Kerry on Smart Growth vs. Urban Sprawl

http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/sprawl/index.html

Promoting Smart Growth and Livable Communities

John Kerry recognizes that local communities are struggling with how to address issues of traffic congestion and sprawl. A Kerry Administration will work with states and communities to ensure they have the tools and resources they need to tackle these difficult problems. Kerry will ensure that we have “Clean and Green Communities” throughout America by coordinating federal transportation policies, federal housing incentives, federal employment opportunities and the use of federal dollars to acquire parks and open space.

Priorities

1) Provide Information and Assistance to Local Governments

It falls to local communities to create the regulations that actually control the sprawl that most people notice, but the federal government also has a role by providing small matching grants to local and state governments so that they can better plan for development, and improve their land-use regulations.

2) Remove the Incentives in Federal Regulations and Tax Policy that Encourage Sprawl
Government policies often create conditions that encourage sprawl:

• We build bigger and better roads that only serve to move people from suburbs and beyond the suburbs in largely rural areas known as exurbs to inner cities.

• We allow tax breaks of up to $2,280 per year for people to drive alone to work.

• We provide better incentives for people buying new homes than older ones.

Although federal government policies can encourage sprawl, it is state and local governments that must deal with the implications of sprawl: sprawl leads to demand for new schools, new water infrastructure, new local roads, new police and fire stations, and other public services. States and towns must raise their property taxes to provide these services. To help relieve the burden on states and towns John Kerry will modify federal regulations to eliminate incentives that encourage sprawl.


3) Use Federal Policies to Lead by Example and Improve Livability

The federal government is America’s biggest landowner, landlord, and employer. We have the opportunity to manage ourselves in a manner that benefits the local communities in which we serve. For example, John Kerry's administration will ensure that the U.S. Postal Service works with local communities to abide by a community's plans for growth management, land use, traffic management, and environmental protection.

Additionally, Federal facilities should be located in downtown areas to strengthen the economic base of cities, towns and rural communities and make them more attractive places to live and work. Locating Federal facilities in downtown areas will also support historic development patterns, limit sprawl, and have other important environmental benefits.


4) Protecting Open Space

President Lyndon Johnson pioneered passage of the Land and Water Conservation Fund – a program which provides matching grants to States and local governments for the acquisition and development of public outdoor recreation areas and facilities. The program is intended to create and maintain a nationwide legacy of high quality recreation areas and facilities and to stimulate non-federal investments in the protection and maintenance of recreation resources across the United States.

John Kerry has fought for full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and he will ensure that ample funds are available to protect threatened land and water resources, to invest in urban parks, and to provide recreational opportunities for all Americans. John Kerry will work with the Congress to hard-wire this funding so that Americans can count on its availability to invest in conservation needs without relying on the uncertainty of the annual Congressional appropriations process.


5) Guaranteeing that Our Kids have Access to Ball Fields and Parks

John Kerry believes that there is a straight line between investing in our environment and improving our quality of life. All of us remember how, as kids, we enjoyed joining our family and friends in local parks, in exploring trails through the woods, and in playing on ball fields near our homes. John Kerry’s commitment to “Clean and Green Communities” means that every child in America should have access to a convenient, clean and safe ball field or park. The Kerry Administration will back this commitment to revitalize and expand our parks and recreation areas by adequately funding programs like the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery program (UPARR) and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Success of the program will be measured by a simple test: do our kids have access to clean and safe ball fields and parks?

6) Federal Transportation Policy that Works for Communities

Federal transportation policy is a powerful tool for building more livable communities - those where people, businesses and neighborhoods have access to a variety of transportation choices. Transportation plays a major role in quality of life, influencing everything from access to economic opportunities to environmental quality and community safety. Having transportation choices means having the flexibility to use transportation dollars to best fit local needs such as building light rail and streetcar systems, redesigning neighborhood streets and sidewalks to be more pedestrian friendly, or reducing environmental damage caused by road projects. John Kerry will advance a federal transportation policy that gives communities this flexibility.

John Kerry will also improve the transportation planning and decision-making process by strengthening the role of Metropolitan Planning Organizations and increasing the opportunities for meaningful public participation from important and diverse community voices. Finally, John Kerry will ensure that transportation investments do not harm the environment but instead serve as opportunities to improve air and water quality, maintain critical animal habitat and crossings, preserve open space, and protect endangered species.