Former city council candidate Sydney Gray’s ideas on urban sprawl are now part of the debate even though he didn’t make it past the primary:
The exponential population growth is the single greatest challenge that we as a community face. These population increases challenge our basic values and natural resources. The solutions that we set in motion today will be our legacy. How do we balance our right of economic gain while slowing down urban sprawl?
I support the revitalization, adaptive re-use and ‘infill’ of existing neighborhoods. I propose that the City of Greensboro in conjunction with surrounding communities continue to support and expand the Urban Greenway in all directions by a reallocation of current budgeted tax priorities or by an additional tax for the purchase of land to be held in trust for our heirs. This could be accomplished by an existing agency such as the Piedmont Land Conservancy or another sanctioned group. This public purchase of land will slow urban sprawl thus encouraging infill development while not infringing on individual property rights.
One needs only to look at China and India to propel us towards workable solutions that we choose rather than those that will be forced upon us by the government in the future.
So the idea is to crowd that exponential population growth into high-density infill development, right? Sounds like China and India to me. And what about those of us who think smart growth is a solution in search of a problem? Will an additional tax for the public purchase of land be a choice we’ve made or a choice our government has made?
