1. Sustain Southern Maine
GrowSmart Maine Summit 2012

2. CHANGE

3. 1962
• Only 3.5% of households had divorced head
• 80% of women with children did not work
• Only 1% of pop with “no religious preference”
• 41% below poverty line in 1949; 20% by ’63
• Gallup Poll: 95% of pop self-identified as
working class or middle class

4. Sustain Southern Maine

5. Sustain Southern Maine
• HUD Livability Principles
– Provide more transportation choices.
– Promote equitable, affordable housing.
– Enhance economic competitiveness.
– Support existing communities.
– Coordinate policies and leverage
investment.

6. Sustain Southern Maine
What we are trying to achieve
Our job:
• To translate these principles into a format
that works for Southern Maine – and is
desirable to Southern Mainers
Translation:
• Find ways that the region can prosper –
short and long term - in the face of change

7. Charting Maine’s Future: 6 Lessons
1. Local independence is cultural, historic, and
not to be ignored
2. Government is not always the most effective
change agent
3. One state, diverse people
4. Mainers are cautious
5. Investment requires sustained commitment
6. Rome wasn’t built in a day and it’s still there

8. Celebrate Home Rule!
• Instead of seeing this as an obstacle to
change, use it as leverage
• Find those places where change benefits
people and make it work
• This environment provides many
opportunities
• Local home rule gives power to us!

9. Sustain Southern Maine
The Process
We know:
1. People in Maine support preserving
rural character, quality of place and
increased economic vitality
2. Encouraging higher density mixed-use
communities linked by some level of
public transit is a good first step toward
reaching these (sustainability) goals

10. Sustain Southern Maine
Begin with a Smaller Scale Approach
What we also know:
• Property rights are a high value in Maine
• Creating a large-scale “on paper” regional
plan will, by itself, not do much to move
the needle
So, a different approach:
• Sustain Southern Maine is adopting a
community-driven, smaller scale approach
using the power of home rule

11. Sustain Southern Maine
Creating Centers of Opportunity
1. Mapped all existing locations where market-driven
growth is already occurring
2. Which locations can absorb growth and are best
suited for density
3. Determine which communities WANT this growth
4. Designate them as pilot/demonstration projects
5. With an open mind, see what we can learn about
making this model work in Maine
6. Roll out what we learn to region at large
7. Provide tools/planning support for all towns to
adopt as they choose

13. Sustain Southern Maine
Centers of Opportunity
A center of opportunity will be:
• Mixed use, no more than ½-mile in diameter, able to
absorb growth, with appropriate infrastructure
• Highly competitive for the next generation of job and
housing growth in Southern Maine
• Tapping into the market’s desire for safe, livable, and
walkable neighborhoods,
• A testing ground where lessons learned in generating
economically sustainable and livable centers can be used
throughout the region by other communities

14. Sustain Southern Maine:
Sample Criteria
• Community support for concept
• Public sewer/water/soil quality for on-site treatment
systems
• Transportation intersection
• Growth area – able to accommodate major growth
• Open to community planning
• Presence of existing business, public
services, recreational, cultural areas, access to fresh
food
• Quality of school system/support
• Replicable to other communities

15. Subregions/Study Area

16. Communities Interested in Hosting
a Center of Opportunity
• Brunswick • Westbrook
• Yarmouth • Biddeford
• Falmouth • Saco
• Freeport • Kennebunk
• Standish • Kennebunkport
• Windham • Hollis
• Raymond • Sanford
• Gray • Wells
• New Gloucester • Lebanon
• Portland • Acton
• (South Portland) • Kittery
• (Cape Elizabeth) • South Berwick
• Scarborough • Berwick
• Gorham

17. Pilot Centers of Opportunity
• Standish • Westbrook
• Gray • Kennebunk
• New Gloucester • Sanford
• Portland • Wells
• South Portland • Kittery
• Scarborough

18. Sustain Southern Maine
Centers of Opportunity
• If in the next 25 years, 40-50 such locations attract
and absorb growth and generate economic stimulus in
this manner, we will have successfully changed the
pattern of growth in Southern Maine in a way that is:
• Sustainable
• Economically beneficial
• Supports preservation of rural character
And in so doing, we will have built a collaborative regional
framework that gives the region a stronger voice.