporation
or big factory complex, which is often the primary
economic development strategy and can be at odds
with rural character.
Goals, Strategies, and Policy Tools
for Rural Smart Growth
The first step for a community wanting to improve
its growth pattern is to assess the current environ-
mental, economic, and social conditions. How is
the community connected to other communities in
the region? What are the community's best assets?
Its key challenges? Then, residents, leaders, and
other stakeholders can decide what the community's
long-term vision is—what kind of place it should
be. Defining the community's vision for the future
involves identifying the community's highest priori-
ties, most valuable resources, significant aspects of
its identity, and so on. Once there is some agreement
on the end goal, the community can determine the
approaches needed to help it realize that vision. The
rest of this publication provides a toolbox of strate-
gies and policy tools designed to assist communities
in implementing their vision for the future.
The three goals described in the previous sec-
tion can help create a framework for implementing
smart growth principles in rural communities. They
are intended not only to help communities imple-
ment smart growth approaches within their individual
communities but also to help them take a regional
approach, partnering with other communities to sup-
port better outcomes across the region.
Following each goal are descriptions of strategies
and policy tools that support it. Many rural municipal-
ities already have these policy tools at their disposal,
such as comprehensive planning, zoning authority,
and tax policy. In some cases, the solution to achiev-
ing better outcomes from development may be simply
identifying and removing the regulatory obstacles that
have prevented the construction of compact, mixed-
use developments or hindered reinvestment in exist-
ing commercial centers. In other communities, the
greatest challenge may lie in employing these tools
effectively, given the resources and technical expertise
available and the realities of the current economic
situation.
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8 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
RESOURCE-DEPENDENT MINER COUNTY DIVERSIFIES AND GROWS
Miner County, South Dakota, created a clear vision that has
helped direct the community's approach to development.
Instead of spending limited resources trying to attract a major
corporation to locate a plant or a store, citizens concentrated
on building upon their towns' existing assets; instead of trying
to attract new residents, Miner County aimed to create good
jobs for the people still there.
By 1995, Miner County's population had declined to 3,000,
from its peak of 8,500 in the 1920s and 1930s. Many small
towns on the Northern Plains were disappearing altogether,
and Howard-Miner's county seat-was at risk. Miner County's
development strategy began at the local high school that
had created a Rural Resource Center with funding from the
Annenburg Rural Challenge, which focuses on connecting
schools with their communities.1 Students involved in Future
Business Leaders of America (FBLA) conducted a community
cash-flow study, which found that half of the county's residents
shopped outside the county and that if all residents spent just
10 percent more of their disposable income inside the county,
it would add more than $7 million to the local economy. In the
year after the survey, Miner County's taxable sales increased by
more than 40 percent.
The success of the study prompted Randy Parry, a former
business and economics teacher and the executive director of
Miner County Community Revitalization, to form a committee
to bring residents together to renew the county's economy and
settlements. Using grant money and volunteer labor, partici-
pants in the center pulled tree stumps from the downtown
of one town and restored houses in another. They arranged
seminars for farmers on emerging markets for deer, elk, and
organic beef and converted a slaughterhouse that had been
vacant for 30 years into a processing location for local organic
beef. The center and the town of Howard bought wind turbines
from a local machine shop, which has since become Energy
Maintenance Services of Gary, South Dakota, lowering local
electricity rates.
Miner County is still struggling to maintain its population
and economic viability, but it has improved local guality of
life, established a revolving loan fund for local business, and
acguired cell phone service. The county is making the most of
its past to build a sustainable future.2
1 Miner County Community Revitalization. "How Miner County Got Started."
http://www.mccr.net/mccr/began.html
2 Eig, J. "In Bid to Hang On, Miner County, S.D., Downsizes Dreams." Wall Street
Journal, March 25,2002, and Wells, B. Smart Growth at the Frontier: Strategies
and Resources for Rural Communities. Northeast Midwest Institute, 2002.
GOALS, STRATEGIES, AND POLICY TOOLS FOR RURAL SMART GROWTH
Support the Rural Landscape
Creafe an economic climate that enhances
the viability of working lands and
conserves natural lands.
Goal 2
Help Existing Places Thrive
Take care of assets and in vestments such
as downtowns, Main Streets, existing infra-
structure, and places that the community
values.
Goal 3
Create Great New Places
Build vibrant, enduring neighborhoods and
communities that people, especially young
people, don't want to leave.
1.a. Ensure the viability of the resource
economy in the region
2.a. Invest public and private funds in
existing places
3.a. Update strategic and policy docu-
ments to accommodate new growth
through compact and contiguous
development
1.b. Cultivate economic development
strategies that rely on traditional rural
landscapes
2.b. Encourage private sector investment
3.b. Reform policies to make it easy for
developers to build compact, walkable,
mixed-use places
I.e. Promote rural products in urban areas 2.c. Build on past community investments
and support other urban-rural links
1.d. Link rural land preservation strategies 2.d. Foster economic development in
to great neighborhoods existing downtowns
3.c. Recognize and reward developers
that build great places using smart growth
and green building approaches
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Goal 1: Support the rural landscape
Create an economic climate that
enhances the viability of working
lands and conserves natural lands.
Rural towns and villages are integrally linked with
their surrounding landscapes. As such, smart growth
in rural areas requires that communities preserve the
landscapes that community members say they value.
These include farmland, rangelands, forests, and
natural areas—the elements that are part of the sense
of place for rural communities. These uniquely rural
resources are best protected when there is a support-
ive economic climate that values working lands and a
development climate that promotes the conservation
of the natural landscape.
Land development and population growth are signs
of economic progress in many communities, but these
indicators are often at odds with the working farms,
natural landscapes, and scenic vistas that characterize
rural areas and define their sense of place. When the
agriculture-, forest-, and amenity-driven economies are
encouraged to prosper, there is less pressure to convert
land to developed uses in a haphazard manner. With
strategic and early planning, a community can pri-
oritize which land is most important to conserve and
which land can accommodate the projected need for
future growth.
Strategy 1.a. Ensure the viability of the
resource economy in the region
Use value taxation
Use value taxation (often called current use value
taxation or preferential assessment) is a voluntary
approach that allows land to be assessed at its current
use value (as agriculture or forest land, for instance),
rather than at its highest market value, which may
include the value of the land based on its current use
plus the underlying development rights that have
not been exercised by the property owner. Use value
taxation is used in some form in every state except
Michigan.9 Washington state, facing significant urban-
growth pressure that has led to approximately 75 per-
cent of its active agricultural land having fair-market
values greater than the agricultural value (which,
statewide, averages at 28 percent of the fair-market
value), adopted a current use value taxation policy.
GOAL 1: SUPPORT THE RURAL LANDSCAPE
Strategy
1.a. Ensure the viability of the resource
economy in the region
Tools & Policies
Use value taxation
Tax credits for conservation
Right to farm policies
Renewable energy development
Value-added farm and forest products
processing
Ecosystem services markets
1.b. Cultivate economic development
strategies that rely on traditional rural
landscapes
Purchase of development rights
Conservation easements
Fee simple acguisition
Agritourism and ecotourism
I.e. Promote rural products in urban areas
and support other urban-rural links
Direct marketing to consumers
Government purchase of local products
"Buy local" campaigns
1.d. Link rural land preservation strategies
to great neighborhoods
Transfer of development rights
Priority funding areas
Agricultural, ranching, or forestry
zoning
Rural home clustering
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10 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
Right to farm polices can reduce nuisance lawsuits in areas with increasing non-agricultural populations. Larimer County, Colorado,
adopted a Right to Farm and Ranch policy in 1998, protecting the rights of farmers and ranchers to use the land.
Because farmers or foresters face a lower tax burden
when they are taxing at current use, working the land
remains more economically viable for the landowner.
Currently, Washington has more than 11 million acres
enrolled in current use value taxation.10
Tax credits for conservation
Tax incentives for donating conservation easements
can motivate a landowner to remain on the land. Fed-
eral, state, and local governments can grant tax credits
for land donation or conservation easements. Colo-
rado has a tax credit system in place that provides the
donor of a conservation easement a state income-tax
credit of one-half the dollar value of the land under
easement, up to an annual maximum of $375,000.n
Right to farm policies
Nuisance lawsuits, based on complaints from neigh-
bors or strict local policies, seek to curtail normal
farming activities. Right to farm ordinances and laws
protect farmers, ranchers, and foresters by preventing
these lawsuits from succeeding in court. In response
to an increase in the non-agricultural population and
new tensions that were arising and threatening local
agriculture, Larimer County, Colorado, established
a Right to Farm and Ranch policy in 1998. State and
county laws protect the rights of farmers, stating that
as long as farms and ranches are operating within
regulations, they cannot be considered nuisances.12
Renewable energy development13
Renewable energy development on rural lands pro-
vides an opportunity for farmers, ranchers, and forest-
ers to increase the profits from their land, giving them
an additional economic incentive to keep working
lands working. The 2007 Census of Agriculture found
23,451 farms generated energy on-site.14 Here are some
of the approaches they are using:
1. Some lands are suitable for wind energy develop-
ment, and landowners may be able to capitalize on
the opportunity to enter the energy market while
still maintaining the traditional use of the land.
Federal investment tax credits for wind farm devel-
opment, including the Production Tax Credit, can
provide an economic incentive to landowners.
2. Biomass production from trees, crops, or livestock
manure, which can be processed by a methane
digester to generate electricity for the farm or for
sale to the grid, provides another avenue for gener-
ating additional revenue from the land.
3. Production of solar energy on solar farms has
potential for rural use in many parts of the country
as well.
Oregon has established Rural Renewable Energy
Development (RRED) zones to encourage the develop-
ment of renewable energy resources in non-metropol-
itan areas. Energy companies developing renewable
capacity in RRED zones receive a property-tax exemp-
tion (as assessed on all new infrastructure and prop-
erty improvements) for three to five years.
Value-added farm and forest products processing
By processing raw food and fiber into value-added
products, landowners can supplement their income
beyond simply selling the raw materials. Value-added
forestry products include furniture, flooring, construe-
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 11
ENSURING THE VIABILITY OF THE RESOURCE ECONOMY IN OREGON
Oregon has 28 million acres of forest and 17.1 million acres of
farmland-together, well over half of the state's total land cover.
Oregon is the nation's leading producer of timber and forest
products, and farming is one of the state's largest industries,
comprising 10 percent of the state's gross domestic product.
As a result of the importance of these rural industries to the
state's economy, Oregon has made protecting its rural resource
economy a priority.
In addition to the RRED zones discussed above, Oregon uses
value-added processing for farm and forest products and has
made protecting rural resources and the related economies a
central part of its statewide planning goals. The statewide goals
of preserving farmland, conserving forest land, and protecting
natural resources outline planning strategies, including special
zoning designations, which help limit development and urban
growth on working lands. Using these strategies, Oregon has
helped ensure that its rural resource economy continues to
grow and thrive.1
1 Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. "Rural Issues."
http://www.oregon.gov/LCD/urbanrural.shtmlttRuraLlssues
tion materials, and paper; value-added food products
include ice cream made from milk produced at a
local dairy. These products can be developed through
producer-owned cooperatives and local manufacturing
plants and can also provide work for other residents
in the community. Many states have adopted policies
supporting value-added processing. For example, Min-
nesota has adopted legislation to establish a value-
added processing and marketing grant program to help
farmers establish cooperatives and markets for their
value-added products.15 The Blue Ridge Forest Coop-
erative (BRFC) in southwest Virginia provides another
example of value-added forestry products. The BRFC
is a community-owned and operated forestry business
that joins landowners to make value-added forestry
products like trim, decking, paneling, and flooring
while maintaining sustainable forest management
practices.16
Developing renewable energy capacity on rural lands can help
farmers, ranchers, and foresters increase their profit margins,
which provides incentive to keep the land in productive use.
Oregon has worked to protect its agricultural and resource
lands with statewide planning goals and special zoning
designations, which limit growth on working lands.
Ecosystem services markets
Rural lands provide valuable ecosystem services,
including sequestering carbon, filtering and storing a
clean water supply, maintaining a habitat that sup-
ports biodiversity, and mitigating natural hazards,
such as floods and fire. Markets are emerging for these
ecosystem services. In an ecosystem service market,
the landowner sells ecosystem service credits to a
bank, which in turn sells them to a buyer that has
exceeded limits in carbon emissions, water pollutants,
or biodiversity loss, based on a cap and trade system.
Ecosystem services markets allow landowners to cap-
ture the value of the ecological benefits their land pro-
vides to the public. One of the best examples of this
approach is in New York's Catskill Mountains: New
York City provides payment for ecosystem services in
order to protect its drinking water supply, ensuring
that the land in the watershed will not be developed.
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12 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
Strategy 1.b. Cultivate economic development
strategies that rely on rural landscapes
Purchase of development rights
Purchase of development rights (PDR) is a voluntary
program in which a land trust or other agency buys
the development rights to a parcel from the land-
owner. The landowner is free to turn down the offer
or try to negotiate a higher price. Once an agreement
is made, a permanent deed restriction is placed on the
property restricting the type of activities that may take
place on the land in perpetuity. In this way, a legally
binding guarantee is achieved to ensure that the parcel
will remain agricultural land, forest land, rangeland,
or as open space forever. This is because the agency
involved retires the development rights upon pur-
chase. This strategy has become increasingly popular,
particularly in the West: Montana, Utah, and Arizona
have all established programs with state funding.17
(See also: Transfer of development rights, Strategy
l.d.)
Conservation easements
For any land whose conservation is in the public inter-
est, a conservation easement (or conservation restric-
tion) is a legal agreement between a landowner and
a land trust or government agency that permanently
limits uses of the land in order to protect its conserva-
tion values. This tool allows the landowner to con-
tinue to own and use the land and to sell it or pass it
on to heirs. There are tax advantages to landowners
for donating conservation easements, including both
immediate property tax and inheritance tax benefits.
Conservation easements have been successful in many
rural areas, including along the Bois Brule River in
Wisconsin, where more than 90 percent of the riparian
habitat on privately held land along the upper river is
protected under easements.18 (See also: Tax credits for
conservation easements, Strategy 1 .a.)
Vermont has an active agritourism industry. Agritourism can
increase revenues by drawing tourists to stay in farm bed-and-
breakfasts and participate in farming activities.
SUPPORTING AGRITOURISM AND CONSERVATION EASEMENTS IN VERMONT
Communities looking to protect rural landscapes while cultivat-
ing economic development have a number of resources in
Vermont. The state has not only an active land trust but also an
established agritourism industry, which emphasizes the state's
agricultural landscapes and heritage. The Vermont Land Trust
(VLT), which has been active since 1977, has worked to place
483,283 acres, or 8 percent of all privately held land in the
state, under conservation easements. This includes 650 farms,
most of which are dairy farms, reflecting the traditional agri-
cultural heritage of the state.1 In addition, VLT has joined with
other land trusts and affordable housing trusts to create the
Vermont Housing and Conservation Trust, which helps ensure
that affordable housing remains available in Vermont's rural
communities.
The Vermont Farms! Association, which has 75 member
farms, was formed in 1998 to promote agritourism in the state.
It advertises an "out-of-the-mainstream" vacation experience,
and member farms offer farm stays and group tours. Vermont
Farms! hosts events throughout the year, including Sheep
and Wool Week and farmhouse kitchen visits (during which
traditional recipes are provided).2 It is estimated that Ver-
mont's growing agritourism industry resulted in an increase of
$10 million in farm incomes between 2003 and 2005, and half
of all participating farms report making more than $20,000 per
year from their agritourism businesses (and half of those report
making more than $70,000).3 In 2003, Vermont's governor
declared September 15 Vermont Agritourism Day, illustrating
the importance of agritourism to sustaining Vermont's rural
communities.
1 Vermont Land Trust. "Farm and Farmland Conservation." http://www.vlt.org/
agriculture.html
2 Vermont Farms Association, http://www.vtfarms.org/
3 The Beyond Organic Show. "Agritourism." http://www.beyondorganic.com/
template/nst.php?id=081705&idy=2005&sn=sn2; Vermont Farms Association.
"Vermont Agri-tourism Survey." http://www.agmrc.org/media/cms/VT_
AgriTourism_Survey_2003_2877B1D1E5E97.pdf
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 13
Fee simple acquisition
State or local governments can purchase land outright
to conserve particularly important land. Nonprofit
land trusts can also purchase land to manage for eco-
logical, cultural, or social reasons. The Arizona Land
and Water Trust uses fee simple acquisition, along
with voluntary conservation easements, to protect
fragile and culturally important landscapes in southern
Arizona.19
Agritourism and ecotourism
Agritourism activities include farm visits and over-
night stays at farm bed-and-breakfast operations. This
may include the chance to help with farming and
ranching tasks. Ecotourism targets an ecoconscious
segment of the population that wants to engage in
nature-related tourism on conservation lands while
reducing the ecological footprint of their visit. Rural
landowners can earn revenues from tourism activities
on their land, including traditional recreational activi-
ties such as hunting, fishing, and observing wildlife.
Tourists are attracted to agritourism and ecotourism
activities because they want to experience an intact
rural landscape that is characterized by a meaning-
ful sense of place. Oklahoma has capitalized on this
interest in agritourism and ecotourism by forming
the statewide Oklahoma Agritourism Association,
which has more than 400 member farms and ranches
that offer tours, pick-your-own events, and overnight
stays.20 While agritourism and ecotourism can help
protect the rural landscape, they are not viable when
the character of the rural landscape is compromised.
The Ithaca Farmers' Market in Ithaca, New York, has 150 ven-
dors, all from within a 30-mile radius of the city. Many vendors
accept both food stamps and Ithaca Hours, the local currency.
Strategy I.e. Promote rural products in urban
areas and support other urban-rural links
Direct marketing to consumers
Landowners can increase their profits by directly
marketing their farm, ranch, or forestry products to
consumers or markets. Community Supported Agricul-
ture (CSA), for example, facilitates a creative partner-
ship whereby, in exchange for purchasing shares
during planting, CSA programs provide shareholders
with regular, farm-fresh produce during the growing
season. Shareholders often reside in urban centers.
Farmers' markets, on the other hand, provide a venue
for local farmers and artisans gather to sell their
URBAN MARKETS FOR RURAL PRODUCTS: THE ITHACA FARMERS' MARKET
Ithaca, New York, is often described as "centrally isolated"
in upstate New York. A metropolitan area of 100,000 people,
surrounded by farmland and state parks, Ithaca provides an
ideal market for local agricultural products as well as local
arts and crafts. The city has an active "buy local" movement
and supports the Ithaca Farmers' Market (IFM), which has a
permanent pavilion for its 150 vendors, all of whom come from
small towns and rural communities within a 30-mile radius of
the city.1 Along with the larger weekend market, the IFM sets up
in downtown Ithaca twice a week and at a community center on
Sunday afternoons. In addition to the variety of locations and
times, which makes the market accessible, the vast majority of
IFM vendors accept food stamps. IFM is incredibly successful,
generating around $4 million in revenue per year. In addition
to IFM, there are 29 CSAs within a 60-mile radius of Ithaca and
41 within a 100-mile radius.2Through CSAs and the farmers'
market, Ithaca has created strong urban-rural connections that
support the surrounding rural landscape and benefit the city.
Ithaca has also adopted a local currency-'lthaca Hours"-
which can be used at the farmers' market and a number of local
businesses. Ithaca Hours help ensure that money stays local
and promote investment in the local economy.3
1 Ithaca Farmers' Market. "About Us." http://www.ithacamarket.com/about-ifm/
history/
2 Ecovian. "Ithaca CSA & Organic Food Delivery." http://www.ecovian.eom/s?
perpage=10Mstance=60&searchwithin=40&searchtext=&spatial=lthaca%2C+NY
3 Ithaca Hours. "What are Ithaca Hours?" http://www.ithacahours.org/about.php
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14 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
products to the community and have grown tremen-
dously in popularity and economic impact in recent
years. Beyond benefits to the farmers, who gain access
to new consumers, the markets can also foster eco-
nomic revitalization in the neighborhoods in which
they are held.21 The Downtown Lawrence Farmers'
Market in Lawrence, Kansas—the oldest farmers'
market in the state—draws residents to the downtown
area three days a week to buy farm-fresh produce,
meat, and eggs, as well as local crafts, supporting both
local agriculture and local businesses.22
Government purchase of local products
Increasingly, state and local governments are contract-
ing with regional farmers to supply food for public
institutions such as schools, prisons, and govern-
ment offices. Governments can also purchase locally
produced forest products (like fiber and biofuels) from
area foresters. For example, in late 2008, Snohomish
County, Washington, leaders dedicated a new facility
to store, dry, and crush locally grown seeds that will
be refined into biodiesel and used to power county
vehicles.23 The investment creates a new cash crop for
farmers and a renewable energy source for the local
government.
"Buy local" campaigns
Many local and state governments assist their agricul-
tural regions by holding annual festivals and helping
to promote their products as a unified brand. "Buy
local" campaigns, ranging from "Alaska Grown" to
"Something Special From Wisconsin" to "Fresh From
"Buy local"
campaigns have
become a popular
way to market
locally grown
products and
remind consumers
of the importance
of supporting rural
lands.
Florida," increase the share of the market dedicated
to local products and remind consumers of the value
of rural lands. Nonprofit and government entities may
provide marketing help, supportive legal guidelines,
financial support, and organizational assistance to
ensure the success of these efforts. Many restaurants
and stores have also increasingly begun to buy locally
available food and other natural resource-based
products.
Strategy 1.d. Link rural land preservation
strategies to great neighborhoods
Transfer of development rights
Transfer of development rights (TDR) refers to a
method for protecting one area of undeveloped land
(the "sending area") by transferring the rights to
develop it to another area (the "receiving area").
Twenty-six states currently have legislation enabling
TDR, and twelve more have TDR programs, although
they do not have state-level enabling legislation.24
Developers who purchase TDR bonuses are allowed
to build at higher densities, while their dollars fund
the local government purchase of selected rural con-
servation easements elsewhere, in order to protect
farms, forests, or ranches. In 2007, there were 99 TDR
programs across the country.25 Montgomery County,
Maryland, has a particularly successful TDR program,
which it began in 1980. In the decade before the pro-
gram was implemented, the county was losing 3,500
acres of land per year to sprawling suburban develop-
ment. Now, using a combination of agricultural zoning
and TDR, more than 50,000 acres are protected. In
all, Montgomery County has a total of 90,000 acres of
protected agricultural land.26 Like purchase of develop-
ment rights, described in 1 .b. above, transfer of devel-
opment rights rely on conservation easements.
Priority funding areas
Priority funding areas (PFAs) identify geographic areas
that qualify for financial or other assistance, such as
infrastructure or accelerated project approval. Typically
designated at the state level and supported by local
decisions, PFAs create incentives for development to
take place in particular areas, including those where
infrastructure exists already, while removing incentives
for growth pressure in undeveloped areas. Connecticut
identifies PFAs as regional centers, growth and redevel-
opment areas, and distressed municipalities. The state
specifically requires that state agencies "cooperate
with municipalities to ensure that programs and activi-
ties in rural areas sustain village character."27
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 15
Transfer of development rights policies and priority funding areas protect undeveloped land while promoting increased density and
development in existing neighborhoods and downtowns, as illustrated by these examples from Montgomery County, Maryland.
Agricultural, ranching, or forestry zoning
In agricultural, ranching, or forestry zoning, primary
industry uses are allowed, but other uses, including res-
idential development, are prohibited or very restricted.
This type of rural land zoning has been applied to
millions of acres of farm, ranching, and forest lands
across the country. States and/or local governments can
develop conservation zoning measures to ensure that
productive farms, forests, and ranches are conserved.
Oregon, Washington, and California provide examples
of state-based conservation measures, and Pennsylva-
nia and Wisconsin illustrate locally based rural land
zoning.28 Oregon's Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) zoning
designation has been particularly successful. Data
indicates that, despite growth pressure, Oregon is losing
large farms at half the national rate and midsize farms
at a rate four times lower than the national average.29
Rural home clustering
While at times controversial, cluster development can
be an alternative to large lot, dispersed subdivision
development. The basic premise is that a developer
can build the same number of units on smaller lots (or
more units if there is a density bonus system) while
preserving a percentage of the developable land for
agriculture or as natural land. One method of cluster
development is known as a conservation subdivi-
sion. The implementation of a conservation subdivi-
sion typically occurs through open space zoning or
an overlay district such as a cluster or planned unit
development ordinance. The conservation subdivision
has many compelling environmental and fiscal advan-
tages, like reducing infrastructure costs and mak-
ing it cheaper to provide community services (e.g.,
police and fire protection) while also limiting loss and
PRIORITY FUNDING AREAS IN MARYLAND
Maryland established Priority Funding Areas (PFA) as a part of
its 1997 smart growth legislation, and the state's experience
illustrates both the potential and limitations of PFAs, which
offer important lessons for states looking to integrate PFAs
into their planning legislation. Maryland counties established
PFAs that reflected 20 years of development capacity, and
since their creation, the state has seen more urban growth and
greater investment in water and sewer infrastructure inside
PFAs than outside of them, and more job creation tax credits
have been made available within PFAs. PFAs have also cre-
ated a framework for communication between state agencies
and local government. However, Maryland's PFA program has
weaknesses that have limited its success. The criteria used to
establish PFAs vary from county to county, and the Maryland
Department of Planning does not have the authority to redraw
PFAs that are deemed too big. As a result, counties with a
more flexible approach to establishing PFAs have seen greater
success with the program. Additionally, PFAs have not become
well integrated into the local land-use planning process, and
state agencies have not established clear processes or systems
for spatially allocating funds or for periodically reviewing and
updating PFAs.1
1 Lewis, R., G.J. Knapp, and J. Sohn. "Priority Funding Areas: A Good Idea Whose
Time Has Yet to Come." JAPA, 75.4 (Sept. 2009): pp. 457-478.
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16 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
King County, Washington, home to Seattle, has adopted a num-
ber of policies that help preserve rural land in unincorporated
areas of the county while developing great neighborhoods
in the incorporated areas. In 1999, the county adopted a TDR
policy. It now administers both a TDR Exchange and a TDR Bank.
The TDR Bank began with $1.5 million in funds to protect rural
lands and an additional $500,000 to develop "urban amenities"
in neighborhoods accepting a transfer. At the time of the trans-
fer, the rural land is placed under a conservation easement.
Since 2000, King County's TDR program has protected 137,500
acres.
In addition to TDR, King County has four specific zoning des-
ignations for working lands and rural communities: agriculture
zone, forest zone, mineral zone, and rural area zone. Together,
these zoning designations help protect King County's working
lands and the character of rural communities while minimiz-
ing the conflict between them as well as between the growing
Seattle metropolitan area and the rural landscape.1
Finally, King County promotes rural home clustering through
its green building guidelines. The guidelines state that homes
should be clustered to minimize their environmental impact
and disruption of the landscape. In order to facilitate rural
home clustering within rural area and urban reserve zones,
King County offers a critical areas designation, which allows
landowners and developers to define critical areas near the
project site and to use Build Green™ grants for community and
multifamily developments as well as for single-family homes.2
King County's TDR program, zoning designations, and green
building program have helped create great neighborhoods, both
urban and rural, while maintaining the integrity and viability of
the rural landscape.
1 King County Sustainable Building. "Transfer of Development Rights Program."
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/stewardship/sustainable-building/
transfer-development-rights.aspx
2 King County Solid Waste Division. "Green Building for Rural Residents." http://
your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/greenbuilding/residential/rural.asp
fragmentation of wildlife habitat.30 However, cluster
development will be effective only if it is coordinated
with other development and conservation priorities
in the region. Implemented poorly, clustering works
at cross-purposes with smart growth approaches. For
instance, lack of coordination and planning can result
in conservation subdivisions further fragmenting valu-
able natural resource land as well as an increasing
need for residents to drive if services, amenities, and
jobs are not located nearby. Cluster development has
become popular in a number of states, notably Mas-
sachusetts, where towns like Mashpee, on upper Cape
Cod, have revised zoning codes to require that at least
50 percent of new development sites be preserved as
open space.31
Agricultural, ranching, and forestry zoning can help preserve
working lands.
-------
Goal 2: Help existing places thrive
Take care of assets and investments
such as downtowns, infrastructure,
and places that the community
values.
All communities can benefit from building on and
enhancing previous investments—whether that is a
once vibrant but now underutilized Main Street, an
existing street grid that could once again provide the
framework for a walkable neighborhood, or historic
buildings and iconic rural architecture such as barns
and bridges that are worth preserving and possibly
reusing. Development that leverages future economic
value out of these prior investments can be the foun-
dation for helping existing places thrive.
Public investments can maintain existing infra-
structure and buildings to extend their useful life
while also supporting appropriate new growth that
is targeted in places to make the best use of existing
infrastructure. Formally articulating the relationship
between these resources and other community goals
can further help residents and investors understand
the value of these unique resources. In the absence
of a community strategy to support existing places,
infrastructure dollars may be inadvertently allocated to
support development that encourages historic property
demolition or speeds up the conversion of working
lands from rural uses to those that support large-scale
residential or commercial uses.
Creating a policy structure to take care of existing
assets and investments can help preserve, reuse, and
position historic buildings to anchor new investment.
It can also help redevelop brownfields and vacant
properties to accommodate growth as well as allow
existing businesses to receive the support they need to
retain workers and expand to meet new needs.
Strategy 2.a. Invest public and private funds
in existing places
Fix-it-first
Communities can employ a "fix-it-first" approach to
infrastructure spending in order to help existing places
thrive. A fix-it-first approach means that communities
will prioritize public funding to repair, restore, and
conduct preventive maintenance on existing infra-
structure, including buildings, roads, and water and
sewer lines, before building new infrastructure. This
approach can encourage and attract development in
areas that are already served by existing infrastructure,
making existing communities more vibrant and saving
on future maintenance costs. This approach can also
GOAL 2: HELP EXISTING PLACES THRIVE
Strategy
2.a. Invest public and private funds in
existing places
Tools & Policies
Fix-it-first
Historic Preservation and the Main
Street Approach
Parks and natural resource areas as
destinations
Streets and streetscape improvements
Targeted new development
2.b. Encourage private sector investment
Infill development incentives
Overcoming barriers to infill
Redevelopment readiness certification
Split-rate tax
2.c. Build on past community investments • Adaptive reuse
School rehabilitation
2.d. Foster economic development in
existing downtowns
Local business survey
Business recognition program
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18 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
Renovating existing buildings can help preserve a community's historic assets, as these before and after photos of the James Dean
House in Rosemont, New Jersey, illustrate.
help preserve historic infrastructure, such as bridges,
that may have historic or economic development
value.
Historic Preservation and the Main Street
Four-Point Approach®
Communities can revitalize older, traditional business
districts by encouraging historic preservation. Well-
preserved private homes, examples of rural traditions
such as barns, or important downtown structures
enable both residents and visitors to feel a sense of
place. Federal and state tax credit programs facilitate
diverse preservation efforts. The Main Street Four-
Point Approach of the National Trust for Historic
El Dorado, Arkansas, won the Great American Main Street
Award in 2009. Investing in preserving and revitalizing the
downtown has created jobs and drawn tourists as well as
residents.
Preservation provides a useful framework for redevel-
opment efforts, specifically in older downtowns.32 This
approach focuses on strategically combining historic
preservation efforts with marketing the businesses in
historic downtown areas as a way to generate addi-
tional economic investment. The strategy embraces
distinctive architecture, fosters a pedestrian-friendly
environment, promotes local business ownership,
and creates a sense of community. El Dorado, Arkan-
sas, winner of the 2009 Great American Main Street
Award, found that the Main Street approach created
jobs, resulted in more locally owned small businesses,
drew residents from throughout the county as well
as tourists to the revitalized downtown, and gave the
community a renewed sense of place.33
Parks and natural resource areas as destinations
Parks and other natural resource areas, such as
wildlife refuges and conservation areas, have many
economic, ecological, and social benefits. Parks
improve residents' physical and psychological health,
strengthen communities, and make neighborhoods
more attractive and vibrant places to live, work, and
play. They increase citizens' frequency of exercise and
can increase neighboring property values. Investing in
existing parks can make them destinations, drawing
residents and visitors alike to help the towns around
them thrive. Many rural communities have local or
state parks that can serve as community assets. Other
rural communities serve as gateways to larger natural
resource amenities, such as National Parks or National
Forests. Whether a local, downtown park or a national
treasure, parks are destinations that should be high-
lighted and built upon. The Finger Lakes region in
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 19
STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS IN VICTOR, IDAHO
In 2006, Victor, Idaho-a city of about 1,200 residents, located in
Teton County, just west of Jackson, Wyoming-began to address
the pedestrian safety challenges of having its Main Street also
function as a state highway. A wide roadbed and high truck and
car traffic created an unpleasant experience for pedestrians
and a disincentive for guality future development in the down-
town area. Presented with ideas on how to create a boulevard
through the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Smart
Growth Implementation Assistance program, Victor's leaders
worked with the Idaho Transportation Department to stripe its
Main Street in a way that reduced truck and automobile speeds,
created on-street parking to serve adjacent businesses, and set
the stage for additional streetscape improvements, including
the medians necessary to create a boulevard.1
1 Project Summaries. U.S. EPA Smart Growth Assistance program. Cities of
Victor and Drigs, Idaho. "Growing Our Own Communities." http://www.epa.gov/
smartgrowth/sgia_communities.htmttid
central New York state has highlighted its parks as
destinations, drawing visitors to local, state, and
National Parks to see scenic gorges and waterfalls and
helping to build the tourist economy, which supports
small bed-and-breakfasts, cafes, restaurants, and local
craft stores throughout the region.
Street and streetscape improvements
Street retrofits and streetscape improvements in busi-
ness districts can make downtowns more appealing
to residents and visitors and can help attract more
patrons to local businesses. Ensuring that streets
support multiple modes of transportation, includ-
ing walking, cycling, and transit, can enhance town
centers by making them more accessible to all popula-
tions while also limiting or slowing automobile traffic.
Streetscape improvements include street paving, side-
Parks and natural
resources areas
can be significant
community assets.
Taughannock Falls
State Park in
Tompkins County,
New York, shown
here, provides
residents with a
scenic place to
swim and hike and
draws tourists to
the area.
Streetscape improvements can help draw people to a
community's downtown area. In Idaho, Victor's Main Street,
shown here before and after improvements, was renovated
with assistance from the EPA's Smart Growth Implementation
Assistance program. The improvements have helped lower
traffic speeds and provided enough parking to serve local
businesses.
Photos courtesy of Charlier Associates, Inc., City of Victor
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20 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
walk improvements, street lighting, directional signs,
trees and planters, street furniture, and trash recep-
tacles that can improve the appearance of a down-
town corridor or Main Street and thereby attract more
people. State Departments of Transportation (DOTs),
metropolitan planning organizations, and regional
planning commissions often have funding avail-
able for streetscape improvements.34 In New Jersey,
NJDOT has awarded between $750,000 and $3 million
(depending on legislative appropriations) to jurisdic-
tions that have participated in the New Jersey State
Development and Redevelopment Plan. The funding
is available for projects that enhance pedestrian and
bicycle features, make streetscape improvements, and
rehabilitate transportation structures. In 2009, the
state also announced a Transportation Enhancement
grant program through NJDOT, funded through the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA),
which has $19.5 million available to communities for
"non-traditional transportation projects," including
streetscape improvements.35
Targeted new development
By targeting new development into existing growth
areas or downtown corridors, where infrastructure
already exists, communities can ensure that private
investment generates the maximum benefit for the
community while avoiding the expense of provid-
ing new infrastructure that is required for greenfield
development. Strategically designating existing areas
to receive new development in a comprehensive plan
(and ensuring that local ordinances support that plan)
can save taxpayers money and provides predictabil-
ity to developers looking for an appropriate place to
build.
Strategy 2.b. Encourage private sector
investment
Infill development incentives
Current policies and regulations may inadvertently
create incentives to build on greenfields by making
infill and redevelopment more costly than developing
on the outskirts of an existing town. To remedy this
situation, communities should review their land use
policies and regulations to ensure that there are incen-
tives for infill and brownfield development and disin-
centives for greenfield development. Examples include
faster project approval and reduced impact fees.
Overcoming barriers to infill
Existing codes and ordinances may make it difficult
to accomplish infill development and brownfield
redevelopment. Where infrastructure already exists,
communities may need to revise their existing poli-
cies or adopt new ones that enable infill development
to occur. The Land-of-Sky Regional Council in North
Carolina, with a grant from the EPA, evaluated existing
policies in the four-county region and examined how
to overcome barriers to infill.37 Cities and counties in
the region have been removing these barriers, facili-
tating brownfield redevelopment, and creating new
amenities on underused and abandoned sites. This
kind of project often generates excitement, which can
jump-start additional private-sector investment.
Redevelopment readiness certification
Communities can send a message to potential inves-
tors that they are ready for reinvestment by dem-
onstrating redevelopment readiness. The concept of
redevelopment readiness certification is that a commu-
INVESTING IN PRESERVING RURAL TOWNS AND LANDSCAPES IN KENTUCKY
Kentucky has a long history of preserving its historic and
cultural resources. The state's first preservation organization
was founded in 1978. It has evolved into Preservation Kentucky,
a statewide organization focused on providing educational
opportunities related to preserving historic and cultural
resources. Preservation Kentucky now administers the Rural
Heritage Development Initiative (RHDI), a pilot program of the
National Trust for Historic Preservation.
RHDI, which is funded through a grant by the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation and matching funds from private donors and
county governments, focuses on five goals in eight central
Kentucky counties. The program works to "create a regional
approach to implementing historic preservation and economic
development" strategies, including developing the heritage
tourism industry, developing local businesses that reinvigorate
Main Streets and reflect the unigue culture and heritage of the
region, and preserving farmland and historic farms while devel-
oping new local markets for farm products. By investing both
public and private funds, Preservation Kentucky has helped the
state's rural communities thrive.1
1 Preservation Kentucky, http://www.preservationkentucky.org/
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 21
nity has formally taken the necessary steps to ensure
that private investment in redevelopment will not
be hindered by existing zoning regulations or other
land use policies. First put into place by the Michigan
Suburbs Alliance in 2005, the state-funded program
consists of an eight-step process that included com-
munity visioning, training for public officials, evalua-
tion and streamlining of development regulations and
tools, marketing, and plan review processes.38 While
not yet widely in use, this model is flexible enough
to be applied in diverse areas in need of investment,
including in rural communities.
Split-rate tax
Split-rate or two-rate property tax policies divide the
property tax into two parts, focusing one part of the
tax rate on building value and improvements and
the other part on the value of the land. This type of
tax reduces the tax on the building, creating incen-
tives for maintaining and improving properties, and
increases the value of land, reducing land speculation
and encouraging infill development. While the split-
rate tax is a promising strategy for rural areas, very
few states allow jurisdictions to adopt it. The two-rate
tax has been particularly successful in Pennsylvania,
where it has been allowed since 1913. Nearly 20 cities
have adopted it, and most saw an increase in building
permits issues after adopting the two-rate tax, suggest-
ing that it does, in fact, encourage infill development
and lead to the revitalization of downtowns and town
centers. Several other states also permit the use of a
split-rate tax. In Hawaii, it is allowed in all jurisdic-
tions but has been adopted only in Kauai County.
Virginia and Massachusetts allow split-rate taxation in
specific jurisdictions.39
Strategy 2.c. Build on past community
investments
Adaptive reuse
Reusing existing buildings rather than demolishing
the old and then building anew preserves histori-
cally important buildings and conserves energy and
resources. Rehabilitation of existing buildings for
public and civic space provides access to tourists as
well as local residents who are curious about unique
local cultural heritage. Throughout the country,
historic rural sites such as barns and mills have been
creatively reused in a way that preserves their his-
toric significance while meeting modern needs such
as office space, parking, or administrative centers. Fed-
eral and state tax credits as well as local policies like
flexible building codes can help make such projects
financially feasible.
School rehabilitation
As communities grow larger and/or older, they face
the need for updated educational facilities. Neighbor-
hood schools typically provide historic, sentimental,
and even health and safety benefits to neighboring
residents, whose children may be able to walk to
school. Demolishing old school buildings in favor of
The three-story Albemarle
High School building, located
in a residential neighborhood
in Albemarle County,
North Carolina, one block
from the central business
district, has been a part of
the community since 1924.
Despite initial opposition
from the school board, the
community rallied to save
the building from demolition.
In 2002, it was renovated as
Central Elementary School,
and residents believe the
renovation has contributed to
the continued vitality of this
rural community.
Photo courtesy of Albemarle Downtown
Development Corporation
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22 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
FOSTERING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN DOWNTOWN SWAINSBORO, GEORGIA
Swainsboro, a city with just under 7,000 residents in south-
east Georgia-the "City Where Main Streets Meet"-has made
downtown revitalization a priority. The city has established a
Downtown Development Authority (DDA), whose main objective
is "to foster a healthy, thriving economy in downtown Swains-
boro." The DDA has developed a full inventory of downtown
businesses, noting that a range of business types is essential to
a healthy and balanced local economy.1
The city and the DDA have found creative ways to revital-
ize downtown Swainsboro. The city offered a fagade grant
program to encourage downtown businesses to make fagade
improvements (75 percent of businesses have done so) and
converted the site of the old courthouse into a public plaza,
creating a focal point in the downtown area. In 2009, the DDA,
along with the city, the Chamber of Commerce, and the county's
Joint Development Authority (JDA), in conjunction with the
local newspaper, radio stations, and several investment and
properties firms, launched the Creative Marketplace Competi-
tion. The competition is aimed at bringing new businesses
downtown, further reducing the vacancy rate and diversify-
ing the downtown business mix. It offers three awards, in the
categories of retail, restaurant, and arts/entertainment. Winners
receive three months of free rent, subsidized rent for the rest
of the first year, $5,000 in start-up money, and free advertising
in the local newspaper and on the local radio station. Investing
in its downtown has helped Swainsboro remain a vibrant rural
community.2
1 City of Swainsboro. "Downtown Development Authority." http://
cityofswainsboro.org/business/resources/downtowndevelopment/
2 City of Swainsboro. "Creative Marketplace Competition." http://
cityofswainsboro.org/whatsnewdowntown/downtown-projects/
downtown-business-plan-contest/
larger facilities outside existing neighborhoods forces
staff, parents, and children to drive to school rather
than have the option to safely walk or bicycle within
the neighborhood. When new schools are required,
old school buildings can be rehabilitated to other uses
in order to preserve the important historic features of
a community and build onto the fabric of the existing
town.
Strategy 2.d. Foster economic development in
existing downtowns
Local business survey
In order to foster economic development in existing
downtowns, it is important to assess the assets and
needs of the businesses that are located in the area.
Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the down-
town business environment will help communities tai-
lor economic development strategies and investments
in ways that will be most useful to those businesses
and help the community thrive.
Business recognition program
Communities can create a recognition program to
reward businesses that add architectural and economic
value to the community. A program could applaud
impressive historic renovations or host a creative
window display competition. Acknowledging the
Economic development and investment in existing downtowns
can help create strong community centers, support local
businesses, and build the local economy. The Cotton District, in
Starkville, Mississippi, draws residents to the downtown area
for shopping, as well as community events and festivals.
important economic, cultural, and social roles that
local businesses provide offers another incentive for
those businesses to remain in the downtown. Other
incentives might include recognition plaques or press
conferences. Such strategies can create some favor-
able press about local businesses and promote healthy
competition among them for future marketing efforts.
-------
Goal 3: Create great new places
Build vibrant, enduring neighbor-
hoods and communities that people,
especially young people, don't want
to leave.
Revitalization approaches are limited by the commu-
nity's existing built environment. Population projec-
tions and a quick scan of the landscape show that
many communities need new development, especially
those in high-amenity recreation areas and those
adjacent to metro areas. For these rural communi-
ties, therefore, the challenge is to build new places
that both honor and reflect the rural legacy as well as
generate economic, environmental, and community
benefits for both new and current residents. Great
new places are unlikely to be built with conventional
codes and policies. For communities that seek to
obtain the best outcomes from new development, a
new regulatory framework must be put in place. By
changing these frameworks, a community can begin
to build vibrant, enduring neighborhoods and districts
that will provide the opportunities necessary to retain
current residents, especially young people, and attract
new residents.
Strategy 3.a. Update strategic and policy
documents to accommodate new growth
through compact and contiguous development
Visioning
Before a community creates or updates its compre-
hensive plan or makes other important growth and
development decisions, it is helpful for the community
to undergo a visioning process to articulate a broad
vision of itself into the future. The plan's goals, objec-
tives, and strategies will support its realization. Vision-
ing meetings can be held at places of importance to
the community, illustrating the types of places that
the community sees as contributing to its identity and
sense of place.
Places worth preserving
Before deciding where great new places should be
located, the community should consider which land
and resources are important to conserve for economic,
cultural, or ecological reasons. Conducting a green
infrastructure assessment may help a community
determine where development should and should not
occur. By articulating valuable assets or qualities, it is
easier for the community to determine locations that
should be off-limits to future development.40
GOAL 3: CREATE GREAT NEW PLACES
Strategy
3.a. Update strategic and policy docu-
ments to accommodate new growth
through compact and contiguous
development
Tools & Policies
Visioning
Places worth preserving
Designated growth areas
Infrastructure grid and transportation
options
Distinctive local character
3.b. Reform policies to make it easy for
developers to build compact, walkable,
mixed-use places
Policy alignment
Walkability
Parks and open space
Traditional neighborhood development
Form-Based Codes
Context-sensitive design
Green street design
Low-impact development
3.c. Recognize and reward developers
that build great places using smart growth
and green building approaches
Smart growth recognition programs
Green building
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24 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
Community visioninq is important to helping a community
articulate a vision for its future and can provide the basis
for comprehensive or master plans. Here, community
members participate in a visioning process in Adams County,
Pennsylvania.
Designated growth areas
Comprehensive plans should clearly identify desig-
nated growth areas, including hamlets, town or village
centers, and neighborhoods, in order to target new
growth into the areas that the community sees as
best suited for the development of new places. This
strategy also prevents haphazard sprawl onto land that
has scenic qualities or is better used as productive,
working land. Some of these areas may be designated
as receiving areas in a transfer of development rights
(TDK) program.
Infrastructure grid and transportation options
Placing infrastructure along a grid is not only effi-
cient—it also allows for easy expansion. Assuming
annexation policies support it, extending existing grids
of roads, sewer, and water networks to new develop-
ment land can provide significant cost savings and
prevent or limit sprawling growth in the long-term.
Good connectivity among roadways enables multiple
routes of access and reduces traffic congestion. By
considering existing road networks, transit service,
and trails networks, the community can make an
informed decision about how to utilize existing trans-
portation infrastructure and minimize future auto-
mobile traffic and the associated pollution. Updating
infrastructure plans to encourage compact develop-
ment along a grid network can provide communities
with significant savings. Horton, a town of just under
2,000 people in northeastern Kansas, has maintained a
well-defined street grid and compact town center.
Building on the existing infrastructure grid also
makes investing in transit more feasible. Transit
options for rural communities differ somewhat from
those typically associated with urban areas and can
range from demand-responsive service to fixed-route
bus systems, varying with the size and structure of
the community. Bozeman, Montana, has successfully
implemented a fixed-route bus system, Streamline, to
serve residents, commuters, and students and faculty
of Montana State University. A complementary fixed-
route bus system, Skyline, now serves the ski-resort
community of Big Sky, bringing tourists and seasonal
employees to the community.41
Distinctive local character
It is important that great new places reflect the cul-
tural character of the region. Articulating what makes
nearby places distinctive and attractive helps ensure
that new development reflects these important fea-
tures and supports the region surrounding it. This
may include enhancing community design along key
commercial corridors, for example, to ensure that
the image being projected to visitors is attractive and
unique. Pierce County, Washington, has created rural
center guidelines for neighborhoods, rural activity cen-
ters, and gateway community centers.42 These guide-
lines help preserve the distinctive local character while
allowing for the development of great new places.
Both traditional neighborhood development (page 26)
and the Main Street approach (page 18) can be used to
help create or maintain a distinctive local character.
Transportation options can be difficult to support in rural
communities, but building on an existing infrastructure grid
and implementing either demand-responsive or fixed-route bus
systems can be successful strategies. Bozeman, Montana, has
a fixed-route system called Streamline.
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 25
PROTECTING RURAL CHARACTER THROUGH COMPACT GROWTH IN SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, often called "the best little city
in America,"1 is at the center of one of the fastest growing
metropolitan areas in the Midwest. In order to preserve its
small-city character as well as the character of the rural areas
surrounding it, the city has entered into joint zoning jurisdic-
tion agreements with Minnehaha and Lincoln counties. The
extraterritorial planning jurisdiction gives the city of Sioux Falls
and the counties egual power in making decisions on zoning in
the joint area.2
In December 2009, the city adopted the Shape Sioux Falls
2035 Comprehensive Master Plan. The plan has three main
goals: to manage new growth effectively; to plan land use,
urban form, and neighborhoods; and to improve overall com-
munity sustainability.3 It defines areas for future annexation, as
well as areas outside the growth boundary "where the existing
rural character is to be maintained." Additionally, the plan
notes that "both city residents and the rural community have
a fundamental interest in preventing scattered and haphazard
development in outlying areas." The plan also ensures that
as Sioux Falls expands, the city and the counties are work-
ing closely together to plan rural area development policies.
Through its comprehensive planning efforts and joint planning
jurisdictions, which promote collaborative planning between
the city and surrounding rural communities, Sioux Falls is
ensuring that it will create great new places while maintaining
its character and protecting the surrounding working lands.
1 CNN Money.com. "Best Places to Launch a Business-Sioux Falls, SD," http://
money.cnn.com/smallbusiness/best_places_launch/2009/snapshot/314.html.
2 City of Sioux Falls. "Joint Zoning Jurisdiction." http://www.siouxfalls.org/
Planning/long_range/master_plans/jointjurisdiction.aspx
3 City of Sioux Falls. "Shape Sioux Falls 2035." http://www.siouxfalls.org/
Planning/shape
Rural communities, like Gold Hill, Colorado, can achieve their
visions for growth through policy alignment.
Strategy 3.b. Reform policies to make it easy
for developers to build compact, walkable,
mixed-use places43
Policy alignment
Once the vision is translated into the comprehensive
plan, the community's zoning ordinance and other
policy documents should be updated to ensure that
the community vision can be achieved. For example,
in many communities, zoning ordinances do not
allow mixed-use, compact, walkable communities
to be built by-right. To foster the development of
great new places, zoning ordinances and/or overlay
zones should actively encourage mixed-use, compact,
walkable neighborhoods without the need for time-
consuming and unpredictable code amendments or
variances. Such an approach creates powerful incen-
tives for the private sector to build what the commu-
nity wants. Form-based codes, discussed on page 27,
provide an option for policy alignment.
Walkability
New neighborhoods that have a grid-like street net-
work equipped with sidewalks and bike lanes encour-
age residents to walk or bicycle to their destinations.
Compact and mixed-use developments are also impor-
tant components of walkability, ensuring that essen-
tial destinations are centrally located and accessible.
Walking and bicycling benefit public health, reduce
pollution, and create more livable neighborhoods.
From economic, environmental, community, and
public health perspectives, the development pattern
of new rural towns and villages should allow for safe
and convenient walking and bicycling opportunities.
Distances between rural communities certainly make
walking and bicycling more challenging. A good trail
system that links neighborhoods with rural routes and
downtown destinations in nearby communities can
serve as a recreational or tourism resource as well as
a commuter route that is protected from higher-speed
roads. Trail systems have been shown to provide eco-
nomic and social benefits to adjoining areas. The Katy
Trail, a 225-mile long trail that runs along the former
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26 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
The MKT trail, an
8.8-mile spur of
the Katy Trail,
connects the trail
system and many
of the small towns
along the trail, to
Columbia, the fifth
largest city in the
state and home to
the University of
Missouri.
Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad line—much of
it following the Missouri River—begins in suburban
St. Charles, Missouri, and runs across the state, con-
necting many of the former railroad towns with larger
towns and cities and providing a major recreational
amenity for bicyclists and joggers.44
Parks and open space
Planning parks and open space into the design of
new places is important for a variety of reasons. Parks
are not only essential community amenities but also
provide important economic, ecological, and public
health benefits. Building in a requirement for all new
development to contribute to parks is easier and more
cost-effective than trying to install parks in already
developed areas. Thurston County, Washington,
requires that all new rural residential developments
designate a minimum of 60 percent of the develop-
ment area as a resource use parcel, which can be
a natural area or used for passive recreation space
or agriculture, and developers also receive density
bonuses for incorporating additional open spaces into
new residential developments. As described earlier,
linking these amenities to existing or planned trail
systems further adds to their value as destinations.
Traditional neighborhood development
Compact, walkable, mixed-use development, which is
located in areas that communities have identified as
the best place for growth, can be supportive of bet-
ter economic, environmental, community, and public
health outcomes. Traditional neighborhood develop-
ment (TND) is an efficient way to accommodate a
community's demand for housing, retail, and other
new development. From a regional perspective, when
a portion of a community's demand is accommodated
this way, the pressure to convert working lands, forest,
and green space into housing or other uses is reduced.
Decreasing the market pressure to convert open space
and working lands to development is one step toward
achieving the land conservation outcomes many
communities are seeking. This new urbanist strategy
has been successful in rural communities like Crested
Butte, Colorado, where a new TND residential devel-
opment created 98 additional housing units that reflect
the rural character and mining heritage of the town.45
BUILDING A COMPACT AND WALKABLE COMMUNITY IN LITTLETON, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Littleton, a town of just under 6,000 people nestled in the
White Mountains, is a compact, walkable, and mixed-use small
town that has a thriving downtown and many amenities for
residents and tourists alike. In its master plan, the city notes
that "the ability of future development to protect and enhance
Littleton's community character is an issue of both location
and design." As a result, Littleton has created a planning and
policy framework that will help create great new developments
while supporting Littleton's existing neighborhoods. This effort
began with the revitalization of the downtown area in the late
1990s. At this time, Littleton's downtown was struggling with
a storefront vacancy rate of 20 percent. The vacancy rate is
now two percent. In addition to its thriving downtown, Littleton
has invested in a new industrial park-one of the largest in New
Hampshire-that provides a range of employment opportunities
for nearly one-fifth of the town's residents. Littleton has also
located sites for new residential developments, focusing on
infill developments and new cluster or "open space" subdivi-
sions, and it has made plans to extend the sidewalk infrastruc-
ture into newer developments.
Littleton has won a number of awards for maintaining its
compact, walkable, mixed-use small-town character. It was rec-
ognized with a Great American Main Street Award for outstand-
ing achievement in downtown revitalization as well as a New
Hampshire Profile Community Award for "preserving, protect-
ing, and promoting" the state's spirit of independence.
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 27
Form-based codes
A relatively new approach to regulating development,
form-based codes are used to achieve a specific urban
form rather than designate specific land uses, as is
typical in conventional zoning. Form-based codes can
help a community support mixed uses, diverse hous-
ing options, and open space while also paying atten-
tion to design details such as streetscapes and fagades.
Because they are simpler to envision than conven-
tional codes, form-based codes provide a community
with a certain level of predictability about the public
realm, whether applied to new or existing develop-
ment. Georgia has made a statewide shift toward
form-based codes, and small towns in the state, like
Covington and Suwanee, have found form-based codes
helpful to revitalizing town centers and preserving
small-town character.
Context-sensitive design
Context-sensitive street design links roadway planning
and design to adjacent land uses and neighborhood
type. For example, when a driver is transitioning from
a high-speed arterial to a downtown business dis-
trict, he or she might find narrower streets lined with
parked cars, which obligate slower speeds and a focus
on courtesy and safety. Context-sensitive street design
also includes a complete network of sidewalks and
bike routes so that all have safe and affordable trans-
portation options. A range of design characteristics like
this can subtly change driver behavior and enhance
the pedestrian experience. Context-sensitive design
Parks can help draw residents downtown and serve as local
landmarks that reflect community history.
can also highlight local history and heritage, as is the
case with the new Cobblestone Street Interpretive Park
in Booneville, Missouri. The park incorporates a his-
toric cobblestone street—thought to be the first paved
street west of St. Louis—that was rediscovered during
site investigations for a new highway bridge. The park,
developed in tandem with the highway bridge, has
become a local landmark that reflects local history and
helped revitalize the town's waterfront.46
Green street design
Green street design options are aimed primarily at
environmental enhancement, although they have addi-
tional advantages. Typical strategies for green street
design include reducing impervious surface cover to
Context-sensitive design, as
illustrated by these street
improvements in Keene, New
Hampshire, can help link
roadway designs to adjacent
land uses and support a range
of transportation options.
Photo courtesy of City of Keene
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28 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
Residents can help determine priorities for preservation
and new growth.
assist in stormwater management and reduce the heat
island effect; using the public right-of-way for multiple
purposes, such as trails that can permit both stormwa-
ter management and recreation; and strategic plant-
ings to allow biofiltration to treat runoff and improve
water quality. A more specific example might be a tree
canopy that absorbs excess runoff, lowers roadway
temperatures, and improves air quality. This kind of
amenity not only reduces infrastructure demand but
also can improve a community's appearance and help
it support active transportation, including walking and
bicycling.
Low-impact development
Like green street design, low-impact development
(LID) uses natural landscaping to manage stormwater
as close to its source as possible. Using strategies such
as green roofs, rain barrels, and permeable pave-
ments, LID can minimize the impact of built areas and
promote natural water movement within an ecosystem
or watershed. Within a compact area, this natural
infrastructure (ideally native or drought-resistant)
can reduce the impact of new development projects
while also providing a natural landscape amenity
that requires limited maintenance. LID is especially
important in fragile ecosystems and places particularly
prone to climatic events like droughts. LID practices
should be implemented in conjunction with com-
pact development in order to reap the most benefits.
Colorado recently enacted two new laws, allowing rain
barrels on private property.47 Santa Fe County, New
Mexico, established an ordinance requiring that all
commercial developments collect 100 percent of roof
drainage and that residential developments collect a
minimum of 85 percent of roof drainage in cisterns.
Rainwater harvesting helps address the important
issue of water conservation in Santa Fe County's high
desert climate.48
Strategy 3.c. Recognize and reward
developers that build great places using
smart growth and green building approaches
Smart growth recognition programs
In many communities, developers are already working
to build great new places. Publicly recognizing devel-
opers who build projects that are aligned with the
community's vision can serve to both draw attention
to local priorities and remind other developers that
great new developments and community priorities are
not necessarily at odds with one another. Many state
smart growth organizations have existing recognition
programs. Idaho Smart Growth began awarding its
Grow Smart award in 2005.49 Awards are given to com-
munities or projects across the state that exemplify the
principles of smart growth. Smart Growth Vermont has
a biannual smart growth awards program, started in
2006, which recognizes redevelopment, infill, and his-
toric preservation projects exemplifying the principles
of smart growth.50
Green building
Green building is gaining traction nationwide as
an efficient and healthy alternative to conventional
building practices, including siting, construction,
renovation, operation, maintenance, and demoli-
tion. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the
nationally accepted benchmark for green building.
In addition to the Green Building Rating System, the
U.S. Green Building Council developed the LEED for
Neighborhood Development Rating System™, which
integrates the principles of smart growth, new urban-
ism, and green building.51 By completing a LEED-
certified project, developers can link their commitment
to smart growth with other sustainable strategies
and receive plaudits from peers in both the develop-
ment and environmental communities. Minnesota has
adopted statewide sustainable building guidelines.
All new buildings and renovations on buildings larger
than 10,000 square feet receiving funding from bond
proceeds must exceed the requirements in the state
energy code by at least 30 percent, work to achieve
the lowest possible lifetime cost for the building, and
attempt to make continual improvements to energy
efficiency.52 These guidelines, which are intended to
reduce energy costs, improve the health and well-
being of building residents or occupants, protect the
natural environment, and are compatible with LEED
standards.
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 29
Next Steps
Rural is still an evolving term in the United States.
Rural communities and rural lifestyles today look
very different in many places than they did even 30
years ago. As today's rural leaders struggle to deal
with both internal and outside pressures, they should
seek a balance that integrates old and new and links
rural economic traditions with new innovations. Bal-
anced approaches can help bridge the gaps between
residents who prize natural resources and those who
champion new growth as a measure of success.
The smart growth approaches outlined in this
document are intended to provide some useful ideas
for specific strategies that can build on a community's
assets and further enhance its sense of place. Before
implementing the ideas in this report, each commu-
nity must complete a process of self-evaluation and
dialogue before the right combination of policies will
become clear. Such a process may include the follow-
ing steps:
• Conduct an assessment of current conditions. A
community assessment may ask: What are the cur-
rent environmental, economic, and social condi-
tions of the community? How is the community
connected to other communities in the region?
What are the community's best assets? What are
its key challenges?
• Engage in a collaborative visioning process to
help the community determine what it wants to be
like in the future. A collaborative visioning process
would include all stakeholders in the community
and help define the desired future for the com-
munity. Visioning processes often result in visual
representations of a community's desired future—
for example, a map illustrating key conservation
areas and development areas.
• Develop and implement policies that will enable
the community to achieve its vision. Once a com-
munity has developed a vision for its future, it
must identify and implement policies and tools
that will help achieve that vision.
Following a process like the one outlined above
will help a community develop and achieve its vision
for the future and accommodate and shape the type of
growth that the community desires while preserving
the community's best assets and enhancing the quality
of life.
As they grow, change, and diversify, rural communities can
take control of their futures by assessing current conditions,
engaging the community in a visioning process, and
implementing smart growth policies to achieve this community
vision.
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30 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: ALBEMARLE COUNTY'S COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY
Albemarle County, Virginia, has adopted a comprehensive
approach to addressing growth. This has enabled the county
to direct growth in a way that maintains the community's rural
character and guality of life, which are valued by residents.
Albemarle County, which is the most populous county in the
Charlottesville metropolitan area, recognized that strategies
for land preservation work better when complemented by
policies and zoning regulations that promote better growth
in places where the community has already invested in public
infrastructure. The county contains many working farms and
scenic natural features, including a portion of Virginia's Blue
Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park, but growth
pressures remain strong. County leaders have adopted policies,
including the establishment of designated growth areas in
which infrastructure already exists, and have pursued strate-
gies, such as the acguisition of conservation easements, to
preserve rural character in places outside of designated growth
areas. The county has also adopted a Neighborhood Model that
reguires new development to adhere to a set of 12 principles
(see below), which ensure the livability of new neighborhoods.
The Neighborhood Model describes the recommended prac-
tices for new development based on 12 principles:
• Pedestrian orientation
• Neighborhood friendly streets and paths
• Transportation networks and interconnected streets
• Parks and open space
• Mixed uses
• Neighborhood centers
• Buildings and spaces of human scale
• Relegated parking
• Affordability with dignity
• Redevelopment
• Site planning that respects terrain
• Clear boundaries with the rural areas
Albemarle County provides an example of how to address
development in a way that promotes economic growth in places
that the community believes are best while maintaining the
rural landscape that is central to the community's identity.
Between 2000 and 2006, Albemarle County protected more than
5,000 acres of forest and farm land, including 286 mountaintop
acres. At the same time, it began or completed plans using the
Neighborhood Model to both accommodate growth in desig-
nated growth areas and complement the rural land protection
strategies.
See also: http://www.albermarle.org.
See highlights of the Albemarle County Acquisition of Conservations Easements
(ACE) program, http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/forms_center/
departments/community_development/forms/Rural_Area/ACE_Fact_Sheet_2006
.pdf.
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Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities 31
Endnotes
1 USDA ERS. "Measuring Rurality: New Definitions in 2003."
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Rurality/NewDefinitions/
2 These five typologies have been developed by the authors
through discussions with a range of Smart Growth Network
member organizations, including NACo, the National Main Street
Center, and the U.S. Forest Service, as well as organizations
outside the network. They are now viewed as generally accepted
terms within the smart growth community for describing the
range of rural towns, villages, and centers, particularly given
their consideration of communities' built and natural environ-
ments and their role in broader regional economies.
3 USDA. "2007 Census of Agriculture: Demographics." http://
www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publica tions/2007/Online_Highlights/
Fact_Sheets/index.asp
4 Stein, S.M., McRoberts, R.E., Alig, R.J., Nelson, M.D., Theobald,
D.M., Eley, M., Dechter, M., and Carr, M. Forests on the Edge:
Housing Development on America's Private Forests, U.S. Forest
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. General Technical
Report No. PNW-GTR-636. 2005. http://www.fs.fed.us/
openspace/fote/fote-6-9-05.pdf
5 Heimlich, R.E., and Anderson, W.D. Development at the Urban
Fringe and Beyond: Impacts on Agriculture and Rural Land.
Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Agriculture Economics Report No. 803. 2001. http://www.ers.
usda.gov/publications/aer803/aer803.pdf. May 31, 2005. p. 14
6 American Farmland Trust. "Farming on the Edge Report."
http://www.farmland.org/resources/fote/default.asp
7 USDA. "Rural Population and Migration." http://www.ers.usda
.gov/Briefing/Population/
8 Transportation Research Board, "NCHRP Report 582: Best
Practices to Enhance the Transportation-Land Use Connection in
the Rural United States" (2007). http://onlinepubs.trb.org/
onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_582a.pdf
9 Van Eenoo, E., and Lamie, R.D. "How Use-Value Assessment
Affects Real Property Tax Rates and Liabilities in Virginia."
Journal of ASFRMA, 2001: 53-63. http://portal.asfmra.org/
userfiles/file/journal/vaneenoo53_63.pdf
10 American Farmland Trust. "Future of Farming Project: Working
Paper and Statistics on Farmlands in Washington." http://agr.wa
.gov/FoF/docs/LandStats.pdf
11 For more information on federal, state, and local tax incentives
for donating conservation easements, visit the Land Trust
Alliance Website: http://www.lta.org.
12 Larimer County. "Executive Summary: Right to Farm and Ranch
Policy." http://www.co.larimer.co.us/policies/right_to_farm_
summary.htm
13 Recommendations in this section are drawn from Tom Daniels,
"Ideas for Rural Smart Growth, Promoting the Economic
Viability of Farmland and Forestland in the Northeastern United
States," pp. 8-12 (draft February 2008).
14 USDA. "2007 Census Report." February 2009. http://www
.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Full_Report/index.asp
15 Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. "2009 Minnesota
Statutes: 17.101 Promotional Activities." https://www.revisor
.mn.gov/statutes/?id = 17.101
16 Blue Ridge Forest Cooperative. "Our Services."
http://www.blueridgeforestcoop.com/.
17 Western Governors' Association, Trust for Public Land, and
National Cattlemen's Beef Association. "Purchase of Develop-
ment Rights: Conserving Lands, Preserving Western Liveli-
hoods." http://www.westgov.org/wga/publicat/pdr.pdf
18 The Nature Conservancy. "Conservation Easements: Conserving
Land, Water, and Way of Life." http://www.nature.org/
aboutus/howwework/conservationmethods/privatelands/
conservationeasements/files/consrvtn_easemnt_sngle72.pdf
19 Arizona Land and Water Trust. "Land Acquisition."
http://www.alwt.org/whatwedo/landacquisition.shtml
20 Oklahoma Agritourism. "Oklahoma's Growing Adventure."
http://www.oklahomaagritourism.com/index.php?/what_
is_agritourism
21 Robert Liberty. "Smart Growth in the Countryside: Strengthening
Rural Economies and Protecting Rural Lands," p. 3 (draft
February 24, 2008).
22 The Farmers' Market in Downtown Lawrence. "Welcome to the
Market." http://www.lawrencefarmersmarket.com/
23 "Snohomish County dedicates new biodiesel fuel." http://
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008199030_
biodiesel24m.html
24 Pruetz, R. "Ask the Author." Zoning Practice, October 2009.
http://www.planning.org/zoningpractice/ask/2009/oct.htm
25 American Farmland Trust Farmland Information Center.
"Fact Sheet: Transfer of Development Rights." http://www
.farmlandinfo.org/documents/37001/TDR_04-2008.pdf
26 American Farmland Trust. "Montgomery County, MD TDR
Program." http://www.preservethereserve.org/pages/tdr_
program.pdf
27 State of Connecticut General Assembly. "Chapter 927a: Priority
Funding Areas." http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/pub/chap297a
.htm#Secl 6a-35e.htm
28 Robert Liberty. "Smart Growth in the Countryside: Strengthening
Rural Economies and Protecting Rural Lands," p. 23 (draft
February 24, 2008).
29 Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.
"DLCD Farmland Protection Program." http://www.oregon.gov/
LCD/farmprotprog.shtml
30 Arendt, R. Rural by Design: Maintaining Small Town Character.
Planners Press, APA, 1994.
31 Caywood, T. "Backyard Greenery." The Boston Globe, December
24, 2006.
32 See the Main Street Four-Point Approach®: http://www
.preservationnation.org/main-street/about-main-street/
the-approach/.
33 National Trust for Historic Preservation. "El Dorado, AR."
http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/travel/
gamsa/el-dorado.html
34 FHWA. "Funding for Streetscape, Urban Design, and Multimodal
Improvements." http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/landuse/
tools.cfm#funding. The National Transportation Enhancements
Clearinghouse also has information on funding opportunities for
Streetscape improvements: http://www.enhancements.org/
fundingsources.asp#5
35 New Jersey Smart Choices. "NJ Funding Programs." http://
www.njsmartchoices.org/fdb/results?category = Streetscape%
20improvements; NJDOT. "NJDOT Announces Transportation
Enhancement Grant Program." http://www.state.nj.us/
transportation/about/press/2009/040809.shtm
36 Preservation Kentucky, http://www.preservationkentucky.org/
37 See "Stimulating Infill and Brownfield Development in the
Land-of-Sky Region:" http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/
losrc.htm.
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32 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities
38 See the Michigan Suburbs Alliance Redevelopment Ready
Communities Program: http://www.michigansuburbsalliance
.org/redevelopment/redevelopment_ready_communities/
39 See Hartzok, A. "Pennsylvania's Success with Local Property
Tax Reform: The Split Rate Tax," American Journal of Economics
and Sociology, April 1997, http://findarticles.eom/p/articles/
mi_m0254/is_n2_v56/ai_19532081/?tag = contentjcoll, and
Cohen, J. P. and Coughlin, C. C. "An Introduction to Two-Rate
Taxation of Land and Buildings," Federal Reserve Bank of St.
Louis Review, May/June 2005. http://research
.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/05/05/CohenCoughlin.pdf
40 More information about green infrastructure assessments can be
found at http://www.greeninfrastructure.net.
41 More information about the Streamline and Skyline bus systems
can be found at http://www.streamlinebus.com and http://
www.skylinebus.com.
42 Pierce County Planning and Land Services. "Zoning-Quick
Answers." http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/pc/services/home/
property/pals/regs/zoning.htm
43 For a good discussion of various code reform strategies, see
Creating a Regulatory Blueprint for Healthy Community Design,
ICMA Press, 2005.
44 Missouri Department of Natural Resources. "Katy Trail State
Park." http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail/index.html
45 Coburn Development. "Pitchfork." http://www.coburndev.com/
index.php/site/pitchfork/, Maynard, M. R, Dreuding, M., and
Hutchins, S. D. "Breaking the Rules: Good Neighbors." Residen-
tial Architect, Jan/Feb 2006. http://www.residentialarchitect
.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID = 282&articleID =
239086&artnum = 2
46 Context Sensitive Solutions. "Cobblestone Street Interpretative
Park." http://www.contextsensitivesolutions.org/content/
case_studies/480_cobble/#
47 Johnson, K. "It's Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado."
The New York Times, July 28, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/
2009/06/29/us/29rain.html?_r = l&scp = l&sq = Colorado %
20rain%20barrels&st = cse
48 Sammis, T. "New Mexico Climate." http://weather.nmsu.edu/
News/CLIMATE % 20NL% 20Summer % 2009 % 20final.pdf
49 Idaho Smart Growth. "Grow Smart Awards." http://www
.idahosmartgrowth.org/index.php/projects/awards/
50 Smart Growth Vermont. "Smart Growth Awards." http://www
.smartgrowthvermont.org/help/awards09/
51 USGBC. "What is LEED?" http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage
.aspx?CMSPageID = 222
52 Center for Sustainable Building Research. "The State of
Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines." http://
www.sustainabledesignguide.umn.edu/
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