Smart growth benefits community, economy

Building better places to live, work and play has been the guiding principle driving the home building industry for decades. Home builders have always worked hard to make the communities they build the very best places for America's citizens to start their lives, raise their children and fulfill their dreams.

A "better place to live" has meant different things to different generations. For many immigrants and city dwellers in the early part of this century, a better place to live meant a single-family home with a backyard outside of the city.

To the post-World War II generation, the step up to a better community and a better life meant a three-bedroom, two-bath rambler in the new suburbs.

From the 1960s through the '80s, Americans exercised their freedom to choose where to live, opting for ever-larger homes further out in the suburbs, leading to the rise of "edge" and "fringe" cities.

Now, with the nation's population continuing to rise and the country having completed the eighth year of a remarkable economic expansion both of which have led to robust residential growth throughout the decade the definition of a better place to live is changing again. Americans are calling for "smarter" growth and more livable communities.

Like it or not, growth is inevitable, and we are going to continue to grow for a very long time. In the last two years, the concept of "smart growth" has emerged from near obscurity to become the focal point for discussions about where, how, when and for whom development happens.

And builders are responding with smart-growth plans that call for meeting the nation's housing needs in smarter ways. Smart growth recognizes that no single growth plan will work for all communities. Every locality has different housing, economic and environmental goals goals that are not mutually exclusive. The authority to determine land use is vested in local government, as it should be, and that's where smart-growth strategies must begin.

Smart growth accommodates growth in ways that simultaneously respect the environment, the economy and the community. The challenge is for localities to come up with long-term, comprehensive growth plans that take consumer preferences into account along with other goals set by citizens regarding housing affordability, open space, infrastructure and the environment.

Any comprehensive growth plan should also address ways of reducing barriers to the amount and kind of housing called for in the plan, and allow innovative land-use planning techniques to be used in building higher density and mixed-use developments in suburban and inner-city neighborhoods.

Our nation's growing population needs homes, and the overwhelming majority of consumers are unwilling to settle for anything less than a single-family home in the suburbs. The vast majority of people adamantly oppose the idea of living in or near higher density single-family homes, townhouses or multifamily rental units.

Smart growth is not more government. Instead, government becomes the facilitator to bridge the gap between groups that used to meet each other only in court. To achieve the needed growth and achieve it in a smart fashion requires understanding and planning on the part of communities and their citizens.

Smart growth is collaborative and flexible. Communities must anticipate and plan for economic development and growth in a timely, orderly and predictable manner. They must establish long-term comprehensive plans that make available an ample supply of land for residential, commercial, recreational and industrial uses, and at the same time set aside open space and protect environmentally sensitive areas.

Communities must plan and construct new infrastructure in a timely manner to keep pace with current and future demand for housing. They must also find a fair, broad-based way to underwrite the cost of infrastructure investment.

Communities must achieve a reasonable balance in the land-use planning process by using innovative planning concepts to protect the environment and preserve meaningful open space, improve traffic flow, relieve overcrowded schools and enhance the quality of life. And they must ensure that the process for reviewing site-specific land development applications is reasonable, predictable and, above all, fair.

The concept of smart growth has become one of the most critical issues confronting America today.

Where we live, work and play, the education of our children, commute times to work, and the economic and job opportunities created by new growth are choices Americans hold close to their hearts. Smart growth is an idea that addresses the questions of how best to plan for and manage growth.

When and where should new residential and commercial development take place? Where should new schools and major highways be built? How should communities pay for the infrastructure required to serve their growing populations?

Smart growth means satisfying the demand for housing. Smart growth means economic growth and prosperity for local communities.

The construction of new homes, both single-family and multifamily, benefits the local economy with new income, jobs, government revenues and property taxes. The ripple effect of income generated by workers and businesses involved in the building process is tremendous.

Smart growth means efficient land-use techniques employed for the benefit of citizens, businesses and governments. Smart growth is about accommodating growth, creating more choices and creating incentives, not controls.

Smart growth means more infill housing in America's cities and close-in suburbs. It also means revitalizing urban areas. Infill housing can be particularly appealing to young professionals and empty-nesters, many of whom value an urban lifestyle.

Above all, smart growth means housing choice. While some people express concerns about growth and related issues, particularly traffic, they are generally satisfied with the quality of life in their neighborhoods and prefer current growth patterns over higher density development. And even though people cite traffic as a major concern, the majority drive to work in their own cars and want to continue to do so. Americans generally associate growth with economic opportunities, and they strongly believe that government should plan and manage growth rather than restrict or stop it.

At the heart of smart growth is the elimination of barriers to creating human-scale communities, and the elimination of barriers to creating true communities.

Across the country, communities are finding ways to guide growth and encourage development that is environmentally sensitive, economically viable and community-oriented.

(Louise Henson is executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Springfield.)