Question 5

EPA National Community Recognition Program

QUESTION 5

Our community has developed a plan that includes feasibility, costs, and impacts of adopting a smart growth approach to plan for the future.

Background

A plan for smart growth development, building from the mission development and goal setting process, will outline the feasibility of the plan’s implementation, the associated costs and the anticipated impacts of the plan’s implementation. By incorporating these central details into the plan, your community can work more cohesively towards the established goals and vision, ensuring greater level of coordination during the implementation process and higher levels of accountability. Laying out details to a higher level of precision will allow you to begin assigning specific actions to the established goals, and with the development of concrete terms of responsibility and associated timelines, you will be moving closer to achieving the community vision.

Getting Started

Begin by breaking the community goals into specific actions—concrete items that can be assigned a specific cost, examined in light of feasibility, have clearly associated impacts and, most importantly, will help you achieve your overall vision. Then begin to break the steps down into manageable processes of who will be involved in implementing the action, how long will it take, what resources will be needed to carry it out, how will results or impact be measured, etc. More detailed guidance on planning processes and implementation of smart growth plans can be found in the links below.

Internet Resources on Planning and Smart Growth Plans

The Community Toolbox
Developing a Strategic Plan
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/chapter_1007.htm

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Getting to Smart Growth
http://www.smartgrowth.org/pdf/gettosg.pdf (104 pp, 1.99MB, About PDF)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Getting to Smart Growth II
http://www.smartgrowth.org/pdf/gettosg2.pdf (122 pp, 1.82MB, About PDF)

Vermont Forum on Sprawl
Growing Smarter: Making Smart Growth Work
http://www.vtsprawl.org/Pdfs/bestresource.pdf (10 pp, 519K, About PDF)

National Association of Counties
Local Tools for Smart Growth
http://www.naco.org/Content/ContentGroups/Programs_and_Projects/
Environmental1/Sources/1528LocalTools.pdf (69 pp, 1.57MB, About PDF)

National Governors’ Association Center for Best Practices
Growth and Quality of Life Toolkit
http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.9123e83a1f6786440ddcbeeb501010a0/
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