Smart Growth in Rural Communities: Planning That Works

Walkable rural small town surrounded by farmland, with a compact downtown, farmers market, and mixed-use buildings supporting community-centered growth. Smart growth in rural communities.

The Problem With the Pattern We’ve Built Rural sprawl does not look like urban sprawl, but it produces many of the same outcomes: longer distances between people and services, higher per-capita infrastructure costs, degraded natural lands, and built environments that make daily life harder for anyone who cannot drive. The pattern is familiar across rural […]

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Grounded Growth: Rural Zoning Strategies for Resilient Land Use

Aerial view of a rural community using rural zoning strategies to balance housing and farmland preservation

How Small Towns Can Plan for People, Land, and Legacy This article continues our November series: From Ideas to Action — A Month of Praxis and Implementation in Rural Communities. In week three, we focus on turning planning theories into useful rural zoning strategies — the essential tools that help small towns manage growth, protect […]

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