I don't care much for the term "Development Excellence" because it adds to the vagueness already surrounding the term smart growth. It strikes me as another chapter the seemingly unending search for words that will not offend anyone because they can be easily defined anyway one wishes, and often are, perpetuating issue confusion. I think that planners always have to be mindful of their communities when they plan, but there are so many similarities of development and mentality that a book like the "Geography of Nowhere" could be written and be easily defended. My concept of smart growth is that of informing and educating the public. Smart growth is about choices. Too many times, people make decisions based on lack of information or disinformation. If people really want urban sprawl, they need to know the consequences and trade-offs to themselves, their children, and the environment. Let's face it, there are a lot of people out there who are ignorant. They are part of two somewhat overlapping circles of people; those that do not know and those who do not WANT to know. By-and-large, though, I believe that if people are educated about the choices and consequences, they try to do the right thing. Raving on, David Kruse, AICP -----Original Message----- From: michael.aulick(a)ci.austin.tx.us [mailto:michael.aulick@ci.austin.tx.us] Sent: Monday, June 17, 2002 3:17 PM To: korski(a)erols.com; ed.herlihy(a)comcast.net Cc: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: RE: [CTPP] INNOVATION BRIEFS Advisory Ken, As the MPO Executive Director in the Austin Texas metropolitan area, I hear a lot about "Smart Growth". I like the term used by the North Central Texas COG better - "Development Excellence." I agree with the NCTCOG that quality of life in land use and transportation is what we're after, whether that be in low density or high density development. All metropolitan areas have some similarities, e.g. predominance of the automobile, but they have some differences, too, e.g. propensity for passenger rail systems in congested corridors. I don't think national trends are helpful to planners in individual areas trying to find solutions to problems with specific local conditions. There is a lot of situation diversity between metropolitan areas and within them, too. Therefore, different solutions work in different places and under different conditions. The solutions should be customized for each area, taking advantage of applicable lessons learned from peer cities. I think that opinionated positions on land use and transportation lead to a "I'm right/ you're wrong" mentality driven by egos that only leads to a lot of heat and not much light in solving urban problems. Thanks for the opportunity, Michael Aulick