Recently, Dr. Howard Frumkin, Director of the Rollins School for Public Health at Emory University, has identified a connection between sprawl and such problems as depression, obesity, asthma and traffic fatalities. The decreased number of walkable neighborhoods shows a direct link with increased cases of high blood pressure and diabetes. Dr. Frumkin's data also shows that 13.12 per 100,000 people die in traffic accidents in Atlanta each year - almost five times the number in New York. These figures do not include the number of pedestrian injuries and fatalities.

Sally Flocks, President and CEO of Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety, also believes that lack of socialization is damaging our psyche. PEDS is a non-profit organization working to promote accessible and pleasant sidewalks that are designed to enable street crossing and have a "destination worth walking to." According to Flocks, "streets have many uses and only one of them is to move cars." Buses, bicycles and pedestrians must also traverse Atlanta's roads and crosswalks, and so far, the City has a poor record accommodating much more than the single-occupancy automobile.

According to a study conducted by The Texas Transportation Institute, Atlanta's average commute increased by 20 percent from 54 to 68 hours per year between 1996-2000 and is now twice the national average. Currently, 13 counties do not meet federal air quality standards, and on many summer afternoons it is simply unsafe to breathe.

Former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes admits, in the October 2001 CNN Special Report Where We Live, "...the freedom that makes you Georgian and American gives you the right to drive an automobile. However, it should be a choice made. You should be able to have a choice. In other words, if you want to ride mass transit so you don't have to sit in traffic, it should be available to you." Commuters attempting to reclaim the Atlanta average of 4,000-plus minutes spent in their cars each year currently have few options besides tattered sidewalks and six-lane intersections at their disposal. The elderly, handicapped and those too young to drive need to be considered, too. And as for Flocks' worthy destinations, strip-mall mega-stores remain the abundant option but notably not the first choice.

The Move Towards Smart Growth and Sustainability

In response to growing pressure, the City of Atlanta and the state of Georgia have begun development of a smart growth agenda which will provide an alternative to sprawl, but is not intended to preclude growth. "Smart Growth" is defined by the Smart Growth Network as "development that serves the economy, the environment and the community."

On a county front, both Gwinnett and Fulton Counties have rewritten zoning ordinances to allow mixed-use developments. This is encouraging primarily because much of the unplanned development has occurred in these two counties. Gwinnett County's first mixed-use development, a 70-acre campground off of Buford Highway to include apartments, townhomes, offices and retail, is currently being considered.

Pioneers like Charles Brewer, Chairman of Green Street Properties and Steve Nygren of the Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance, are paving the way for smarter growth in the private sector. Green Street Properties, for instance, is set to redevelop an abandoned concrete facility two miles east of downtown Atlanta. The new mixed-use development will incorporate residential, commercial and civic buildings, parks and recreation facilities. Focusing on quality versus quantity, Green Street properties hopes to engage the principles of "New Urbanism" which, although a new idea, reflects more traditional, densely populated neighborhood development.

Steve Nygren helped form a coalition to turn 40,000 acres of South Fulton County land into master planned mixed-use villages, preempting sprawl as it occurred in Northern Fulton. The Georgia Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, the National Park Service and local government are working with the Alliance to develop a long-range plan for the land's development. The Alliance hired Ecos Environmental Design to help prepare a comprehensive development plan with an $80,000 economic development grant from Fulton County.

Just recently, BellSouth announced that it would relocate 13,000 employees from suburban areas to facilities that are accessible by the region's transit. "BellSouth chose to relocate where people live," said Michael Dobbins, former Planning Commissioner for the City of Atlanta. Setting such precedents "will build a constituency for [Transit Oriented Development] to continue."

Smart Growth Means Smart Buildings

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the EarthCraft House program are tackling building design and construction as part of the Smart Growth equation. Buildings account for 60 percent of the electricity generated in the United States. Hence, Smart Growth needs Smart Building.

The USGBC's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system is a template for sustainable commercial building design. Several cities have adopted the guidelines for use in city facilities. In Atlanta, Emory University just completed its first LEEDT rated building (see the Fall 2002 Issue of the Southface Journal). These buildings can be up to 60 percent more energy efficient and 30 percent more water efficient than standard construction. Also, during construction and operation they have minimal impact on ecosystems. Their improved indoor environments increase occupant well-being and productivity. Southface Energy Institute is the Regional Affiliate for the USGBC.

On the residential side, EarthCraft House is the region's fastest growing green building program, having certified 774 homes in the Atlanta area as of December 2002. EarthCraft House is a program of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and Southface. These EarthCraft houses alone, through their energy savings, have prevented the equivalent amount of pollution from entering Atlanta's air as taking 818 cars off our roads permanently.

Challenges

While all these initiatives are encouraging, many believe that pure, altruistic developers and builders will be the ones responsible for smart growth and smart building to become a reality in Atlanta. Currently, most lending institutions are hesitant to finance smart growth developments. Eric Meyer, Executive Director, Regional Business Coalition admitted at a recent Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable forum that finance is a "huge obstacle." Combined with typically unfavorable zoning laws, relatively cheap land and no government incentives, there are no real mechanisms to slow or alter the course of growth. Fortunately, green mortgages are available for homeowners and EarthCraft House builders in Georgia.

Changing gears to embrace truly sustainable development will continue to present challenges. Smart growth must go beyond the doorstep and into the home and the lives of its inhabitants. A city does not become sustainable by adopting growth management principles alone. In his book, Cradle to Cradle, William McDonough writes, "unquestionably, there are things we all want to grow, and things we don't want to grow. We wish to grow education and not ignorance, health and not sickness, prosperity and not destitution, clean water and not poisoned water. We wish to improve the quality of life. The key is. to design [systems] to get bigger and better in a way that replenishes, restores and nourishes the rest of the world."

Concurrently, non-profit, private and governmental institutions are taking separate initiatives towards Smart Growth. Assuming these interests coordinate and set the stage for new development, Atlanta may just have a chance to become an example of sustainability.

Greenprints Links Smart Growth and Smart Building

Learn more about all the pieces of the sustainability puzzle at Greenprints: Sustainable Communities by Design, February 12-15 at the Hyatt Regency, Atlanta. Speakers include Dr. Howard Frumkin, and educational sessions include an interactive workshop with participants from Green Street Properties and the Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance. The USGBC will also host a special learning track on LEED. For more information, call Southface at 404.872.3549 or visit www.greenprints.org.