The Triumvirate of Sustainability

Smart growth planning takes a holistic vision. When planning an area- be it a city, a town or a region- the smart growth planner will have to answer many questions. How do people get from point A to point B? Where will people live, work, shop, and play? How will crucial services be provided? How will the natural environment be protected? How will the built environment integrate people who have different backgrounds and incomes?

At the crux of many of these questions are three major elements: transportation, land use, and design. The coordination of these elements is crucial to create a sustainably built environment.
While local governments usually control land use and design decisions, for better or worse, the federal government largely controls the transportation element; the major transportation system in the United States is the Interstate Highway System. The auto-dominated transportation system that the Department of Transportation has helped build has been working at odds with the goals of two other federal agencies: the U.S. Department of Urban Housing (HUD) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). HUD’s mission is to provide for affordable housing and the EPA’s mission is to protect our nation’s environment. The Department of Transportation has been promoting an auto-oriented transportation system that is both unaffordable for many Americans and has negative environmental impacts.

Good News! On June 16, 2009, the EPA joined with HUD and with the Department of Transportation on a list of sustainability goals! These sustainability goals are based on the following Livability Principles:

* Provide more transportation choices. Develop safe, reliable, and economical transportation choices to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote public health.
* Promote equitable, affordable housing. Expand location- and energy-efficient housing choices for people of all ages, incomes, races, and ethnicities to increase mobility and lower the combined cost of housing and transportation.
* Enhance economic competitiveness. Improve economic competitiveness through reliable and timely access to employment centers, educational opportunities, services and other basic needs by workers, as well as expanded business access to markets.
* Support existing communities. Target federal funding toward existing communities—through strategies like transit oriented, mixed-use development, and land recycling—to increase community revitalization and the efficiency of public works investments and safeguard rural landscapes.
* Coordinate and leverage federal policies and investment. Align federal policies and funding to remove barriers to collaboration, leverage funding, and increase the accountability and effectiveness of all levels of government to plan for future growth, including making smart energy choices such as locally generated renewable energy
* Value communities and neighborhoods. Enhance the unique characteristics of all communities by investing in healthy, safe, and walkable neighborhoods—rural, urban, or suburban.

With the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Urban Housing pledging to work together and align their sights on sustainability goals, the chances of seeing real progress in smart-growth development is vastly increased for America. Let’s hope that we see real progress in the near future!