Sustainable Land use and Development

From the central city of Dayton to the most agricultural townships, the Miami Valley has the full spectrum of community sizes and types. Our Region’s community diversity includes older first-ring suburbs, edge suburbs that continue to annex and grow, historic county seats, rural villages, townships, and unincorporated hamlets. These communities are of different ages, sizes, and character, with each exhibiting different development patterns. Such diversity makes the Miami Valley a place where all residents can find a community where they desire to live, and every business can find a suitable place to locate.

Even though our communities have unique characteristics, they share regional challenges, such as changes in population. Some communities continue to see population growth, but the region as a whole has only grown by 0.03 percent since 1980. In addition, our Region’s median age is increasing. Between the 2000 and 2010 Census, the median age in each county rose, and in three of the five counties (Darke, Miami, and Preble) the 2010 median age was above 40, which was higher than the national median age of 37.2. In order to serve our aging population, communities will need to alter the way they plan. For example, as people age, they drive less, especially at night. Our future land use plans must take this into consideration.

Our Region’s present development pattern is characterized by urban and suburban sprawl. Sprawl is the expansion of auto-dependent development into rural or less populated areas, creating large distances between residential and commercial uses. To illustrate: our region has roughly the same population as it did in 1970, but 83 percent more developed, urbanized land cover. This trend is unsustainable; it requires a large amount of expensive infrastructure, and eliminates tree canopy.

Luckily, there is a growing demand for vibrant, mixed-use, walkable developments that intermingle commercial and residential land uses. This type of development pattern is highly sustainable, serves the aging population’s needs, and creates a sense of community. People of all ages want to live in vibrant front porch style communities, where they can interact with neighbors while leaving their cars behind. They want destinations like cafes, corner markets, and neighborhood parks to be easily accessible by bicycle or on foot. All of the above increase quality of life, reduce sprawl, and minimize community expense in creating and repairing infrastructure. 

Climate change is also becoming a land use planning issue. Communities are interested in keeping ecosystems intact, as that can help an area mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Many zoning codes and land use ordinances do not allow for compact, mixed-use developments. Additionally, they provide no guidance in planning for an aging population, climate change, weather extremes, or shifting economics. Communities will need to address these issues when updating their comprehensive plans and zoning codes. Fortunately, there are tools Miami Valley communities can use to inform the critical decisions to be made about how, and where, individual communities intend to develop in the future. Compiled by the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, the Planning Tools page provides planning officials with guides, resource links, and best practices for development of many different types of local plans.