What is "Smart Growth?"

Smart growth is not just a phrase--it is a design philosophy and a set of best practices that were developed by and for communities who want to grow but also avoid sprawl and preserve their surrounding wild and agricultural lands.

In fact some of the most interesting and livable communities were developed with these principles (even decades ago).   I propose that we adopt these principles in Lake County.

• Encourage Community and stakeholder involvement and collaboration in planning and implementation

• Include ecologically sound and sustainable systems such as grading, drainage, sewage , etc.

• Be designed with the surrounding environment and communities in mind

• Be built with economical use of resources and with sustainability in mind (natural building material, renewable energy)

• Design in green corridors, wildlife corridors and open spaces

• Create a range of housing opportunities and choices: encourage diverse housing

• investigation and provision for archeological sites and wildlife habitat

• offer good and safe access for alternative transportation such as bus and bicycle

• Ideally--Be in places already supported by county or community services without delay

The Ten Principles of Smart Growth

(Source: Smartgrowth.org)

Create Range of Housing Opportunities and Choices
Providing quality housing for people of all income levels is an integral component in any smart growth strategy.

Create Walkable Neighborhoods
Walkable communities are desirable places to live, work, learn, worship and play, and therefore a key component of smart growth.

Encourage Community and Stakeholder Collaboration
Growth can create great places to live, work and play -- if it responds to a community’s own sense of how and where it wants to grow.

Foster Distinctive, Attractive Communities with a Strong Sense of Place
Smart growth encourages communities to craft a vision and set standards for development and construction which respond to community values of architectural beauty and distinctiveness, as well as expanded choices in housing and transportation.

Make Development Decisions Predictable, Fair and Cost Effective
For a community to be successful in implementing smart growth, it must be embraced by the private sector.

Mix Land Uses
Smart growth supports the integration of mixed land uses into communities as a critical component of achieving better places to live.

Preserve Open Space, Farmland, Natural Beauty and Critical Environmental Areas
Open space preservation supports smart growth goals by bolstering local economies, preserving critical environmental areas, improving our communities quality of life, and guiding new growth into existing communities.

Provide a Variety of Transportation Choices
Providing people with more choices in housing, shopping, communities, and transportation is a key aim of smart growth.

Strengthen and Direct Development Towards Existing Communities
Smart growth directs development towards existing communities already served by infrastructure, seeking to utilize the resources that existing neighborhoods offer, and conserve open space and irreplaceable natural resources on the urban fringe.

Take Advantage of Compact Building Design
Smart growth provides a means for communities to incorporate more compact building design as an alternative to conventional, land consumptive development.

For more infomation about each of these topics, visit smartgrowth.org