Does Smart Growth Cause Sprawl?

Anchorage, Alaska, engages in the smart growth debate.

Jane Shaw of the Bozeman, Mont.-based Property and Environment Research Center, a market and environmental think tank, said the smart growth concept can actually cause sprawl."'It's a noble idea to have people live close together so they can walk to work, walk and bike to stores, and chat with one another from their front porches,' said Shaw, who co-edited a booked about smart growth. 'It's noble to think that we don't need cars. But such smart growth notions are more nostalgia than reality.'"