Smart Growth is Truro’s best hope to balance our stewardship of the last rural Cape town with our responsibility to support a sustainable regional economy
Smart Growth means living within our means.
What is special about Truro depends on what its natural resources, its economy, and its population can support. To be a sustainable community we must find ways to grow that provides a living for our year-round population while protecting the waters around and beneath our sandy land, the environment that nurtures us and continues to attract our seasonal residents. To do this we must strike a delicate balance. Smart Growth requires constant attention to both possibilities and limits.
Hard Questions Need Smart Answers.
How many people can Truro sustain? How can we protect the quality of our drinking water from degradation and contamination by what we send down the drain and put on our lawns and gardens? How can we reach carbon neutrality in the face of the climate emergency we face by eliminating greenhouse gas emissions and electrifying our homes, businesses and means of transportation? How can we collaborate with one another to meet the needs of all segments of our community? How can we develop in such a way that enhances our prospects while adopting the concept of enough so we avoid depletion of our natural and human resources?
Rural Life is More Than a Lifestyle in Truro.
Truro residents have consistently voted to protect the rural nature of our small town, through zoning bylaws, health regulations, support for the National Seashore, and voluntary measures we’ve taken to manage growth and land use responsibly.
With 70 percent of land in Truro located within the Cape Cod National Seashore, our rural character is the most powerful influence on all aspects of life in Truro. It means Truro is and will need to move forward as a rural community, to plan accordingly and to grow accordingly, This reality means it will take an even larger effort to maintain a balance between preservation and development. Year-round residents, part-time homeowners and seasonal renters must all play a part in planning Truro’s future, joining together to limit our impact on the land and maintain the rural nature of the Truro we love.
Let’s Keep Talking About What Matters.
In our unique and wonderful spot on this earth, we must carefully consider what we cherish, where we are going, and how best to feather our nest without soiling it for those yet to be hatched into our midst. This will require constant dialogue among all of us to frame our goals for a future that is achievable and sustainable. This is Smart Growth.
