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 programs. 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. Governors see that and are using the bully pulpit to establish task forces, reexamine state policies, and fashion new programs that recognize how pervasively land-use patterns affect our quality of life. 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. Constance Beaumont, the author of Challenging Sprawl and several other important books on community preservation, is State and Local Policy Director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation , a partner in the Smart Growth Network. Ms. Beaumont participates in the Elm Street Writers Group, the source of this article, established by the Michigan Land Use Institute. This area of the Smart Growth Network contains selected opinion pieces from SGN partner organizations and other sources. The goal is to present a variety of perspectives on growth management.