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In its report "New Community Design to the Rescue – Fulfilling Another American Dream" the National Governors Association set forth a viable solution to sprawl. New Community Design (NCD) embraces a number of concepts that altogether produce places that are pedestrian friendly, walkable, compact, mixed-use and having a relatively large amount of green spaces. The NCD alternative cannot yet be "scientifically" proven to promote active living. But common sense, limited research data, and anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that active living – regular physical activity – can be facilitated by this community design approach.

Our nation wasted too many decades arguing over scientific proof that cigarette smoking kills. We should not wait decades to reach consensus that sprawl kills. Sedentary Death Syndrome is the new name that some medical professionals give to the many lethal health impacts of a sedentary lifestyle. Sprawl supports that lifestyle.

It is useful to think of three "f" categories of regular physical activity outside homes and work:

1. fitness activities, like walking, jogging and biking, done intentionally to promote fitness and health
2. functional activities to fulfill mobility or transportation needs as alternatives to vehicle use
3. fun or recreational and game activities.

We also need to recognize that the best community design promotes physical activity for all ages – from children to the elderly.

The national smart growth movement and the planning profession have not yet fully recognized that public health can be and should be promoted by certain land use and community design principles. It is rational to conclude that the sprawl, single land-use style of the built environment, dominant for the past 50 years, is a substantial cause of inactive living. The majority of Americans live in sprawl places and the majority of Americans are inactive and overweight or obese. The majority of Americans are addicted to automobiles, not just for commuting, but for just about every other need for transportation.

We have a model for land use and community design that in all respects is the opposite of sprawl. This alternative goes by many names – NGA calls it NCD – and a checklist is believed necessary to accurately decide whether a project or places is truly the "real thing." Our report presents that checklist. The report also presents the three most critical policy needs to promote NCD and, thereby, also promote public health by promoting regular physical activity.

First and foremost, we need to change zoning laws at the local government level so that mixed-use places are given equal standing as single land-use development. Several dozen local governments have already changed their zoning laws to do just this. And about six states have created model zoning codes that local governments can consider and use as appropriate for their needs. The zoning should facilitate true mixed uses, both laterally on the land and vertically in buildings. Places need housing, shopping, schools, public spaces, green infrastructure, and jobs within safe and convenient walking distances of each other. We need state and local policies that recognize the educational benefits of smaller schools within neighborhoods and communities that children can walk to, and that also can be used 24/7 for diverse community activities. Building giant schools on greenfield sites that children must use buses or cars to get to has been instrumental in perpetuating suburban sprawl and physical inactivity.

Another policy priority is to change building codes so that they support reusing older, and often historic, structures. New Jersey and Maryland have created such codes and they are facilitating much greater urban revitalization that provides much desired housing in mixed-use neighborhoods.

Third, local governments need to make more use of their powers to levy impact or development fees to fund new infrastructure that new greenfield, sprawl subdivisions require. Now, the general public is subsidizing much of this new infrastructure. A number of communities are rapidly recognizing the need to have developers and builders pay their fair share. Sprawl home prices have been kept artificially low by spreading the infrastructure costs through higher taxes on the general population that not only sees no direct benefits of more sprawl, but actually suffers many hardships, such as increased traffic congestion and over-crowded schools.

Lastly, we also need enlightened transportation policies that provide more choices for citizens. A large fraction of Americans do not want to have only one choice: cars to get everywhere. Many want transit and many want walkable communities.

As time goes on, more people will learn that the sprawl, inactive lifestyle is literally killing them. It is not necessary to outlaw sprawl, only to give Americans more housing and transportation choices so that they can live in places that naturally support an active lifestyle.

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Author and Copyright Information

Copyright 2002 by author

Joel Hirschhorn is Natural Resources Policy Studies Director, Center for Best Practices, National Governors Association. The Division conducts studies on growth management, environmental, energy, natural resource, agriculture, and emergency management topics, and provides technical assistance in these areas to Governors and their policy advisors. In 2000, NGA released Growing Pains: Quality of Life in the New Economy, an introduction to smart growth type state initiatives, which Joel authored. Three other reports have been issued: New Mission for Brownfields – Attacking Sprawl by Revitalizing Older Communities; In the Fast Lane: Delivering More Transportation Choices to Break Gridlock; and New Community Design to the Rescue – Fulfilling Another American Dream, which has set records for downloading of NGA reports, with 75,000 downloads since late July. The Division has many ongoing projects on "smart growth" issues funded by several federal agencies and four foundations. Joel speaks frequently on smart growth topics at conferences nationwide.

He is on the Board of Directors of the National Foundation for Environmental Education.

Prior to NGA, Joel was President of Hirschhorn & Associates, an environmental consulting practice serving a variety of public and private sector clients, and he was Editor of Remediation: The Journal of Environmental Cleanup Costs, Technologies & Techniques. Earlier in his career, Joel was a Senior Associate at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, where he directed many influential studies on industry and environmental issues such as pollution prevention and site cleanups. Before that he was a full professor of engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he specialized in low waste manufacturing technologies.

Joel earned his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has published extensively, including several books and over 100 professional papers, and has appeared on many television and radio programs as an environmental and policy expert. He co-authored Prosperity Without Pollution: The Prevention Strategy for Industry and Consumers.

Joel S. Hirschhorn, Director
Natural Resources Policy Studies
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices
444 N. Capitol, Suite 267
Wash., DC 20001
direct line 202 624-5346
fax 202 624-5313
email jhirschhorn@nga.org