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26 Putting Smart Growth to Work in Rural Communities <br />The MKT trail, an <br />8.8 -mile spur of <br />the Katy Trail, <br />connects the trail <br />system and many <br />of the small towns <br />along the trail, to <br />Columbia, the fifth <br />largest city in the <br />state and home to <br />the University of <br />Missouri. <br />0 <br />a <br />Missouri - Kansas -Texas (MKT) Railroad line —much of <br />it following the Missouri River — begins in suburban <br />St. Charles, Missouri, and runs across the state, con- <br />necting many of the former railroad towns with larger <br />towns and cities and providing a major recreational <br />amenity for bicyclists and joggers." <br />Parks and open space <br />Planning parks and open space into the design of <br />new places is important for a variety of reasons. Parks <br />are not only essential community amenities but also <br />provide important economic, ecological, and public <br />health benefits. Building in a requirement for all new <br />Littleton, a town of just under 6,000 people nestled in the <br />White Mountains, is a compact, walkable, and mixed-use small <br />town that has a thriving downtown and many amenities for <br />residents and tourists alike. In its master plan, the city notes <br />that "the ability of future development to protect and enhance <br />Littleton's community character is an issue of both location <br />and design:' As a result, Littleton has created a planning and <br />policy framework that will help create great new developments <br />while supporting Littleton's existing neighborhoods. This effort <br />began with the revitalization of the downtown area in the late <br />1990s. At this time, Littleton's downtown was struggling with <br />a storefront vacancy rate of 20 percent. The vacancy rate is <br />now two percent. In addition to its thriving downtown, Littleton <br />development to contribute to parks is easier and more <br />cost - effective than trying to install parks in already <br />developed areas. Thurston County, Washington, <br />requires that all new rural residential developments <br />designate a minimum of 60 percent of the develop- <br />ment area as a resource use parcel, which can be <br />a natural area or used for passive recreation space <br />or agriculture, and developers also receive density <br />bonuses for incorporating additional open spaces into <br />new residential developments. As described earlier, <br />linking these amenities to existing or planned trail <br />systems further adds to their value as destinations. <br />Traditional neighborhood development <br />Compact, walkable, mixed -use development, which is <br />located in areas that communities have identified as <br />the best place for growth, can be supportive of bet- <br />ter economic, environmental, community,'and public <br />health outcomes. Traditional neighborhood develop- <br />ment (TND) is an efficient way to accommodate a <br />community's demand for housing, retail, and other <br />new development. From a regional perspective, when <br />a portion of a community's demand is accommodated <br />this way, the pressure to convert working lands, forest, <br />and green space into housing or other uses is reduced. <br />Decreasing the market pressure to convert open space <br />and working lands to development is one step toward <br />achieving the land conservation outcomes many <br />communities are seeking. This new urbanist strategy <br />has been successful in rural communities like Crested <br />Butte, Colorado, where a new TND residential devel- <br />opment created 98 additional housing units that reflect <br />the rural character and mining heritage of the town.41 <br />has invested in a new industrial park -one of the largest in New <br />Hampshire -that provides a range of employment opportunities <br />for nearly one -fifth of the town's residents. Littleton has also <br />located sites for new residential developments, focusing on <br />infill developments and new cluster or "open space" subdivi- <br />sions, and it has made plans to extend the sidewalk infrastruc- <br />ture into newer developments. <br />Littleton has won a number of awards for maintaining its <br />compact, walkable, mixed-use small -town character. It was rec- <br />ognized with a Great American Main Street Award for outstand- <br />ing achievement in downtown revitalization as well as a New <br />Hampshire Profile Community Award for "preserving, protect- <br />ing, and promoting" the state's spirit of independence. <br />115 <br />