Partnership for Quality Growth
Embargoed For Release
Monday, April 24, 2000
Contact: Dennis S. Day, 703-837-5310
PARTNERSHIP FOR QUALITY GROWTH RELEASES RESEARCH REPORT TO ASSIST IN PUBLIC POLICY DEBATE ABOUT GROWTH
WASHINGTON -- As our nation faces growing public concern about land use, transportation and environmental issues, the Partnership for Quality Growth, a nationwide group of business and industry, today announced the launch of a national public education campaign built around a research-based report called Building Better Communities: A Toolkit for Quality Growth.
The toolkit is designed to assist businesses, state, city and local officials as well as to educate citizens throughout the country in order to provide positive, proactive approaches for addressing growth issues in local communities. Members of the Partnership for Quality Growth will conduct legislative and media briefings as well as public outreach programs on "Building Better Communities" throughout the country. The toolkit is available on the Partnership's website at http://www.qualitygrowth.org.
"As our nation's population continues to increase, there is a need to provide additional housing, more jobs and improved transportation while at the same time address community environmental concerns," said Tony Obadal, Washington Counsel for the Associated Equipment Distributors.
"The Quality Growth Toolkit provides public officials with the facts they need to make informed decisions on key growth-related issues," said Bill Fay, president and CEO of the American Highway Users Alliance. "In the face of growing congestion nationwide, it is important for state and local leaders to realize that there are effective, affordable solutions for easing gridlock on our highways."
The report provides essential guiding principles that local planners can use to build better communities that accommodate growth, promote development and improve the environment. Those principles are:
(1) Americans are, and should remain, free to choose where they live and how they travel, and public policies related to future growth should not limit those choices;
(2) Economic development and population growth confer benefits on communities if the challenges associated with them are properly managed;
(3) Citizens should have an opportunity to participate in decisions affecting future growth in their communities;
(4) Infrastructure investment should reflect public sentiment and needs; transportation improvements should be aimed at improving road safety, in addition to accommodating, rather than stifling, projected growth in travel; and
(5) As our nation continues to grow, environmental improvement and economic development should complement each other to produce healthy, vibrant communities.
The toolkit presents research from five separate focus groups conducted in cities throughout the country. It provides fact sheets on the following areas: Planning for Quality Growth; A Critique of Smart Growth Plans; Traffic Congestion; Air Quality; Transit; The Automobile: Providing Freedom and Opportunity; and Traffic Calming.
"Many cities are taking a serious look at growth-related issues. Building Better Communities: A Toolkit for Quality Growth can help foster reasoned dialogue on these often-emotional issues," said Pete Ruane, President and CEO of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.
The toolkit also provides research-based information about the changes taking place in several cities in the United States and Europe. For example, Los Angeles reflects the high-density population development and limited highway capacity that are integral elements of most so-called "smart growth plans." Yet, these development patterns have resulted in the poorest air quality and worst traffic congestion in the nation. Another startling example is that Washington, D.C. built a world-class transit system at the expense of highways, resulting in the second worst traffic congestion in the nation.
Building Better Communities presents a reasoned approach to growth. Since many decisions about the growth of our communities are made at the state and local level, the toolkit includes facts, statistics and quick reference guides that will serve as a resource for local and regional decision-makers.
"There are many reasons why cities must look beyond the rhetoric and use several planning tools to ensure quality growth. Building Better Communities examines the issue of growth and planning in
this country by making comparisons between the United States and Europe. The toolkit also dispels the myths about growth. Quality growth is not an issue about suburban living versus city life, it is an issue about where and how people choose to live and their quality of life", said Stephen E. Sandherr, executive vice president and CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America.
The Partnership for Quality Growth is an ad-hoc coalition of trade associations and business groups committed to positive, quality growth in the communities, in which members live and work. These associations include the American Consulting Engineers Council, American Highway Users Alliance, American Road and Transportation Builders Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, Associated General Contractors of America, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Construction Industry Manufacturers Association, Equipment Manufacturers Institute, Laborers Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, National Asphalt Pavement Association, National Stone Association, National Utility Contractors Association, The Road Information Program, and the Transportation Construction Coalition.
# # #
RSS