Building Better Communities
Good communities do not just happen; they are the product of countless decisions by public servants and private parties who seek to create a high quality of life while building opportunities for their families and neighbors. Our region is blessed with great natural beauty, top notch educational facilities, forward looking businesspersons and citizens, and dedicated public servants willing to make the difficult choices necessary to ensure our prosperity in the years ahead. State policies must be built on the premise that economic opportunity and environmental responsibility go hand in hand.
Twelve years in local government has taught me how important it is for vibrant communities to spur job creation and opportunity, especially in the small business, entrepreneurial sector. But it has also taught me that "development for its own sake" places incredible fiscal stress on local governments, and pressure to build more schools and more roads. The public debate should be focused not on growth or no-growth, but instead on Building Better Communities, and giving more tools to localities to do so. In the General Assembly, I continue to support legislation which
- Builds better land use into the criteria for judging whether to award state grants and subsidies for new business arriving in the Commonwealth.
- Provides financial incentives to localities which locate schools and major public facilities in areas which foster "walkable" neighborhoods and which promote an appropriate mix of commercial, retail and residential land uses, by better use of the state school construction fund.
- Increases support for historic preservation efforts, especially those that can serve as anchors around which communities may flourish.
- Strengthens local government's ability to create better communities through a reasonable proffer system and by ordinances to ensure that infrastructure needs are addressed in growing communities.
- Provides more funding for public transit that works and more flexibility to localities on how they may use transportation dollars.
- Emphasizes spending to improve existing road networks rather than simply building massive new highway projects.
