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Report calls for better managed growth in local urban areas
by Richard A. D'Errico, The Business Review (Albany)
August 16, 2007

New research finds that the region needs to focus on smart growth or the urban areas will be facing a higher tax burden and providing drinkable water and emergency services will be increasingly difficult.

The region needs to concentrate development in existing and new population centers, and encourage revitalization in urban areas, according to some of the suggestions made in a white paper issued following the 2007 Economic Summit in Saratoga Springs this week.

The white paper, titled "Encouraging Smart Growth" made several policy recommendations, including:

• The state should prepare a smart growth development plan that includes initiatives targeting its infrastructure investment and economic development assistance programs to advance the goals of the plan; Funding priority should be given to projects and programs that support mass transit;

• The state should establish a program that makes planning grants available to engage a broad range of regional stakeholders, leading to the preparation of smart growth comprehensive plans and implementation strategies;

• Municipalities should be encouraged to develop comprehensive plans that deal with the growth; Incentives should be given to communities to adopt plans to encourage mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented communities;

• Local governments and taxing districts should seek collaborative projects and investigate opportunities to consolidate service areas and operations to achieve cost reductions through economies of scale.

The white paper said that a new report, expected to be released shortly, "concluded that unless the Capital Region does a better job in managing growth, the fiscal impacts will increase the already high tax burden on businesses and homeowners, in particular in existing urban areas."

The upcoming report is a collaborative effort by the Capital District Regional Planning Committee, Capital District Transportation Committee, Center for Economic Growth, and the University at Albany.

The white paper follows an economic summit Tuesday organized by U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-Saratoga Springs). The paper said in the next two decades much of the region's highways and streets will need to be rebuilt.

Learn more about the 2007 Economic Summit: Entrepreneurship and Growth in Upstate New York

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