Maryland's Smart Growth Law A Dud According To University Study

The law made then Maryland Governor Paris Glendening's name synonymous with smart growth. The University of Maryland report showing that it failed to accomplish its goals is published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Planning Association.

The "study says the law has been a bust, largely because it has no teeth to force local governments to comply and because builders have little incentive to redevelop older urban neighborhoods.

State planners have failed to prod local governments, which wield enormous control over land use, to approve dense projects in smart-growth areas, the study says.

State money for transportation investments, the centerpiece of the incentives to reduce sprawl, has been minimal: 5 percent of capital spending."

Thanks to Metropolitan Transportation Commission