Book ID: CBB680489988

Smarter Growth: Activism and Environmental Policy in Metropolitan Washington (2018)

unapi

Spiers, John H. (Author)


University of Pennsylvania Press


Publication Date: 2018
Physical Details: 256
Language: English

Suburban sprawl has been the prevailing feature—and double-edged sword—of metropolitan America's growth and development since 1945. The construction of homes, businesses, and highways that were signs of the nation's economic prosperity also eroded the presence of agriculture and polluted the environment. This in turn provoked fierce activism from an array of local, state, and national environmental groups seeking to influence planning and policy. Many places can lay claim to these twin legacies of sprawl and the attendant efforts to curb its impact, but, according to John H. Spiers, metropolitan Washington, D.C., in particular, laid the foundations for a smart growth movement that blossomed in the late twentieth century.In Smarter Growth, Spiers argues that civic and social activists played a key role in pushing state and local officials to address the environmental and fiscal costs of growth. Drawing on case studies including the Potomac River's cleanup, local development projects, and agricultural preservation, he identifies two periods of heightened environmental consciousness in the early to mid-1970s and the late 1990s that resulted in stronger development regulations and land preservation across much of metropolitan Washington.Smarter Growth offers a fresh understanding of environmental politics in metropolitan America, giving careful attention to the differences between rural, suburban, and urban communities and demonstrating how public officials and their constituents engaged in an ongoing dialogue that positioned environmental protection as an increasingly important facet of metropolitan development over the past four decades. It reveals that federal policies were only one part of a larger decision-making process—and not always for the benefit of the environment. Finally, it underscores the continued importance of grassroots activists for pursuing growth that is environmentally, fiscally, and socially equitable—in a word, smarter.

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Reviewed By

Review Andrew C. Baker (2019) Review of "Smarter Growth: Activism and Environmental Policy in Metropolitan Washington". Journal of Southern History (pp. 753-754). unapi

Review Sara Patenaude (July 2019) Review of "Smarter Growth: Activism and Environmental Policy in Metropolitan Washington". Environmental History (pp. 636-638). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB680489988/

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Authors & Contributors
Daphne Spain
Fábio Duarte
Firmino, Rodrigo José
Dieterich-Ward, Allen
Rubin, Jasper
Shepherd, Wade
Concepts
Urban planning
Urban history
Urbanization
Cities and towns
Landscape; landscapes
Environmental history
Time Periods
20th century, late
20th century
19th century
20th century, early
Renaissance
Ancient
Places
United States
California (U.S.)
San Francisco (California)
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania)
Washington, D. C. (U.S.)
New York City (New York, U.S.)
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