U.S.

'Smart Growth' Counters Urban Sprawl

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 16, 2000 / 7:53 PM EDT / CBS

Urban sprawl. Many Americans now rank it right up there with crime as their greatest concern.

And CBS News Correspondent Diana Olick reports the furor over the issue is finally bringing together two traditionally warring factions — environmentalists and developers.

"Americans are sick and tired of sprawling development, congestion, sitting in traffic, long commute times. They're looking for better, smarter choices,"says Robert Cox, president of the Sierra Club.

And that's why two words — smart growth — are doing the trick, according to a new Sierra Club report.

"Environmentalists and developers are finding common cause. Some developers are forward looking, making some smart choices. We're seeing some things on the ground now," says Cox.

Like Village Green, California. It's affordable, close to mass transit, and is the largest solar powered housing community in southern California. Compare that to nearby Newhall ranch:

Thinking of Trying the Suburbs?

Beware of bears when you get there.

Cox calls Newhall "a good example of thoughtless development. Here you have 12,000 pristine acres away from jobs, the core city, that are now being destroyed with unplanned cookie cutter development."

By teaching smart growth, environmentalists are finding local governments willing to listen.

"This makes economic sense as well as making good environmental sense," according to Derrick Berlage of the Montgomery County Council in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Silver Spring has an aging urban core but excellent transportation and infrastructure. By bringing housing into the city, instead of moving it out, developers are saving valuable forest and farmland — a smart choice.

"In the end," Berlage says, "the public good is served by having the growth occur here because it happens in a place where taxpayers have already made an investment in roads and transit."

Every year in the U.S., urban sprawl eats up one million acres of farmland. Now, finally, some developers are finding that the future doesn't always have to be built on new ground.