Long-range capital planning and annual assessment of maintenance needs are the tools to achieve this goal. In addition, municipalities will be forced to become as innovative and cooperative as possible in order to save money on highway-related expenses. Such innovation and cooperation should be planned in advance as a matter of policy, not after rising costs force it to occur. Strip development will slowly erode a road's ability to move traffic as more and more vehicles slow to make turns while exiting or accelerate while entering the roadway. There is also the matter of aesthetics.
Unregulated development presents a chaotic landscape that is lacking in aesthetic quality.
Appropriately regulated development will, over time, result in more visually-attractive landscapes as like uses are grouped, as the edges of population centers are better defined and as screening and setbacks disguise unattractive activities. Regulated development can also minimize the expense of providing water and sewer service by channeling development into areas within or immediately adjacent to those already served by such systems. Water and sewer systems are expensive to construct and maintain, but are necessary in densely-populated areas. It is generally cost-prohibitive to build such systems without substantial state or federal grant and loan assistance. Competition for grant funds is keen.