The Hartford Courant published an editorial yesterday entitled "Let's Redirect Sprawl." The title is taken from a statement by Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell.
The editorial says, in part,
Advocates for smart growth often cite the need for "infill development." But "redirect sprawl" gets the message across better. One of the aspects of smart growth that is sometimes forgotten is — growth. To redirect sprawl is emphatically to keep growing, but in places that don't waste energy, add to traffic congestion or ruin the view.
How do we do this? The editorial doesn't say. It does mention the underused land in our cities:
That should be part of a strong and focused effort to redirect sprawl to the empty and underused sites that pockmark nearly all of our urban areas. The central part of Hartford, for example, has acres of land that is severely underused as surface parking.
It usually does cost more to build in town centers and transit corridors. But it is the right thing to do. If we rebuild cities to a healthy urban density, we won't have to drive as much, and thus will save energy and cause less pollution. Cities will be safer and more walkable. There will be less pressure to develop the last of our farms.
"People want to live in cities, if you do it right," Mr. Rendell said.
This ought to be the next phase of the smart-growth movement in Connecticut, and Mr. Rendell may have provided the catchphrase.