Economic Downturn Shows Wisdom of Smart Growth, Expert Says

By Amy Linn, 10-13-09

In the wake of the economic meltdown, the world seems to have changed. And that’s for the good, said Luther Propst, the keynote speaker on the second day of the NewWest.net Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies conference.

Speakers at the fourth annual conference, which brought together more than 250 developers, architects, city officials, real estate agents, planners, and others, said the shift in the economy has refocused the West on some tenets that would make a Boy Scout proud: simplicity, thrift, conservation, patience, and quality of life.

“This might be an economic reset,” said Propst, a leading smart-growth expert. “We can either be victims of change or we can plan for it, shape it and emerge stronger from it.”

Propst, the director and founder of the Tucson-based Sonoran Institute—an organization that promotes land conservation, sustainability, smart growth, and healthy communities—outlined the ways that the West has suffered because of unwise growth.

He described Teton County, Idaho, home to gorgeous mountain towns like Driggs and Victor. The area was well managed and financially-healthy, said Propst, who has recently started working with a local group there to plan the region’s future. “Then came the fire sale,” Propst said. “It was the classic tragedy that leads to the destruction of the commons.”

Growth in Teton County had been slow and steady until about 2005, when the approval of subdivision lots exploded. In 2007 alone, the county approved 307 of them, Propst said. Then the real estate bust hit. “It created a huge amount of hardship for a lot of people. This year alone, $156 million in property has gone into foreclosure,” Propst said. “Much of that land has negative value now. You couldn’t give it away.”

The crash didn’t just single out Teton County: it has taken its toll throughout the Rocky Mountain West, where “rural sprawl” has been a way of life, he said. Consider:

-- The fastest-growing development size in western Montana is a 10-to-40-acre “exurban” lot that’s miles from the nearest town, Propst said.

-- Gas prices are sure to rise in coming years, and that will create big problems in the gasoline-dependent West.

-- Rural home developments have “grown at a huge rate. There’s been a massive consumption of private land in the West,” Propst said.

-- Growth hasn’t been concentrated around major towns, where it would be more sustainable. Instead, it has spread along valleys from Whitefish to Hamilton and from Bozeman to Billings. This type of sprawl—common throughout the West—erases working farms and ranches and puts financial strain on nearby towns that have to plow roads and provide services to faraway subdivisions and trophy homes.

“We can’t afford those patterns,” said Propst, who called them “zombie landscapes.”

“The market inevitably implodes, bringing negative land values,” he said. The sprawl also ruins wildlands, destroys wildlife corridors, and spoils water resources, he added.

Smart growth that condenses development can solve the problems—and save big money, Propst said. A “compact growth” plan in Gallatin County, for example, would save $53 million between now and 2025, he said. The savings come from simple things like reducing the miles people have to drive and reducing the roads that need to be paved or patrolled.

What are the most important things communities can do to grow smartly? The seven key steps, according to Propst, are to:

-- Develop and revitalize downtown areas
-- Create in-town residential development
-- Build traditional, walk-able, compact neighborhoods
-- Use conservation easements to protect the landscape and working ranches
-- Avoid building developments in danger zones such as fire-prone wilderness areas or flood-prone riparian areas
-- Avoid creating subdivisions that create burdens on other citizens
-- Use policies at the state level to encourage healthy, prosperous communities

The goal is “more livable, more prosperous communities,” Propst said. “We can grow in a way that is more sustainable—economically and ecologically.” There’s no need to despair, he added. “There’s a tremendous ability to influence things. We’re still writing the text.”