The Sprawl Resource Guide is designed to familiarize you with several of the key issues associated with sprawl, and direct you to some of the wealth of information already available on the Web.

Poorly planned development is threatening our environment, our health, and our quality of life. In communities across America "sprawl" - scattered development that increases traffic, saps local resources and destroys open space - is taking a serious toll. But runaway growth is not inevitable. Hundreds of urban, suburban and rural neighborhoods are choosing to manage sprawl with smart growth solutions.

The mission of the Smart Growth Network is to encourage development that better serves the economic, environmental and social needs of communities. The Network provides a forum for information-sharing, education, tool development and application, and collaboration on smart growth issues.

This Department of Energy site is a primary source of information on sustainable development which is described as: "a strategy by which communities seek economic development approaches that also benefit the local environment and quality of life."

"A wave of poorly managed growth is transforming America's small towns and suburbs. From Maine to California, small towns and suburbs are becoming accidental cities, causing the deterioration of open space, rivers, fertile agricultural lands, and historic landscapes, while increasing traffic congestion and unsightly strip development."*

Luther Propst, an attorney and land use planner, is the field director of the Conservation Foundation's Successful Communities Program, which provides technical assistance in growth management and conservation matters to communities throughout the nation. The Green Center