Is Schwarzenegger the ‘urbanator’?

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has indicated that he will act to curb sprawl and promote redevelopment of cities. Both he and his staff are liberally using the phrase “smart growth,” yet it is unclear what policies will be adopted to support that goal. “More regulation is not the answer to poor land use planning,” according to Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Karen Hanretty, quoted on the website of KRON, a Bay Area news station. “We need to invest in urban areas and remove current barriers to smart growth.” On his website, joinarnold.com, Schwarzenegger points to more of a carrot than stick approach to curbing sprawl. He was asked whether he would support a state law that creates urban growth boundaries, similar to Oregon’s law. “While often well-meaning, such laws are not always solutions to the complex problem of poor land use planning, which has resulted in fiscally unsustainable sprawl, traffic congestion on commuter roadways, air pollution, pressure to consume scarce infrastructure resources, and loss of valuable open space. We must invest in our existing urban areas and remove barriers to smart growth. For example, there is currently no effective, widely used mechanism for identifying vacant or underutilized sites in urban areas to evaluate their potential for infill redevelopment. Working with local officials, my administration will develop an Infill Incentives Package to help local governments deal with the jobs/housing imbalance throughout the state and to spur smarter development by providing a mechanism for planners to identify and evaluate redevelopment of blighted and underutilized sites, allowing cities to accommodate mixed use, compact development and urban infill growth, while curtailing urban sprawl.” Former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery, who spearheaded that city’s downtown redevelopment and was a member of the transition team, says Schwarzenegger is genuinely interested in growth issues. Schwarzenegger brought up the subject the day before the recall election while flying over San Jose. Smart Growth America recently led its website with the headline “Gov. Schwarzenegger embraces smart growth.”