Smart Conservation Instead Of Sprawl?

Gary Piro, former San Diego planning commissioner and owner of a San Marcos civil engineering and land-planning firm, advocates "conservation development" as a method to combat sprawl. As described by Randall Arendt, noted planner and author of "Rural by Design" and "Growing Greener," conservation development incorporates the preservation of large tracts of land for biological or other reasons, with high density development immediately adjacent to it where infrastructure is more readily available. The combination of open space and high density living produces real estate of comparable or higher value than a sprawled suburb due to the attractiveness of nearby open space. Property tax revenue brought in by the city would also be the same. However, city planners need to immediately implement flexible design criteria to allow such developments to occur, Arendt says, for community design regulations currently present many obstacles for innovative land use.

Thanks to California 2000 Project