Smart Growth in Virginia
It’s Better for Our Health, Our Environment, and Our Pocketbooks
SELC Report: Smarter growth is good for your health
SELC has long studied the connections between transportation, land use, community design, and health. A new report by SELC, released with the Partnership for Smarter Growth, explains how well-planned communities that offer alternatives to further sprawl and reduced dependence on auto travel provide multiple health benefits for the Richmond region, including
- cleaner air and water,
- more opportunities for physical activity,
- greater availability of healthful food,
- and better access to health care and other services.
Read or download our report (pdf) and find out more about policies that promote healthy communities and about four projects in the Richmond area that illustrate new, healthier trends in land use and development.
Case Summary
Sprawling development is costly to taxpayers and to household budgets, and it has increased drive times, traffic, and tailpipe pollution while leading to the rapid loss of Virginia’s farmland, natural areas, and open spaces.
SELC’s transportation and land use experts are advocating policy reforms that will help reverse these trends and promote smart growth that better integrates where people live, work, and shop.
Smart Growth Is Smart Economics
In contrast to scattered, automobile-centered development, smart growth
- Revitalizes existing communities
- Offers a variety of housing styles at a variety of prices
- Provides easy access to transit and other alternatives to driving
- Shortens commuting times and distances
- Increases property values and reduces pressure to raise taxes
- Holds down infrastructure costs by targeting new development to where services are already in place.
In a new report focused on the Richmond region, SELC shows how smart growth is making communities more desirable, sustainable, and economically competitive.
The Jobs, Transportation, and Affordable Housing Connection
According to recent estimates, almost 30 percent of all homeowners and almost half of all renters in Virginia—a total of nearly one million people—have housing costs above the level typically considered affordable. And moving farther out in search of affordable housing often leads to higher transportation costs that eat up any savings on housing. By contrast, households at or near the center of a region—particularly those near transit—tend to spend far less of their income on transportation.
In another new report, released in collaboration with affordable housing advocates, SELC recommends ways Virginia communities can better link jobs, transportation, and affordable housing.
Our policy recommendations include
- Eliminate zoning restrictions and other regulations that discourage compact development with a mix of residential and commercial uses and a mix of housing styles and prices
- Promote “infill” development
- Redevelop declining or abandoned commercial areas
- Guide new development to designated growth areas
- Provide incentives for green buildings that are healthier and more energy efficient
- Redirect state and local expenditures to advance alternatives to driving.
We also recommend offering incentives for developers to include affordable housing in their projects and to provide funding for affordable housing.