By Derrick L. Coley
March 3, 2003

The 2nd Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference was held in New Orleans on January 30 — February 1. Conference attendees included local and state elected officials, city and regional planners, developers, academics in planning and civil rights, government officials from the Departments of Transportation, Commerce and Environmental Protection Agency, housing organizations, grant foundations and nongovernmental organizations.

Conference of Mayors Environment Committee Chair Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory spoke at the opening session on "Government Leaders: Leading on Smart Growth". McCrory elaborated on his experiences selling the concept of smart growth in Charlotte, in addition to giving his personal assessment about what's working and not working in his area. One of the first challenges as a mayor was to define the idea of smart growth, he said. The best means of conveying this idea to Charlotte area elected officials was through a picture in which he painted a visual image, "Smart growth is the areas of the city where you bring visitors, dumb growth are those areas that you avoid,"

McCrory said asking, "Who is to blame for dumb growth?" This question was posed because the purpose of the conference is to create a paradigm shift in conventional planning towards smart growth. "We all share equal blame for dumb growth from elected officials, campaign contributors, developers, neighborhood groups, voters on zoning referendums and planners", he said. He illustrated the difficulties in reaching a consensus for rezoning between neighborhood groups and planners because of the myriad of acronyms used, which causes both neighborhood groups and planners to hire lawyers to clear up confusion surrounding the acronyms.

McCrory said "We all have to look in the mirror and look at ourselves and ask the question, What are we doing to contribute to bad growth and what can we do to develop smart growth?" He discussed the integrated choice plan in Charlotte, which targets growth around major transportation corridors to develop constructive land use planning techniques. The "Corridor Plan" is funded with $2.4 billion for a new transit system that allows transportation needs to drive planning decisions to concentrate projects next to light rail and bus stops. Charlotte is also integrating housing into the decisions for land use policy by increasing the number of choices for people to choose with multifamily, sub satellite villages and affordable housing along the corridor spokes, so people can travel to and from work and home easily.

The third principle McCrory implemented was the increase in pedestrian friendly city ordinance standards, which challenge developers to include sidewalks and other byways for people to walk throughout neighborhoods on both sides of the road. The fourth concept that Charlotte is doing is creating a road grid design for developments instead of cul-de'sacs, which require you to place stoplights outside every cul-de'sacs to allow people access to the main road. "We do not have traffic problems in the areas that were designed in the 1920's because they have a grid system and the value of those homes are higher", he said. Finally, McCrory said the fifth critical component was a serious commitment to reinvesting in a strong center city, he said, "We have mixed use housing and grocery stores in downtown Charlotte." McCrory stressed the importance of regional cooperation in implementing smart growth principles. He closed stating, "We must look at those policies that concern smart growth and the environment that conflict with each on the local, state and federal levels."

Conference of Mayors Regionalism and Smart Growth Task Force Chair Rochester (NY) Mayor William A. Johnson spoke on a Mutli-Disciplinary Discussion Panel on issues involving the regeneration of America's cities. "For the longest time people did not see the positive attributes of cities and within the last ten years or so, we are beginning to reverse that trend," Johnson said, "For the longest time people were afraid of cities. They were afraid of the people who lived there, the concentration of poverty and the deteriorating conditions." Johnson emphasized that people have had options, such as moving to the suburbs, which they could pursue and move to better places. "Never having to grapple with the improvements that would be required that was the high standard of living which our cities had once known," he added.

Johnson stressed the need for a multifaceted approach to community development involving every stakeholder in order to make positive change. He expressed concern that the NAACP, National Urban League, black clergy and others have not grasped the issue of smart growth and that it is fundamentally a civil rights issue. He said, "The of loss of population, loss of wealth and the high concentration of poverty in the cities is a civil rights issue, and we have to reorient their focus to help them to understand that this is a civil rights issue." Mayor Johnson said the Urban League's mission is to work to get people, my constituents, into mainstream America. He stated, "Mainstream America is relentlessly relocating itself farther and farther from the cities."

Johnson discussed the work Rochester has been doing over the past ten years, but said it is simply not enough. He stressed there has to be a greater commitment from the state to the federal level to reinvest in urban areas to improve housing and economic development. "If we could go in and redevelop city areas in a very targeted way with the needed resources to turn the tide of disparities that exist, we could make a change," Johnson said. "Many people do not want to live in urban areas because of the educational system and problem with crime."

Johnson also cautioned on the use of city ordinances for smart growth guidelines that may have the adverse effect of moving developers out further. He said, "Every time we make it harder for developers in cities, it only pushes developers out further." He said developers don-t dislike design guidelines, but instead they dislike the uncertainty they face in getting projects approved. He closed by emphasizing that cities should be the centers of regions. He talked about the link between regional centers of living and the need for adequate jobs for those residents, as well as regional tax base'sharing plan. He highlighted the city of Rochester's website on Smart Growth which states, "We hire workers from a regional labor force. We count on a regional transportation system to move people and goods. We rely on a regional infrastructure to keep the roads and the sewers intact. We live in a regional environment whose air and waterways do not respect political boundaries."

For more information, visit Charlotte's website at www.charmeck.org/ and Rochester's website at www.cityofrochester.gov