Vote Against Smart Growth in Loudoun County, Virginia

One closely watched election disappointed smart-growth advocates across the country. Loudoun County, Virginia, a national model of environmentally friendly urban planning (see EBN Vol. 9, No. 3, p. 5), voted in November to replace six of its eight left-leaning county board members with Republicans. The newly elected board members have vocally supported the county’s strict building restrictions, but, since their campaigns were fortified by hundreds of thousands of dollars from real-estate and construction interests, some question whether their actions will follow suit.