Smart Growth

Travertine City would house 35,000 residents on the shores of the Salton Sea, California's largest - and most unpleasant - body of water. Developers claim that it will be a model of sustainability. "

June 14, 2011 - California Planning & Development Report

Note: This column was originally titled, "A Stupid Attack on Smart Growth," intended as a pun on 'smart' and 'stupid.' However, that sounds harsh so I retitled it. - T.L. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has a well-financed campaign to discourage communities from considering smart growth as a possible way to conserve energy and reduce pollution emissions. They contend that compact development has little effect on travel activity and so provides minimal benefits. The NAHB states that, “The existing body of research demonstrates no clear link between residential land use and GHG emissions.” But their research actually found the opposite: it indicates that smart growth policies can have significant impacts on travel activity and emissions.

June 9, 2011 - Todd Litman

Once a bastion of sprawl, the San Diego region is now embracing one of the most significant regional planning efforts in the nation's history. It is the first region in California to draft a Sustainable Communities Strategy, as mandated by SB 375.

June 3, 2011 - California Planning & Development Report

A new report from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute says that new evidence shows that smart growth policies can have a significant effect on vehicle miles traveled and thus reduce emissions.

May 31, 2011 - New Urban Network

The 4-year-old Informed Growth Act required large retail stores in Maine to go through an extra hoop to analyze their potential adverse impact on the community. The Maine House repealed the act last week.

May 9, 2011 - The Morning Sentinel

By all logic, the comic strip character Dagwood should be fat, sick and impoverished due to his gluttonous eating, sedentary habits, and automobile-dependent lifestyle. Blondie should worry about his high blood pressure and clogged arteries [...]

May 4, 2011 - Todd Litman

Since 2004, the Next Generation of New Urbanists (NextGen) has welcomed new ideas and new faces into the Congress for the New Urbanism.

March 28, 2011 - Mike Lydon

Joel Kotkin recently argued that America is becoming more suburban. Tim Evans says that it's easy to draw that conclusion "when you define 'suburb' so loosely that it includes just about everything."

March 3, 2011 - Garden State Smart Growth

Most trends are fleeting, some of them mercifully so. Some last no longer than a Lady Gaga wardrobe change. But urbanism is still, by and large, a leisurely exercise, so it's no wonder that planners still embrace fashions on a nearly generational basis. It often takes that long just to see if something works. Or not.  So, while Gaga would inspire us to attach telephones to our heads and light our bustiers on fire, planners who ascribe to the principles of smart growth are still rhetorically swaddling cities in the urban equivalent of flannel. For better or worse, this age may finally be coming to a close. Don't cry, Monster.

March 2, 2011 - Josh Stephens

Cities in India and China, as well as in Dubai, are building smarter cities which spurs more investment and development.

February 22, 2011 - Computing.co.uk

Maryland's Governor O'Malley, heading into his 2nd and last term, wants to leave behind a legacy of environmental improvement, including new smart growth policies to limit building in rural areas.

February 19, 2011 - Washington Post

Athens, Greece has all the elements of good urbanism - density, diversity, destinations, distance (to transit) and design. So is Athens a poster child for good urbanism? Fanis Grammenos takes an in-depth look.

February 10, 2011 - Fanis Grammenos

Haya El Nasser at USA Today suggests that "smart growth" is showing its age, and will go the way of the dustbin along with "urban renewal." Meanwhile, "intelligent cities" is the new hot jargon word.

February 4, 2011 - USA Today

The term "smart growth" may be approaching the end of its shelf life, according to some. Its replacement: "intelligent cities".

January 30, 2011 - USA Today

The Texas Transportation Institute just released its 2010 Urban Mobility Report, which is a standard reference in the road-building industry -- and is seriously flawed, says Joe Cortright.

January 20, 2011 - CEOs For Cities

Sprawl is seen as an unfortunate reality in Toronto, and one that some fear it's too late to unwrite.

January 18, 2011 - The Toronto Star

A proposal to redevelop an abandoned rail embankment in Jersey City has pitted preservationists and smart growth proponents against each other.

December 16, 2010 - The Architect's Newspaper

The Redwood City Saltworks development designed by Peter Calthorpe has taken a lot of flack from environmentalists -- and rightfully so, says John Parman, in particular for its susceptibility to potentially rising bay waters from global warming.

December 9, 2010 - The Architect's Newspaper

Kaid Benfield of the NRDC thinks it is time to add more specifics to the definition of smart growth. He prescribes a set of six new focus areas, including equity and health, that he argues should be emphasized in the 21st-century smart growth agenda.

December 7, 2010 - Natural Resources Defense Council

A Berkeley, CA growth initiative revealed the stresses that smart growth play on grassroots environmental organizations like the Sierra Club where members determine positions.

November 10, 2010 - The New York Times/Bay Citizen