Smart Growth Readiness Assessment Tool (SGRAT)
What is the SGRAT?
Why Take the SGRAT?
Who Should Take the SGRAT?
How Do I Purchase the SGRAT?
SGRAT License Agreement
What is the Smart Growth Readiness Assessment Tool?
The Smart Growth Readiness Assessment Tool (SGRAT) is a set of online assessments for scoring how well a community is prepared to develop according to Smart Growth principles. The assessment is built around the 10 Smart Growth Tenets. The tool provides communities with a baseline score and can be used to measure progress.
This online tool is intended to help you:
- Learn about Smart Growth and the benefits of applying Smart Growth principles in your community.
- Assess whether or not your community is ready to practice Smart Growth
- Implement Smart Growth through extensive resources including case studies of Michigan communities successfully following Smart Growth principles.
There are a set of questions for each of the 10 Smart Growth Tenets. The assessment is based on the ready/set/go model. Scoring will help a community determine if it is:
- Ready for Smart Growth. It will measure if the community has the necessary citizen and stakeholder support in place.
- Set to act. It will measure if the community has the necessary plans and regulations adopted or capital improvement resources secured.
- Go. It will measure whether the community has already initiated action such as implemented a regulation or capital improvement that supports smart growth
The resources provided as part of the assessment are among the best Smart Growth materials currently available anywhere and include: web-based publications, implementation tools, Michigan case studies, articles, books, and more!
Why Take the Smart Growth Readiness Assessment?
It is helpful to take a measure of your community's Smart Growth Readiness because you will be able to:
- Point to successes as a source of community pride and marketing. "We're a Smart Growth Community!"
- Understand and use successful best practices.
- Spot the gaps in your community's Master Plan, Zoning Ordinance and similar documents that limit the capacity to grow smart.
- Use it as an educational opportunity for a wide range of community stakeholders on what it takes for a community to grow smart.
- Organize dialogue with neighboring jurisdictions regarding growth issues that cross boundaries.
The assessment best fits cities, villages, growing townships, and groups of communities that can function as a region and in which there is a town center.
Who Should Take the Smart Growth Readiness Assessment?
The assessment will be of most interest to planning commissioners, professional community planners, city-village-township-county managers, development designers (architects, landscape architects, engineers, land surveyors), realtors, developers, community foundations, neighborhood organizations, environmental groups, members of other local non-profit organizations, and interested citizens.
Learn more about the Smart Growth Readiness Assessment Tool by visiting www.landpolicy.msu.edu/sgrat.
How Do I Purchase the SGRAT?
There are 6 pricing options. These options are available for single users, multiple users from the same community, or multiple communities. Payment can be made by major credit card or check. Click the link below to register.
