National Geographic
Virtual World: The New Suburb?

In addition to its many lesson plans, National Geographic has an enriching online tour of a virtual suburb designed with smart growth principles in mind. The tour helps visually connect a smart growth suburb's features with the principles behind them.

Click on the link above to find out about how smart growth incorporates mass transit, on-street parking, trees, a reliable street grid, and mixed-use buildings into the design of an urban area. The site also links to a photo gallery with more information about each of these features and the original National Geographic article on sprawl that inspired the virtual tour.