Solving Sprawl: new NRDC book and online guide tell inspiring stories
of people improving their communities through Smart Growth.

The effects of sprawl are all too familiar to the average American:
asphalt stretching for miles on end, cookie-cutter divisions,
traffic-clogged highways, and acre upon acre of lost farms, meadows
and forests. But as a new NRDC book illustrates, sprawl is not
inevitable. Solving Sprawl: Models of Smart Growth from Communities
Across America (available for $20 from http://www.islandpress.com)
tells the inspiring stories of American cities and towns that are
beginning to grow and develop in an innovative way that creates
comfortable, attractive neighborhoods without ravaging open spaces.
Using real-world examples, the book shows that people can use
smart-growth strategies to break the cycle of sprawl and improve their
communities.

NRDC's website features an online guide to Solving Sprawl at
http://www.nrdc.org/cities/smartgrowth/solve/solveinx.asp

There, in addition to a lively summary of Solving Sprawl's findings,
visitors can read case studies from the book. For instance, they can
learn how the sprawling metropolis of Dallas used smart growth ideas
to turn an area previously referred to as an "urban nightmare" into a
bustling neighborhood with a community feel.
http://www.nrdc.org/cities/smartGrowth/solve/dallas.asp

Other case studies available online focus on Hillsboro, Ore., and
Montgomery County, Md. The guide also includes a photo layout that
illustrates how smart growth can keep landscapes sprawl-free in big
cities, small towns and rural areas. Neighborhoods in the following
cities and towns are featured in the photo layout: Mountain View,
Calif.; Atlanta, Ga.; Boston, Mass.; Chester, Pa.; Eastgate, Tenn.;
Austin, Texas; Rutland, Vt.; Langley, Wash.
http://www.nrdc.org/cities/smartGrowth/solslide/solslideinx.asp

The online guide is intended to introduce smart growth practices to a
wide audience. Concerned citizens; visionary architects, developers
and planners; elected officials and local governments struggling with
the problems that poorly planned, headlong growth brings will all find
useful information on the site. (Warning: These inspiring profiles and
beautiful photographs may just persuade readers to pick up and move to
these enlightened areas!)

Solving Sprawl is written by F. Kaid Benfield, Jutka Terris and Nancy
Vorsanger, and includes a foreword by Maryland governor Parris
Glendening.


"Solving Sprawl is the best summary of the real choices we have to
build better communities today."
- Peter Calthorpe, architect and author, The Next American Metropolis

"Finally, here is a book on the environment that confronts the
American reality both pragmatically and comprehensively."
- Andres Duany, architect and author, Suburban Nation

"Solving Sprawl is one of the most important books to emerge from the
rapidly growing smart growth movement - a valuable handbook for
developers, public officials and ordinary citizens who want to do it
right."
- Richard Moe, president, National Trust for Historic Preservation


About NRDC
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit
organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists
dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in
1970, NRDC has more than 500,000 members nationwide, served from
offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
http://www.nrdc.org