A Smart Growth Bibliography:

Impacts on the Local/Regional Economy

American Farmland Trust. Alternatives for Future Urban Growth in California's Central Valley: The Bottom Line for Agriculture and Taxpayers, October 1995.
Summary: The report projects and analyzes the impact of future growth on agriculture and taxpayers under two scenarios: 1) low-density urban sprawl, and 2) more compact, efficient growth pattern at a higher density. Environmental impacts were not considered. Study (61 pages)

Burchell, Robert W. et al. Development Impact Assessment Handbook, the Urban Land Institute, 1994. With Development Impact Assessment Model.
Summary: The electronic model uses a combination of user provided inputs, national multipliers, and model calculations to evaluate the impacts of a new development. Impacts considered include: market; social; environmental; economic; fiscal; traffic; and shared infrastructure. The Handbook explains development impact analyses in general, provides examples, and gives instructions on how to use the electronic model. Handbook (326 pages) and Model on 3.5" diskette (Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel versions).

Canter, Larry, et al. Impact of Growth: A Guide for Socio-Economic Impact Assessment and Planning, Lewis Publishers, Inc., Chelsea, MI, 1986.
Summary: Delineation of a systematic approach which can be used in addressing potential socio-economic impacts resulting from major development projects. A step-by-step guide including factors and examples with emphasis on the project level. Book - Impact Assessment Model (533 pages).

Cook, The Competitive Metropolis: Do Americas Growth Patterns Work? Developments Vol. 1, No. 3, The National Growth Management Leadership Conference, December 1990.
Summary: The article contends that areas that are well integrated to include highpriced and moderatelypriced housing are more likely to remain competitive and robust than other areas. The author details the lack of affordable housing available to those working in the suburban office park and how this has contributed to longer commutes, growing congestion, and increased air pollution. Beyond quality of life factors, Cook explains how the biggest challenge posed by spatial mismatch may be economic: Postindustrial America has been developed on the metropolitan fringe, away from reasonably priced labor. Without nearby affordable housing for the changing face of Americas labor force, the inputs necessary to make these enterprises viable may be unaccessible.

De Witt, Karen. Older Suburbs Struggle to Compete with New: Aging Towns Gain Cities Problems, The New York Times, 26 February 1995.
Summary: The article discusses how some of Cleveland's grand old suburbs are now experiencing decline, as efforts to maintain infrastructure, schools, and other services get increasingly more expensive and competition for homebuyers grows from new suburbs. The article argues that outmigration will not cease, unless strong steps are taken to promote development near the central city.

Kinsley Michael J. and L. Hunter Lovins. Paying for Growth, Prospering from Development, Snowmass, CO: Rocky Mountain Institute, 1995.
Summary: The article argues that sprawl is not the only solution to economic growth for communities and that communities need not grow geographically to have a robust, sustainable economy. The authors note that communities often are willing to subsidize sprawl in anticipation that in the long term the economy will be buoyed by development. Impact and user fees are one way to remedy this, but only capture some of the social costs of sprawl. The authors then introduce the Institute's vision of sustainable community development, which emphasizes the role of natural resources, compatible business opportunities, equity, economic and resource efficiency, and other measures.
Klosterman, Richard E., Richard K. Brail, and Earl G. Brossard (eds.). Spreadsheet Models for Urban and Regional Analysis, Center for Urban Policy Research, 1992.
Summary: The software package provides help using spreadsheet models for demographic forecasting, economic analysis, environmental modeling, planning, management, and decision making. 19 spreadsheet models with dozens of applications are featured. The book contains advice on how to use the models, collect and enter data, interpret findings, and develop applications. Handbook (451 pages) and Model on IBM-compatible diskette (Lotus 1-2-3).

Lockeretz, William. Secondary Effects on Midwestern Agriculture of Metropolitan Development and Decreases in Farmland, Land Economics, Vol. 65 No. 3, August 1989.
Summary: The study uses multiple regression analysis to determine how metropolitan expansion has affected farming. The study considers two measures: loss in farmland; and change in the intensiveness of farming. Paper - Model (12 pages).

McLean, Mary L. and Kenneth P. Voytek. Understanding Your Economy, APA Planners Press, 1992.
Summary: The book shows how to conduct local economic analysis to support strategic planning decisions and determine which clusters of industry to strengthen. It explains how to use basic economic analysis techniques to analyze changes in the local economy and to evaluate the significance of these changes for economic development policy. Book (245 pages).

Nelson, A.C. Preserving Prime Farmland in the Face of Urbanization - Lessons from Oregon. Journal of the American Planning Association, 58, 4: 467-88, 1992.
Summary: The article reviews the reasons for farmland preservation near urban areas and the economic impacts of urbanization on farmland. It proposes a comprehensive scheme for farmland preservation that expands on the experience of Oregon, including its mistakes. Article (22 pages).

Porter, Michael. " The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City". Harvard Business Review, May/June 1995.
Summary: The economic distress of America's inner cities may be the most pressing issue facing the nation. Past efforts to revitalize inner cities have failed. The author asks how inner-city-based businesses and nearby employment opportunities for inner city residents can proliferate and grow and proposes a new approach to revitalizing inner cities. Paper - model (16 pages).

Rusk, David. Cities Without Suburbs, Washington, DC: The Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1993.
Summary: The study examines the social, demographic, and economic dimensions of metropolitan growth over the past forty years and argues that cities that have been able to extend their authority, boundaries, and influence (elastic cities) have fared much better by all indices than those cities that have remained wedded to geographic constraints, class and racial segregation, and fragmented governmental structures (inelastic cities).

Vesterby, Marlow, Ralph E. Heimlich, and Kenneth S. Krupa. Urbanization of Rural Land in the United States, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Washington DC, March 1994.
Summary: The report examines the effects of urban conversion on rural uses of land. An analysis of land use change is presented for the period from the early 1970's to the early 1980's and compared with results of a similar study of the 1960's. The report concludes that losing farmland to urban uses does not threaten total cropland or the level of agricultural production, which should be sufficient to meet food and fiber demand into the next century. Report (59 pages).

Voith, Richard. Changing Capitalization of CBD-Oriented Transportation Systems: Evidence from Philadelphia, 1970-1988, Journal of Urban Economics, 33, 361-376 (1993).
Summary: Estimation of how the value of central business district accessibility for the Philadelphia metropolitan area, expressed in house value premiums, has fluctuated with the economic health of the city over the period 1970-1988. Paper - Model (16 pages).

Voith, Richard. City and Suburban Growth: Substitutes or Complements? Business Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Sept.-Oct. 1992, 21-33.
Summary: Examination of the relationship between city and suburban growth over the last three decades. 28 metropolitan areas in the Northeast and North Central regions are examined to determine if suburban population and income growth are positively correlated with city population and income growth. Paper - Model (11 pages).

Voith, Richard. Do Suburbs Need Cities?, Unpublished manuscript, August 1995.
Summary: Examination of the relationship between city and suburban growth over the last three decades for a sample of U.S. metropolitan areas: Are cities and suburbs substitutes, or do they complement each other? Paper - Model (30 pages).

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