An Anti-Sprawl Experiment

"[A]fter generations of trying and failing to control growth, the state whose very name stands for sprawl has been experimenting with a plan that has promised to save farmland, meet the demand for new housing and still provide that retirement payout for landowners.

[The new system is called] the transfer of development rights system, although a better term would be the sale of development rights. Like the old practice of transferring air rights, or height limits, to tall buildings from short ones in New York City, the system allows municipalities to designate where their growth will be. Developers can then increase the number of dwellings in their projects - and their profits - by transferring housing credits assigned to open land, like Mr. Durry's, bought from owners whose land lies outside the designated growth zone."