Silver Spring revival wins EPA smart growth award

Downtown Silver Spring, an arts, entertainment, office, and shopping complex in the formerly deteriorated heart of Silver Spring, Maryland, won this year’s Smart Growth Achievement Award for “overall excellence” from the US Environmental Protection Agency. EPA said Montgomery County government spurred the redevelopment partly by designating the faded area a “Green Tape Zone,” which provided a county team and gave downtown projects special priority in filing requirements, regulatory reviews, and inspections associated with permitting. “The market responded by building over 400,000 square feet of retail, 248,000 square feet of office space and 200 hotel rooms,” along with more than 1,200 housing units, EPA said. They are within walking distance of commuter rail and a regional bus hub. The Smart Growth Achievement Award for policies and regulations went to the Livable Centers Initiative of the Atlanta Regional Commission, which used federal transportation funds to encourage the planning of mixed-use, walkable, and transit-accessible development in 18-county greater Atlanta. As of 2006 a total of 724 projects had been completed or had broken ground, including 63,000 residential units. Winner for built projects was Egleston Crossing, the redevelopment of two buildings, including 64 units for low-income people, in the Roxbury and Jamaica Plain sections of Boston. Winner for equitable development was Mission Creek Senior Community in the Mission Bay North area of San Francisco. Mercy Housing California, the San Francisco Housing Authority, and other partners reclaimed a 303-acre area tainted by former industrial uses.