Greater Rochester (NY) Association Helps Village of Lima Keep the Charm While “Growing Smart”

The charming village and agricultural township of Lima, in the Finger Lakes region of New York, was in danger of falling victim to reckless sprawl and development.  ‘Big box’ stores of dubious aesthetic value were creeping in, detracting from the architecture that had been in place for well over a century.  The 2,500-member Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS^® (GRAR) put a smart growth grant from NAR together with one from the National Endowment for the Arts to support a weekend-long community design workshop.  By working with other groups in the area, GRAR helped to draw attention to the importance of creating better public spaces – specifically in Lima.  A portion of the grant will now be used for implementation of the ideas coming out of the workshop.

• Read about GRAR’s success in putting its smart growth grant to work (447K PDF)