New Scorecard Provides Point System for Grading Smart Growth
By John Maximuk
Talk about smart growth is so ubiquitous in planning circles these days, you’d think something was in the water. But for all the talk, how exactly do we decide if proposed growth is smart? And how can we help non-planners decide?
The Livable Communities Coalition, a nonprofit that serves as a smart growth catalyst for metro Atlanta, has produced an answer it hopes will be helpful to local governments, communities, and developers. Its new Smart Growth Scorecard grades proposed development on 50 criteria. The scorecard is based on work done by the Smart Growth Leadership Institute (http://www.sgli.org), a project of Smart Growth America.
The Coalition took SGLI’s recently completed Project Scorecard, modified it, added to it, and applied a scoring system. The resulting questionnaire groups 50 questions in eight categories: location and availability of basic services; density and compactness; diverse mix of land uses; housing choice; accessibility, mobility, and connectivity; pedestrian safety, streetscapes, and parking; environmental protection; and community needs. Each question is graded on a 0-3 point scale. An overall average of 2.0 earns approval as “smart growth.”
While thorough, the scorecard can’t replace planning; no one set of questions can ever take the place of ordinances and good practices. It’s meant instead as a way to raise awareness of smart growth principles and awareness of those projects that exemplify the principles – both goals of the Coalition. Some planning departments will find that their codes and procedures already meet or exceed Scorecard criteria. Others may find some or all of the Scorecard criteria helpful.
In a first test of the scorecard, the Coalition recently graded Hidden Forest, a proposed mixed-use redevelopment of a 55-acre subdivision of the same name immediately north of Town Center Mall in Cobb County. It passed, demonstrating a good mix of uses, street connectivity, and walkability.
For more information on the scorecard, or to get a copy of scorecard criteria, contact John Maximuk at the Livable Communities Coalition, 404-214-0081 ext. 21, or send an email to jmaximuk@LivableCommunitiesCoalition.org.
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