Neighborhood Schools   School siting decisions impact growth patterns, transportation, public health, natural resources protection, and historic preservation, as well as the quality of education. Our Neighborhood Schools page contains links to articles that offer a sampling of the recent research available on the drawbacks of current school siting and cosntruction trends as well as the benefits of smaller, walkable neighborhood schools.       Athens-Clarke County Transferable Development Rights Feasibility Study Economics, law, housing and ecology faculty members of Alliance for Quality Growth researched the feasibility of a Transferable Development Rights (TDR) program for Athens-Clarke County in 2004. Under a TDR program development rights are transferred from "sending areas," which are designated for protection, to "receiving areas," which are designated for growth. Conservation easements permanently protect land in the sending areas from which the development rights have been sold. The study offers information to the county on what types of land might be protected, how the TDR market would work, and the legal requirements and economic implications of a program. If Athens-Clarke creates a TDR program, it could be the second-ever TDR program in Georgia, and could protect agricultural land, environmentally sensitive areas, and/or historic and cultural resources. The Feasibility of a Transferable Development Rights Program for Athens-Clarke County, GA (pdf)     Revitalizing Columbus South   The Columbus South Revitalization 2003 summer studio investigated solutions to revitalize Columbus South - an older, inner city, urban part of a growing Georgia community. Ultimately, the summer studio provided design and graphic support for the Carl Vinson Institute's year-long planning process. This project gave graphic representation to reinforce locally developed planning concepts. Studio participants researched the history, settlement patterns, land use patterns, demographic diversity, opportunities and constraints of the project area. At the end of the studio process, UGA's Center for Community Design and Preservation stepped in to compile all the infor-mation produced during the summer and produce this report. Revitalizing Columbus South (pdf)     Georgia Greenspace Program   Several Alliance for Quality Growth members helped develop and implement Governor Barnes' greenspace protection initiative. Forty counties are eligible to participate in the program, which gives counties financial encouragement to protect at least 20% of their total lands from development. Our faculty staffed the committee that drafted the program in 1999. We continue to work with counties to draft the community greenspace protection plans required for participation in the program. We also created a toolkit to help counties identify and prioritize lands that should be protected under the program. Georgia Community Greenspace Program (external site) Report of the Community Green Space Advisory Committee Jackson County Greenspace Plan Greenspace Site Selection Toolkit Greenspace Site Selection Toolkit calculations (hold down Shift key and click to download)   Cost of Community Services and Farmland Protection   Our faculty and students conducted a Cost of Community Services study in the spring of 2000 that illustrated the importance of farm and forest lands relative to residential development in Oconee and Habersham Counties. Cost of Community Services studies essentially reorganize county municipal records to assign the cost of public services to different classes of land use or development such as residential, commercial, industrial, farm, forest and open lands. The result is a ratio of expenditures-to-revenues for different land use types. Cost of Community Services studies are especially useful in areas undergoing development pressure. The study found that the expenditure-to-revenue ratios for both Habersham and Oconee Counties suggest that residential land use costs more in services than it generates in revenue. The results also highlight the positive contributions of farm and forest land to the tax bases of these two counties. In late 2000 we analyzed the costs and benefits of a variety of farmland preservation policies to a legacy farmer. Cost of Community Service Studies for Habersham and Oconee Counties, Georgia (Note: click on "Center Reports" and scroll down to find the study) Protecting Farmland in Developing Communities: A Case Study of the Tax Implications of Conservation Easements (large 1.7 MB PDF file)   Alcovy Watershed Protection   The Alliance for Quality Growth was a key participant in the Alcovy Watershed Protection Project. The 18-month project involved monitoring water quality and aquatic organisms; computer modeling to predict future water quality; and making recommendations on how to manage growth to protect the quality and flow of the Alcovy River. The project involved Walton, Newton, Jasper and Gwinnett Counties, along with numerous municipalities. Alcovy Watershed Protection Project (external site)       Habersham Smart Growth Coalition   For more than a year and a half, Alliance for Quality Growth members have assisted the Habersham Smart Growth Coalition (SGC) in raising awareness among the citizens and leadership of Habersham County about the importance of planning for future growth. The SGC is a citizen group whose aim is to maintain natural, scenic, and historic resources in the county while allowing for economic growth. With help from its partners, the SGC has held numerous educational workshops and has produced a map of future growth recommendations for the county. In addition, the group has present-ed specific recommendations to the Planning Commission and the County Commission concerning land use and growth management policy.