20 Lessons About Smart Growth

John W. Frece worked for Gov. Glendening as the principal spokesman for Maryland’s Smart Growth Initiative and played a crucial role in creating and publicizing Maryland's smart growth program. Mr. Frece has performed a detailed evaluation of the program.

"Maryland's experiment with Smart Growth was unquestionably a move in the right direction. It represented the logical next step in the state's long history of progressive land use and environmental protection efforts. For the first time, it harnessed the power of the state budget to pull the state toward a smarter pattern of development...

Maryland's "Smart Growth" initiative probably represented as much change as was politically possible to achieve at the time. However, it wasn't enough...its national reputation exceeded the actual results on the ground...

For a statewide, incentive-based program to succeed, incentives must be large, meaningful, and continuous to be dependable. Growth boundaries need to be stronger, less porous, and more effective...The Maryland experience demonstrates the value of a statewide approach and the importance of assuring that local government decisions do not undercut the statewide smart growth goal."