Good ideas for sustainable land use abound, but the political realities are seldom addressed. Former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening describes his approach to gaining approval for Maryland's landmark package of "smart growth" laws.
As communities around the United States have discovered, Smart Growth is an attractive idea that can be hard to put into practice. State-of-the-art zoning concepts look good on paper but stakeholders are wedded to the status quo. In this article, Marylands former governor describes how he decided not to promote hardedged tools like urban growth boundaries, turning instead to incentive-based policies. He then used the powers of his office and old- fashioned politics to move his agenda forward in Annapolis, and county by county around the state.
Thanks to Jim McElfish
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