A Clinton Administration budget request seeks to commit almost $10 billion to local governments and communities for programs that preserve open space, ease traffic congestion, and promote economic development in a way that some states are calling "smart growth". Vice President Al Gore has announced the Livability Agenda that draws together and expands programs from more than a dozen agencies, making it the largest commitment ever by the Federal Government to planned growth. The largest single item of new spending in the proposal is a five-year, $700 million program that will allow state and local governments to issue no-interest Better America Bonds to preserve parks and open spaces, protect water supplies, and develop abandoned industrial sites for commercial use.
- The New York Times, 12 Jan 99, p A16, by Michael Janofsky.