Sprawl and unfettered growth outstripped such traditional public concerns as crime, the economy, and education, according to polls taken in Denver, Philadel-phia, and Tampa earlier this year. And in the 1999 election dozens of ballot initiatives, local referendums, and new programs were approved to protect farmland and open space and establish new land protection initiatives. Smart Growth, which holds that older cities shouldn't be discarded like Kleenex while the sprawl juggernaut replaces farms with vast expanses of asphalt and endless traffic, may well be the first significant political movement of the 21st century. Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and an outspoken critic of sprawl, says the recognition comes none too soon. That's a message that candidates for public office should embrace.
Voters understand the stakes in failing to address sprawl.
They also flock to leadership on the issue, which is what the country could really use right now.