Is Maine kicking its sprawl habit?

[jpak]

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=225934&ac=PHnws

An aging population, volatile energy prices and the ongoing economic meltdown might do what 20 years of land-use planning has largely failed to accomplish in Maine – slow suburban sprawl and coax development closer to cities.

Census data studied by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram reveal shifts that may signal a gradual reversal of long-standing development patterns that have contributed to sprawl.

Most significant: Population changes for 22 of the state's service-center communities show that the steady flow of people away from the cities during the 1990s has ebbed dramatically since 2000. A few communities, such as Bangor, Waterville and Belfast, have begun gaining population.

A similar analysis of every community in fast-growing York and Cumberland counties shows that the rapid pace of development in suburbs and outlying towns has cooled in recent years. The York County town of Dayton, for example, grew by more than 50 percent from 1990 to 2000. So far this decade, the growth rate there is less than 12 percent.

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