Smart Growth In A Dumb Growth Landscape

Smart growth won't work in a 'dumb growth' landscape, says the city manager for Ventura, California. He offers an alternative model for growth.

1 minute read

January 31, 2005, 11:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen

Rick Cole, currently the City Manager of Ventura, California, has been for years a leading Southern California voice for good government and planning. Cole has been City Manager of Azusa, and before that served as Mayor of Pasadena. The Planning Report publishes excerpts from a recent speech he delivered as part of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development's Urban Growth Seminar lecture series, titled "Smart Growth in Southern California: How Pasadena Made It Happen; How Ventura Will Make It Happen."

"...Here's the problem: We keep trying to do smart growth projects in a 'dumb growth' landscape. And we wonder why they dont work. Its like trying to run Microsoft Word on an Apple computer. We get all these error messages, and its really frustrating. And yet, we keep trying to do smart growth projects. Instead, we have to establish a new operating system...New Urbanism."

Thanks to Chris Steins

FULL STORY: Rick Cole Offers A Realizable Smart Growth Vision

Sunday, January 30, 2005 in The Planning Report

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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