Smart Growth
Downtown enhancement
Smart Growth is sensible, planned growth that integrates economic development and job creation with community quality-of-life by preserving the built and natural environments. Smart Growth seeks to discourage development on open space and farmland and encourage growth in developed areas with existing infrastructure.
Smart Growth is many communities' answer to an age old question: "How do we use the land?" It is an approach that encourages clustered population centers, full of activity, diversity and character, surrrounded by life-sustaining natural areas and working landscapes. In practice, it is a combination of community planning activity, land use regulations, government incentives, and individual actions that can turn investment toward quality of life and better places.
Smart Growth Tools
Some of the specific Smart Growth tools used to carry out these goals on the local level include:
- mixed land uses
- compact, conservation-oriented development
- strategic farmland and open space preservation
- historic preservation
- brownfield re-development
- vacant property re-use
- "green" buildings
- age-, income- and ethnically-integrated communities
- affordable housing
- pedestrian- and bicycle- friendly community design
- transit-oriented development
- regional land use and transportation planning
- collaborative, public, stakeholder-driven planning processes
- development targeted toward existing infrastructure
- parks
- well-planned public spaces.
Sprawl development consumes more acreage per household
Transit oriented development draws growth toward mass transit corridors
Principles of Smart Growth
Foster strong, sustainable businesses in community centers - enhance infrastructure in downtowns and villages to attract economic growth and discourage scattered development
Preserve open space, forests, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas - keep irreplacible resources intact to bolster local economies, improve quality of life, and guide growth inward
Strengthen and direct development towards existing communities - tap into existing infrastructure and neighborhood resources to stop the sprawling urban fringe
Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place - value development and construction that has distinctive architectural beauty
Create walkable neighborhoods - build compactly and focus everyday activity along streetscapes designed for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and automobiles
Take advantage of green building design - use innovative approaches, proper building placement, and local materials
Create a range of housing opportunities and choices - build quality housing for people of all income levels with access to jobs, culture and open space
Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions - work together to find creative solutions, increase community understanding and plan and invest in shared spaces
Mix land uses - locate commercial uses proximate to residential areas and open space
Make development decisions predictable, fair and cost effective - provide government leadership that creates a fertile environment for innovation
Provide a variety of transportation choices - reinforce the viability of smart growth with efficient movement between housing, shopping, and jobs
Foster long term comprehensive planning - plan to reach local, regional and state goals, to target investment, increase local capacity and increase intergovernmental efficiency
Environmental Benefits of Smart Growth
Energy Use - smart growth reduces vehicle miles traveled and decreases greenhouse gas emissions
Green Development - planned growth incorporates environmental awareness into land use decisions
Water Quality - smart growth leaves more and larger areas for the natural process of absorption and filtering
Ecosystems and Habitat - building compactly leaves ecosystems intact to support diverse plant and wildlife populations
Connection to Nature - smart growth creates links between our neighborhoods and areas set aside for nature based recreation
DEC Actions to Promote Smart Growth
Smart growth is a significant component of DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis' efforts to foster green and healthy communities across the state. The following smart growth initiatives are currently in action.
- Active participation in the Governor's Smart Growth Cabinet and other partnerships with state agencies
and the private sector in promoting and implementing smart growth principles - Promotion of park-wide planning and hamlet revitalization in the Adirondacks and implementation of the Adirondack
Smart Growth Grants Program - Development and implementation of the Catskill Smart Growth Grants Program
More about Smart Growth:
- Smart Growth in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks - DEC has initiated EPF funding for towns, villages and not-for-profit organization partners in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. This funding is intended to help park communities capitalize on the historic and cultural assets of existing settlements to cultivate economic growth within the framework of highly protected forest preserve lands.
