Building Better Communities

It's called smart growth, new urbanism or transit-oriented. At its heart, though, the trend in building new housing developments is about building sustainable community into the fabric of a new place. Across the country, as communities deal with the traffic, pollution and other problems of urban and suburban sprawl, governments are increasingly encouraging developers to build new housing along tight grids of streets reminiscent of city neighborhoods. The idea is to put people in walking distance of work, school, shopping and entertainment so they rely less on cars. In the best scenarios, the communities are centered on rail lines or other affordable mass transit systems, so that residents can travel to bigger cities without using a car, according to a story in the June 11 USA Today.