Sierra Club: 'Smart growth' is key to curb sprawl

Urban sprawl is "poorly planned development that destroys green space," according to the Sierra Club     MESSAGE BOARD Environmental issues     ALSO Read the full report at sierraclub.org

September 14, 2000
Web posted at: 2:50 PM EDT (1850 GMT)

From David George
CNN Science Correspondent

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Urban sprawl is a problem that Americans could easily solve, concludes a report on sprawl recently released by the Sierra Club.

"It's a completely unnecessary problem because we do know what to do about it. We don't exactly know what to do about problems like drug use. We know what to do about stupid development patterns," said Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club defines sprawl as "poorly planned development that destroys green space, increases traffic and air pollution, crowds schools, and drives up taxes."

Spokesmen on the other side of the environmental divide insist sprawl means growth, and that's good.

"If moving out in the countryside and building new houses in the countryside means more people have access to affordable housing, I think that is a very good thing," said Daniel Simmons with the Competitive Enterprise Institute

The Sierra Club report cites examples of what it calls "intelligent" and "irresponsible" development in every state. It also defines what it calls "smart growth" as "intelligent, well-planned development that channels growth into existing areas, provides public transportation options, and preserves farm land and open space."

In Georgia, for example, a huge discount store was recently built just a short distance from a smaller store, which was abandoned. On the other hand, a few miles away, a dilapidated in-town neighborhood was razed and rejuvenated with a combination of public and private money.

For sprawl to be contained, the Sierra Club says, citizens have to get involved -- seizing the initiative for growth from politicians and developers.

And the Sierra Club insists its anti-sprawl campaign isn't in conflict with the American dream of owning a home of your own.

"I don't think there's a conflict between what Americans want and what we need to have smart growth. There is a conflict between unplanned growth that sometimes is beneficial to a particular developer and meeting the American dream in a way that doesn't destroy our communities," Pope said.

The Sierra Club says that in the past three years, "22 states have updated laws and planning codes to encourage smarter growth."

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Sierra Club
The Competitive Enterprise Institute

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