by Robert D. Yaro, President, RPA
The next time you're stuck in traffic on one of Connecticut's increasingly congested highways, take some time to consider how out- of-control suburban sprawl is undermining every aspect of the state's quality of life and economic vitality. If your traffic jam is typical, you should also have time to at least mentally compose a letter asking Gov. John Rowland to take the lead on setting a smart growth agenda for the state.
Sprawl is consuming hundreds of thousands of acres of open space and ruining the character of the state's countryside. It is undermining Connecticut's cities and older suburbs, causing congestion on its highways, polluting its rivers and Long Island Sound. Sprawl exacerbates the isolation and decay of our urban centers, and the related problems of concentrated poverty, including the growing shortage of affordable housing. It is increasing property taxes and public service costs in suburban and rural communities that cannot afford to both maintain existing schools and infrastructure while adding new services in growth areas. Recent research shows that sprawl and its automobile-based lifestyle are even contributing to the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases that are shortening our life expectancy and adding billions to the cost of healthcare.
Across the country, 20 states are now attacking sprawl at its roots by adopting "smart growth" programs. These initiatives promote more compact, less land-consuming patterns of growth, and support development in and around existing urban and suburban centers and transit systems. Recently, the governors of New Jersey and Massachusetts declared war on sprawl. Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has restructured state government around a smart growth agenda and appointed a smart growth proponent to coordinate the activities of state economic development, housing and transportation agencies. Massachusetts, New Jersey and other states are expanding smart growth programs even as they trim other programs in the face of multi-billion dollar budget deficits.
If neighboring states can create smarter patterns of growth, why can't Connecticut? The state can and must, if we are to safeguard its livability and economic potential. We even have a vehicle for doing so: the State Plan of Conservation and Development. Legislation requiring the adoption and updating of the advisory "C&D" plan was first adopted during the administration of Republican Gov. Thomas Meskill, to deal with the emerging sprawl problem of the early 1970s. The plan is a fine document, but it is virtually unknown outside of a handful of state agencies, and is in no way binding on the land use practices of the state's 169 cities and towns. The C&D plan is scheduled to be updated next year, and could be strengthened to create powerful incentives for adoption of new sprawl-busting zoning and related measures in communities across Connecticut.
Last year a Harvard University study of possible solutions to Connecticut's sprawl problems identified the strengthening of the C&D plan around smart growth goals as the key first step in this process. In fact, the study's eleven other recommendations all stem from a strong state plan. These include adopting regional smart growth strategies; creating independent oversight groups; establishing a dedicated fund for open space protection; and linking transportation policies and development patterns through "transit village" programs. In each case, a strong C&D plan provides the roadmap to guide development and preservation.
The Harvard study concluded that the key to pursuing this agenda will be the leadership of one man: Gov. John Rowland. In virtually every other state that has tackled sprawl, the governor's leadership was the prerequisite for action. Gov. Rowland has expressed some interest in the issue, and could utilize his commitment to Connecticut's cities as the jumping off point for a smart growth initiative for the whole state. Without this broader approach, Rowland's urban reinvestment efforts and other priority goals, including plans to decongest highways and protect open space, cannot succeed.
Putting some teeth into the C&D plan will be the first important step. The governor can do this without legislative authorization, and he can take a number of other important smart growth initiatives, as Gov. Romney is doing, through administrative action or executive order. If Rowland takes these initiatives, he can move Connecticut from the back of the pack to the forefront of state smart growth initiatives, and in the process improve the state's quality of life and economic vitality for generations to come. Next time you're bumper-to-bumper, it won't be hard to see that it's the only choice for Connecticut.
The next time you're stuck in traffic on one of Connecticut's increasingly congested highways, take some time to consider how out- of-control suburban sprawl is undermining every aspect of the state's quality of life and economic vitality. If your traffic jam is typical, you should also have time to at least mentally compose a letter asking Gov. John Rowland to take the lead on setting a smart growth agenda for the state.
Sprawl is consuming hundreds of thousands of acres of open space and ruining the character of the state's countryside. It is undermining Connecticut's cities and older suburbs, causing congestion on its highways, polluting its rivers and Long Island Sound. Sprawl exacerbates the isolation and decay of our urban centers, and the related problems of concentrated poverty, including the growing shortage of affordable housing. It is increasing property taxes and public service costs in suburban and rural communities that cannot afford to both maintain existing schools and infrastructure while adding new services in growth areas. Recent research shows that sprawl and its automobile-based lifestyle are even contributing to the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases that are shortening our life expectancy and adding billions to the cost of healthcare.
Across the country, 20 states are now attacking sprawl at its roots by adopting "smart growth" programs. These initiatives promote more compact, less land-consuming patterns of growth, and support development in and around existing urban and suburban centers and transit systems. Recently, the governors of New Jersey and Massachusetts declared war on sprawl. Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has restructured state government around a smart growth agenda and appointed a smart growth proponent to coordinate the activities of state economic development, housing and transportation agencies. Massachusetts, New Jersey and other states are expanding smart growth programs even as they trim other programs in the face of multi-billion dollar budget deficits.
If neighboring states can create smarter patterns of growth, why can't Connecticut? The state can and must, if we are to safeguard its livability and economic potential. We even have a vehicle for doing so: the State Plan of Conservation and Development. Legislation requiring the adoption and updating of the advisory "C&D" plan was first adopted during the administration of Republican Gov. Thomas Meskill, to deal with the emerging sprawl problem of the early 1970s. The plan is a fine document, but it is virtually unknown outside of a handful of state agencies, and is in no way binding on the land use practices of the state's 169 cities and towns. The C&D plan is scheduled to be updated next year, and could be strengthened to create powerful incentives for adoption of new sprawl-busting zoning and related measures in communities across Connecticut.
Last year a Harvard University study of possible solutions to Connecticut's sprawl problems identified the strengthening of the C&D plan around smart growth goals as the key first step in this process. In fact, the study's eleven other recommendations all stem from a strong state plan. These include adopting regional smart growth strategies; creating independent oversight groups; establishing a dedicated fund for open space protection; and linking transportation policies and development patterns through "transit village" programs. In each case, a strong C&D plan provides the roadmap to guide development and preservation.
The Harvard study concluded that the key to pursuing this agenda will be the leadership of one man: Gov. John Rowland. In virtually every other state that has tackled sprawl, the governor's leadership was the prerequisite for action. Gov. Rowland has expressed some interest in the issue, and could utilize his commitment to Connecticut's cities as the jumping off point for a smart growth initiative for the whole state. Without this broader approach, Rowland's urban reinvestment efforts and other priority goals, including plans to decongest highways and protect open space, cannot succeed.
Putting some teeth into the C&D plan will be the first important step. The governor can do this without legislative authorization, and he can take a number of other important smart growth initiatives, as Gov. Romney is doing, through administrative action or executive order. If Rowland takes these initiatives, he can move Connecticut from the back of the pack to the forefront of state smart growth initiatives, and in the process improve the state's quality of life and economic vitality for generations to come. Next time you're bumper-to-bumper, it won't be hard to see that it's the only choice for Connecticut.
@RegionalPlan