Insisting on New Development Patterns

I recently attended the inaugural convening of the “Intermountain West Funders Network,” which brought together a group of granting, operating and community foundations to discuss their interests and efforts in the fields of citizen engagement and land use planning. While there are funding networks in various regions of the country, there is none that spans the north/south Intermountain West region.

Joining the Orton Family Foundation in conceiving and pursuing the formation of this new network were Philanthropies for Civic Engagement (PACE) and The Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. During the two and-a-half day gathering, over 20 foundations shared successes and struggles, and perhaps most importantly at this nascent moment, began forming relationships and affinities.

At the beginning of our time together, we thought it important to inform or remind the group of the trends in the Intermountain West region. We invited Luther Propst from the Sonoran Institute to lead us in this discussion, and he provided us the latest in growth information. He started his talk with the admission that it was getting harder to confidently predict the future. For the last 20 years, migration to and growth in this region had been consistent and consistently leading the nation. The alarmingly high rate of change in communities was almost unstoppable. Communities literally burst wide open, and subdivisions and strip development occurred almost overnight. Of course, community or county boards reviewed and permitted this development, so blind neglect for the consequences of this growth must be acknowledged. There is room for an even more cynical conclusion, but that is not the point of this post…at least not yet.

One of the more interesting things about Luther’s presentation was the dramatic slow down in development rates with the 2008 recession and the resulting struggle with extrapolating from this past data to project future trends. It is not a sure thing that growth will pick up enough again to jump right back on the upward trending graph line. And even if it did, would it necessarily mean the same kind of suburban, strip and other auto-dependent development? Phillip Stafford presents one theory in his excellent book, Elderburbia: Aging with a Sense of Place. Stafford examines our country’s aging population’s trends, needs, desires and opportunities. This book suggests, among other things, that migration trends towards “Sun City” may change, the location of development could look different, and that communities should be thinking well beyond mild climates and nice views as compelling draws for active and talented residents and resources.

I also think the recession has been a wake up call to Americans. Many people looked around at their unchecked consumerism and the corresponding hurried, thoughtless and unsustainable development with new eyes, realizing that such excessive, even shocking, growth is surely a pathway to waste and economic fragility…even demise. Many of the places that grew the fastest are seeing the highest rates of foreclosures and unemployment. There are lessons here not to be lost or forgotten.

As our country begins to emerge from the economic doldrums, citizens and communities have an opportunity to re-shape their pathways and ensure that future growth reflects and enhances rather than ignores or demolishes their character. The cycle of excess and business as usual can be broken and changed for the benefit of our places and our children. It takes creativity, participation, courage, hard work and resolve. As noted in my cover letter to the Spring edition of the Foundation’s Scenarios E-Journal, when we stand up and articulate what we value and want for the future of our communities, we are saying “yes” to a solution even while saying “no” to a problem.