Without their efforts and teamwork, this primer would not exist. Laura Otis, as well as the many photographers cited throughout the primer, provided valuable assistance in collecting images for use in this document. Finally, Joe Schilling and Nadejda Mishkovsky played a critical role in reviewing and draft- ing text, coordinating the process, and bringing the document to publication.
Finally, Dharma Pachner provided valuable layout and design assistance. Cover Credit Peter Calthorpe Associates. Watercolor image of The Crossings development in Mt. View, California. About the Smart Growth Network The Smart Growth Network is a network of private sector, public sector, and non- governmental partner organizations seeking to create smart growth in neighbor- hoods, communities, and regions across the United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Individual membership information, publications and information about smart growth are available online at www.
It provides a framework for com- munities to make informed decisions about how and where they grow. Smart growth makes it possible for communities to grow in ways that support economic development and jobs; create strong neighborhoods with a range of housing, commercial, and trans- portation options; and achieve healthy communities that provide families with a clean environment.
In so doing, smart growth provides a solution to the concerns fac- ing many communities about the impacts of the highly dispersed development patterns characteristic of the past 50 years. Though supportive of growth, communities are questioning the economic costs of abandoning infrastructure in the city and rebuilding it far- ther out. They are questioning the necessity of spending increas- ing time in cars locked in traffic and traveling miles to the nearest store.
They are questioning the practice of abandoning brownfields in older communities while developing open space and prime agricultural land and thereby damaging our environ- ment at the suburban fringe. As these quality-of-life issues become increasingly important for American communities, local and state policymakers, planners, developers, and others are turning to smart growth as one solution to these challenges.
