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| ` -�a� mature nature of the communities that surround them. This erosion will not hap- pen overnight, but to the extent that convenience disappears from the strip, the changes will be hastened. As part of its mission to examine cutting-edge issues and propose creative solu- tions for improving the quality of land use and development, the Urban Land Institute sponsored a charrette on smart growth solutions leading off a series of forums seeking solutions to specific land use and growth management problems. The goal of these forums is to find ways to accommodate growth that enhance the economy, protect the environment, and preserve and improve a community's quality of life. During three days of intensive study of three strips in the Washinoton. D.C., metropolitan area, teams of planning and development experts from around the country toured and studied three very different suburban strips. The teams were made upofleading commercial developers, public planners, architects, economic consultants, transportation specialists, and advisers.pnopekxd The three strips were chosen as representative of different prototypes of subur- bon commercial environments. Rockville Pike in Montgomery County, Maryland, is a booming, mature strip plagued by legendary traffic congestion; the Route 1 corridor in Fairfax County, Virginia, represents an older deteriorating strip bypassed by the market; and Route 301 in Charles County, Maryland, represents an emerg- ing exurban strip facing first-generation development pressures. merg'ingexurbanstT|pfnoingfimt'genenetiundeve|opnlentpnessures. ULI believes that the lessons learned from these very diverse strips can be applied to strips in every city in America. ULI teams were assigned to each strip and given the following tasks: to identify the critical issues and challenges that strips face; to determine the most effec- tive ways to reinvent strips to ensure their long-term competitive position; and to set strategic principles to guide suburban planners and developers in this effort. These principles were consolidated and refined byth� thn�� t�»mssothat they could be applied universally to all types of suburban strip development. ULI had the support and participation of the three county governments in whose jurisdictions the strips were located. Each provided detailed briefing books, pre- sented background information, and led tours of their strips. A presentation out- |ining the teams'findings and recommendations was made in Washington, D.C., on June 2, 2000. to county officials, dove|opers, and other invited guests.