The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized a computer model that might help cities better plan for growth. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized a computer model that might
help cities better plan for growth. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
reports:
Attempts to predict urban growth are notorious because they’re often very inaccurate.
The EPA recently gave one of its national awards for ‘Smart Growth’ to the Massachusetts
Executive Office of Environmental Affairs for a statewide Smart Growth computer
program. The EPA says that program helps city leaders to understand the potential
effects of future growth. A town can use it to determine the impact of a proposed
development. It maps out growth patterns and predicts the cost for things such as
additional schools, police, and fire protection. Priscilla Geigis is with the Massachusetts
office. She says it can be used elsewhere.
“We have had some interest from states who are just looking at that as a model. With
some adaptations it could be changed to accommodate some other states.”
One official was quoted as saying the program is like the popular computer game “Sim
City” except this one is for real life.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.