Solving Sprawl: Models of Smart Growth in Communities Across America [Paperback]

F. Kaid Benfield (Author), Jutka Terris (Author), Nancy Vorsanger (Author), Parris Glendening (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1893340333 | ISBN-13: 978-1893340336 | Publication Date: November 2001

The best hope for addressing the problem of sprawl is "smart growth" - an approach to development that is town-centered and transit- and pedestrian-oriented, and which mixes residential, commercial, and retail development. It also preserves open space and other environmental amenities. Solving Sprawl shines a spotlight on American communities that are applying smart growth principles in successfully addressing the problem of sprawl. It offers examples that illustrate key concepts and tells the story of how this new approach to development has caught hold across America. It reports the good news that successful smart-growth developments can now be found throughout the country. The book details 35 diverse smart-growth stories and celebrates those who are leading the way in solving sprawl. Each chapter showcases a wide variety of solutions with projects of all sizes in urban, suburban, and exurban settings. Projects profiled include Adidas Village in Portland, Oregon; the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.; Quality Hill in Kansas City, Kansas; Suisun City redevelopment in Suisun City, California; growth control initiatives in Boulder, Colorado; Pearl Lake in Almira Township, Michigan; and more. Interspersed throughout are sidebars that offer additional examples and reminders of the sprawl-related environmental and social problems that smart growth helps overcome. The book also includes a glossary of planning terms and land-use concepts.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

F. Kaid Benfield is an environmental attorney and director of smart growth and transportation policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C. Jutka Terris is an urban planner based in Alexandria, Virginia. Nancy Vorsanger is a writer and editor who lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Natural Resources Defense Council (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893340333
• ISBN-13: 978-1893340336
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,140,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read, April 13, 2002

By 

K. Conrad (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Solving Sprawl: Models of Smart Growth in Communities Across America (Paperback)

Solving Sprawl is a wonderfully lively, readable account of how 35 diverse communities from across the nation have managed to find solutions to the problems of sprawl. Examples from urban, suburban, and rural areas demonstrate numerous innovative strategies for protecting the environment while creating attractive, human-friendly places for people to live, work,
and play. The book is enhanced with photos, maps, and informative sidebars. This is an impressive, inspiring piece of work that succeeds as both an introduction to Smart Growth, and as a guide to translating Smart Growth theory into practice.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compendium of smart growth success stories, April 9, 2002

By 

Eliot Allen (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solving Sprawl: Models of Smart Growth in Communities Across America (Paperback)

This is a valuable and much needed reference that offers substance instead of rhetoric about containing sprawl with smart growth-oriented development. It persuasively demonstrates how smart growth projects across the country are succeeding in meeting people's housing and employment needs while minimizing environmental harm. Thirty-five projects are profiled in sections devoted to cities, suburbs, and conservation areas, each with project statistics and contacts. Its geographic diversity is especially impressive, from the nation's largest metropolitan regions to small rural towns. This is one of those rare volumes that works for professionals as a technical reference, and for community officials and citizens as an educational tool. It's an inspiring catalogue of some of the best neighborhoods and communities being developed in America today.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book on community and the environment, November 24, 2001

By 

Giselle Kennedy (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solving Sprawl: Models of Smart Growth in Communities Across America (Paperback)

I have an advance copy of this book, and I hope Amazon gives it a full listing soon, because it fills a valuable need - showing people how our communities can grow and prosper without sprawl and the ugliness and damage it brings to our landscape and towns. The authors provide 35 inspiring examples of smart growth - development in cities and suburbs, along with green space preserved - all over the country, while disussing the relevant environmental and social issues.

Too often, environmentalists are criticized (and rightly so) for being too negative, pointing out problems without presenting solutions that work for the economy and for people's convenience. This book takes a most refreshing opposite approach, and backs it up with color photos and project data. The authors know what they are talking about, too: these are the same folks who wrote Once There Were Greenfields, the meticulously documented handbook on the problems associated with sprawl development. Solving Sprawl is the best thing I've seen yet on smart growth, and it should be a boon for anyone concerned with these issues. It was produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York, which has more information on its web site. Get it - you'll be glad you did.