Sprawl: Georgia

GEORGIA

The Georgia Conservancy is a statewide organization that has taken on, as on of its goals, helping communities better address growth and sprawl. At the heart of its efforts is a program called Blueprints for Successful Communities. To date, the Conservancy has worked with ten communities under this program. As summarized on the Conservancy's web site:

The Georgia Conservancy provides technical assistance to help communities chart their future in ways that protect the characteristics of the community they value most. Community design workshops bring together a broad cross-section of community leaders to identify the challenges and opportunities the community faces. A professional panel of planners, architects, engineers and others combines this community input with information about projected growth in a variety of development options. The process culminates in a weekend workshop, open to the entire community and facilitated by The Georgia Conservancy, to develop consensus about community goals. The final report serves as a strategic guide for the community.

One of the most interesting and dramatic growth-related programs is the Georgia legislature's establishment, in 1999, of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority -- which is much more than a typical transportation authority. Its mandate is to "preserve the quality of life in Georgia and help sustain our state's economic growth." To help achieve these goals, it has been given broad powers, through control of funding for roads and highways, to structure future growth patterns in the 13-county Atlanta metro area.

According to an article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, "GRTA will work to prune city's kudzu-like sprawl." The article quotes Governor Roy Barnes, who supported the legislation, as observing that "We can't become known as the city or region that cannot manage its growth." The article also notes that the Governor "has on his side powerful allies in the business community, including John Williams, CEO of Post Properties Inc., and A.D. "Pete" Correll, CEO of Georgia-Pacific Corp."

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Do you know of a state or local program we haven't listed that fights sprawl? If so, please e-mail us the information at: editor@plannersweb.com, and we'll include it here.