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The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) has been tasked with an awesome responsibility; they are to provide a Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) for San Diego County.

According to one of the documents they gave to me at a community workshop on April 28th in Carlsbad, “Smart Growth” for our region means this:

Smart growth is a compact, efficient, and environmentally-sensitive urban development pattern. It focuses future growth and infill development close to jobs, services, and public facilities to maximize the use of existing infrastructure, preserve open space, and natural resources.

Smart growth is characterized by more compact, higher density development in key areas throughout the region that is walkable, near public transit, and promotes good community design. Smart growth results in more housing and transportation choices for those who live and work in smart growth areas.

I really already believe in “smart growth”. I have been anxiously awaiting the release of the US Green Building Council’s LEED ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development) certification and accreditation which was released this week. In my work I have shared with many the concept of New Urbanism. I myself wish I lived in a smaller, more compact home. And although we are able to bike and walk from our neighborhood, I wish there were more transportation options for our daily activities and centers. I see the relevance and long-term value of lifestyle choices like these. And herein lies my concern with the RTP for North County…

SANDAG is offering three options:

1. Transit Propensity

• Expanding Transit in the Most Urbanized Area

2. Commuter Point-to-Point

• Emphasizing Quick Access to Work

3. Many Centers

• Connects Smart Growth Areas and Activity Centers

Many Centers is the epitome of Smart Growth; that is what we all want. We want to be able to have connections to where we work, do business, and play. We all want this. We don’t just want a quick way to get to work. But it all has to be safe, well-placed, timely, and cost-effective.

Unfortunately, the way that our suburban communities have been designed in the past, we oftentimes have neither quick ways to work nor connections to any centers where we do business or play. This is a very complicated issue. And unfortunately, no matter how many maps or options SANDAG draws up, if the cities, who have control over land use, do not make strategic smart growth changes in zoning and planning, we will not be able to accomplish any comprehensive smart growth regional transportation plan except in small disparate pockets that are classified as our “smart growth” areas.

I look at the three maps presented at the workshop and I see nothing that will affect my north county transportation options. I and my family will still spend hours in personal vehicles every day; I see no plan to make communities in North San Diego County have more access to daily activities. And that is what a sustainable community, a smart growth area, is all about. Having access to jobs 30 – 50 miles away does not really address the issue of successful sustainable communities, but rather gives us a continued ability to live and work and play at long distances, and in a way that is very disconnected from our individual communities.

Access to Many Centers is what we want for the region, for the entire region. We want a variety of options for housing, we want to protect open space and sensitive resource areas, and we want to feel connected to and a part of a community, and a region at large.

See also: SANDAG’s Smart Growth Concept Map