Prospectus
The Need for Sustainable Development South Florida is experiencing, and will continue to experience rapid growth. The regional population is growing by 30,000 new households each year, with two million new households projected over the next 20 years. This rapid growth is fueling development along the urban fringe with the consumption of agricultural lands and open space, seriously threatening the Everglades eco-system. At the same time that public and private investments are going into sprawl, many existing communities continue to experience systematic disinvestment. They have difficulty securing conventional mortgages at competitive rates; housing is deteriorating; and existing infrastructure is deteriorating and other needed infrastructure is absent. Sustainable development - environmentally sound infill development in existing communities - is the simultaneous solution to both of these problems: it preserves valuable ecological assets and decreases pressure on the Everglades by diverting development away from fragile ecosystems and directs public investment to existing communities that need it. And sustainable development takes full advantage of existing infrastructure, especially the ability of public transportation to provide efficient access to needed goods and services, rather then duplicating that infrastructure elsewhere. Where new infrastructure is needed, "green infrastructure" accomplishes conventional goals in unconventional ways that utilize community-scale strategies that deliver multiple benefits simultaneously. The 79th Street Corridor in Miami-Dade County is committed to becoming a model of sustainable development, not only for South Florida, but for the nation. This project can demonstrate that sustainable development encourages and supports equitable and cost-effective reinvestment in existing low- and moderate-income communities. |