The prospect of lengthening commutes is leading more Americans to seek walkable neighborhoods in cities and close-in suburbs, according to the 2004 American Community Survey sponsored by the National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America.

Among people planning to buy a house in the next three years, 87 percent selected a shorter commute as a very or somewhat important factor in deciding where to live. Asked to choose between two communities, six in ten prospective homebuyers chose a neighborhood that offered a shorter commute, sidewalks and amenities like shops, restaurants, libraries, schools and public transportation within walking distance over a sprawling community with larger lots and limited options for walking and a longer commute.

These results provide some insight into current discussions in Rhode Island about growth and development trends, affordable housing and transportation priorities.

Read more about the policy implications for Rhode Island

There are strong indications that Grow Smart's recently released Candidates' Briefing Book entitled A Strategy for Saving Rhode Island From Sprawl and Urban Decay, will be used as a resource for affecting positive change at the state and local level long after the dust settles on the November elections.

"It's encouraging that we've received feedback from winning candidates who intend to utilize the issue briefs to influence the public policy debate on issues such as economic development, neighborhood revitalization and property tax reform", said Grow Smart Executive Director Scott Wolf.

Among the topics covered are:

Economic Development

On election day, Rhode Island voters provided an overwhelming mandate for Question 8, the Open Space, Recreation, Bay and Watershed Protection Bond Issue. Even though the $70 million measure was surrounded on the ballot by several other big ticket bond items totaling more than $300 million, it passed with almost 71% of the vote, the most resounding approval of any of the 12 spending proposals on the state ballot.

See how your community voted

Efforts to preserve Rhode Island's outstanding "Quality of Place" were further enhanced on election day by the passage of local open space bonds in Middletown, Smithfield, South Kingstown and Warwick.

In a related development, Governor Carcieri announced on October 26th the awarding of $3.86 million in grants to towns and land trusts that will help conserve 1,541 acres in 15 projects across the state. The money is the last of the $34 million in open-space bonds approved by voters four years ago. Read the article

"Creating more neighborhood schools is one of the most important avenues for advancing quality of life ... It makes sense from a learning standpoint, an economic standpoint, and it makes sense if you want to have schools that are part of a community's fabric as opposed to part of its sprawl."

Those words by South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford reflect the growing challenge facing both planners and school officials: how to make today's schools an integral part of the community.

The just published Fall issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal (PCJ) focuses on schools and planning. It provides an excellent introduction to some of the issues facing citizens interested in ensuring that the siting and design of schools advances both smart growth and educational goals.

Review the articles

Builders, architects, designers, developers, and land planners... enter your development for the 2004 Innovation in Workforce Housing Awards and earn national recognition for your company. Developments are eligible if they were completed or if their first unit was occupied or opened between Jan. 1, 2002 and Oct. 29, 2004. Entries are due Nov. 19.

Sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders, the Innovation in Workforce Housing Awards (IWFHA) are designed to recognize outstanding examples of workforce housing developments across the nation that provide decent and affordable homes for nurses, police officers, schoolteachers, retail workers, and other key members of the workforce near areas in which they work.

Find out more

Providence

South Kingstown

A delegation of Rhode Islanders, including Grow Smart Executive Director Scott Wolf and officials from DEM, the Statewide Planning Office and the Economic Policy Council joined about 40 other smart growth advocates from throughout New England for an all day smart growth leadership forum last month at the Lincoln Land Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Much of the discussion centered on fiscal tools to fight sprawl, including comprehensive property tax reform; a successful split rate tax concept assigning a higher tax rate on land than buildings; current use assessment for open space land; land conservation bond issues; and reform of state and federal aid formulas that encourage sprawl. Rhode Island was singled out by UNH Professor Richard England for having the best current use tax assessment policy of the 6 New England states.

An innovative means of encouraging smart growth oriented affordable housing development in Massachusetts was also outlined by Northeastern University Professor Barry Bluestone.

- Review Richard England's presentation

Friday, November 12

Tuesday, November 16 (9:00a-1:00p)