5. Don't Merely Grow, Plan and Develop Over Time

One of the best things small- and mid-sized cities have going for them is their size. As Lon Dubinsky said, size is the "key factor" in their quality of life. Consequently, protecting that size and resulting quality of life is critical. But it is not easy.

Most of us associate progress and improvement with growth - growth in population and even in a city’s physical footprint. In that vein, development is merely a synonym for growth: To develop is to become larger; to remain small is to remain undeveloped. If that is true, then small city development is an oxymoron. Fortunately, it is not. The primary focus of development is and should be increasing quality, not quantity.

Of course, some quantitative increase will result and is, in fact, desirable: more jobs, higher incomes, climbing tax revenues and more choices. Furthermore, as a place develops, it becomes more attractive, which means more people will want to live there. The key is to neither seek only an increase in population (or jobs) nor to let that increase ruin the qualities that prompted it in the first place. The goal is a delicate balance.


Principle In Action

Lexington, KY, through citizen involvement, developed an urban service area boundary in order to disallow urban sprawl, while continuing to flourish and grow “up” instead of “out.”  This allowed for protection of a Thoroughbred industry that makes Lexington the “Horse Capital of the World.”