Smart growth is a response to the sprawling pattern of land use that has gobbled up so many of our metropolitan areas. Sprawl has drained resources, jobs and families from center city neighborhoods, leaving behind intense pockets of poverty, poorly funded city schools, and populations that are isolated from jobs and services. Sprawl also has had adverse impacts on rural economies and character. The goal of smart growth is to encourage development that serves the economic, environmental and social needs of all communities. To this end it encourages reinvestment in existing communities, particularly inner cities and older suburbs, as an alternative to suburban sprawl.
Smart growth endorses development that is more compact and efficient than current land uses.
It blends housing with business and services, and protects open space and rural areas. It favors neighborhoods that are safe and convenient for walking, have a range of housing options for people of different incomes and have access to public transit. In some ways smart growth is about restoring a sense of community to the places where we live. It is wrong, however, to think that smart growth is just a sentimental movement. Smart growth advocates do not seek to stop growth, but instead find more efficient and equitable ways to grow.