Planning Small Town America

Planning just isn't working in many towns. When citizens fight development in built-up areas, it's too easy to shift to the less efficient urban frontier at the edge of town or beyond. Elected officials seldom realize the full cost of allowing haphazard growth. Planners need tools that clearly show elected officals the expense of servicing scattered development. This book proposes using committed land analysis to confront these problems. This easy-to-use technique encourages growth in areas already served by infrastructure, makes clear the cost of public services connected to land development, and helps guide development. ?Planning Small Town America ? shows planners how to use committed lands analysis to convince developers and elected officals that guided growth can result in public assets being used more efficiently. Ford includes a fascinating explanation of how small town planning is supposed to work-and how it often goes awry. She discusses the decision-making and planning tools that guideland use, as well as how public and private interests affect local planning. The book concludes with a nuts-and-bolts essay on ways to make planning more productive. It includes practical advice on how to work effectively in a small community-how to enlist public sentiment for planning and build support from elected officials.