Maryland's 1997 landmark smart growth, hailed as one of the most innovative policies in the nation, has turned out to have failed in what it hoped to accomplish - preserve open space and cluster urban growth, according to a just-released report.
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
FULL STORY: Study calls Md. smart growth aflop
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