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Administrator Whitman Presents EPA National Awards for Smart Growth

Release Date: 11/18/2002
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(11/18/2002) Today U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman announced four winners of the first National Award for Smart Growth Achievement.The award recognizes innovative approaches and actions taken by state, local and regional governments to achieve smart growth. Each award recipient incorporated principles of smart growth to create places that respect community culture and the environment, foster economic development and enhance quality of life.

“The driving force of smart growth is to provide each Americans with greater quality of life by developing healthy communities with flourishing economies, open space for parks and recreation and convenient transportation choices,” said Whitman during the award ceremony at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. AThat=s what this award does – shines a spotlight on the best of the best smart growth achievements.

“Communities from around the country can learn from today’s winners,” said Whitman. “Each one provides valuable lessons that can be put to use to improve the quality of life today and for generations to come.”

Smart growth is about how and where growth should occur in a way that creates healthy communities and neighborhoods and a strong economy – and it answers the question of how to minimize environmental impacts and maximize public investments.

The award categories and winners are as follows:

Overall Excellence: Arlington County, Va., for Smart Growth in the Rosslyn/Ballston Corridor. Arlington planned dense, mixed-use development at five Metro stations creating vibrant Aurban villages@ where people live, shop, work and play using transit, pedestrian walkways, bicycles or cars.
Built Projects: Breckenridge Planning Department, Colo., for the Wellington Neighborhood. This project recycles land, creates affordable housing for working families, provides a free transit shuttle to the nearby downtown and helps the region avoid Amountain sprawl.@
Policies and Regulations: City County Association of Governments of San Mateo County, Calif., for its Transit-Oriented Development Incentive Program. This program uses transportation funds to help towns that build housing near rail stations, directly linking land use with efficient use of the existing transportation system.
Community Outreach and Education: State of Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs for the Community Preservation Initiative. This is a statewide smart growth program that helps municipal officials and community leaders understand the potential effects of future growth and make more informed choices.

Creation of the National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement was announced by Whitman on Jan. 24, and over 100 applications were submitted in this first competition. Winning entries were selected based on the ability to be replicated and the effectiveness in advancing smart growth and on the level of citizen and stakeholder participation or partnership. The competition was open to state, regional or local governments and other public sector entities. For more information about the awards program and the winners, go to:
www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/awards.htm.