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				AT A GLANCE
	Sometimes Up, Sometimes Down, but Grand Rapids Is Moving Forward
			S U C C E S S E S
		• A "BLUEPRINT" TAKES HOLD — Faced with a stagnating urban center and rampant suburban sprawl, in 1990 the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and several local government leaders formed the most successful and influential regional governing body in the state. In 1994 the Grand Valley Metro Council approved The Blueprint Report: Strategies to Achieve the Vision, a region-wide master plan that calls for rejecting "business as usual" to preserve open space, use water and sewer services to rein in sprawl, and establish compact business centers and neighborhoods served by mass transit.   Greenbelt Alliance •AN "URBAN SERVICE BOUNDARY" REINS IN —With an eye to taming sprawl and reducing costs, the city of Grand Rapids, which serves about half the families and businesses in the metropolitan region, began in 1997 to negotiate new water and sewer contracts with the 14 communities that are its customers. Together they drew an actual line on the map and decided how far to extend lines to provide enough service for growth over the next generation without encouraging sprawl. So far five communities have agreed to the "urban service boundary," the first of its kind in the Midwest and one of the few in the nation. The others are expected to sign on as their old contracts expire.     • A VISIONARY PLACE —Alpine Township in northern Kent County established effective zoning to protect farmland in 1989, was the first to institute a watershed management program to repair a trout stream damaged by sprawl, and was among the first to join the Metro Council and embrace regional cooperation in government. It also has led the formation of the North Kent Townships Association, an alliance of 12 local governments that is advocating for new policies to protect farmland.       • PRESERVE NATURAL LANDS, PROTECT WATERSHEDS — In 1998 the Kent County Commission approved a new $6.5 million program to identify and protect natural lands as new parks. The initiative is part of a growing ethic in the Grand Rapids region to preserve the natural landscape and protect water quality and other ecological resources across watersheds. Businesses, local government members of the Metro Council, and the Water Resources Institute at Grand Valley State University are involved. So are the Land Conservancy of West Michigan and the West Michigan Environmental Action Council. Continued on next page.