The majority of Carroll County residents want to live in “walkable” communities and shop at businesses in a town?s central business district instead of sprawling strip malls.
“People are looking for more pedestrian-friendly space,” said Brenda Dinne, chief of the county?s Comprehensive Planning Bureau. “They want to live in areas modeled after traditional small towns versus large-lot developments.”
More than 70 percent of the 550 respondents to a survey preferred these communities as part of the county?s three-year process of updating its comprehensive plan, a consensus-driven road map on how the county should manage future growth.
Walkable communities have sidewalks, trails and bike paths so residents have easier access to recreation and businesses, said Dan Burden, founder of Walkable Communities Inc., a Florida-based nonprofit dedicated to implementing this style of neighborhoods.
The higher price of gas also has inspired residents to request these developments, Dinne said.
In addition, more than 60 percent of residents said they want to prohibit the construction of new strip commercial and “big box” retailers along major roads.
Instead, about 83 percent of residents said new retail should be encouraged in existing towns and rural villages and then into rehabilitated strip commercial areas before new additional retail developments are approved.
About 70 percent said they liked the idea of converting existing strip malls to make them more compact and walkable with shared parking.
The survey?s recent results are at carrollpathways.org and mark the end of the first year of the three-year process. The state-mandated comprehensive plan is updated every six years. The survey was conducted by A. Nelessen Associates, a New Jersey consulting firm.
