Changes to the Blog...

Hi everyone, we have some changes afoot here.

In particular, we're moving this blog from this site to DailySprawl.Blogspot.com.

The main reason is that we continue to get many non-River Region readers. Plus, the topic of sprawl really transcends particular regions.

So, while we will continue to post on River Region issues, we'll also broaden this important conversation on smart growth and why it is such a critical issue.

Hope to see you over at DailySprawl.Blogspot.com

chad.

Taos, New Mexico Images...

...from today's SmartCode OnSite

SmartCode in the High Desert...

...this is where I am today. It's really quite stunning.

The 1893 Columbian Exposition...

...is often viewed as the precursor to comprehensive city planning. Below is a trailer from the PBS program that will air this weekend telling the story of this important event:

Sprawl Watch Update I

I recently submitted my latest law review article, All Sprawled Out: How the Federal Regulatory System Has Driven Unsustainable Growth, for publication.

Following up on that, River Region Smart Growth is beginning a regular new feature: Sprawl Watch.

In these Updates, we'll post articles from around the region, state, and country that expose the harms of sprawl.

Indeed, this editorial should serve as a good start for Sprawl Watch:

Converting farmland into exurban subdivisions requires a tremendous amount of new infrastructure -- everything from new and widened highways to new sewer and water systems. The cost is compounded by residential layouts that make pedestrian travel either difficult or impossible -- how many exurban residents can walk to school, church or the grocery store? It’s a lifestyle that’s expensive to maintain, and every dollar spent on a multi-lane highway to accommodate exurban commuters is one less dollar that’s spent to maintain existing roads and bridges.

Choosing to live far from work, school, church, shopping areas, etc., consumes vast amounts of resources, and infrastructure could be built and maintained at a much lesser cost if more people lived in Minneapolis and St. Paul and fewer people lived in Stillwater and Hudson. It’s easy to view the rubble of an Interstate highway bridge and conclude more money must be spent on infrastructure. The hard part is coming to grips with how much our lifestyles really cost.

This story represents a good example of citizens holding a municipality responsible for complying with the land use laws that it passes.

Too often, these laws are so loosely interpreted and enforced, that they almost become guidelines rather than requirements.

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things...

Well, the law school's fall semester is getting started this Monday so we'll be back making more regular Updates here at the RRSG blog.

For starters, I just wrote a piece on Smart Growth and Green Building in the River Region for this magazine. I'm told the piece will be out September 1st.