Make it 19 Cool Cities

The number of western North Carolina counties with multiple Cool Cities just continues to proliferate- when Clyde came on it made two in Haywood County, Black Mountain made three in Buncombe County, Fletcher made it two in Henderson County, and now Franklin has made it two in Macon County. WNC is leading the way!

Franklin unanimously passed the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement at its May board meeting.

The town is currently working on reworking its land use plan, and the ideas it's looking to emphasize sound pretty 'cool' to me!

• Encourage mixed land uses to promote “connectivity, walkability and a sense of community.” That means allowing different forms of development to take place in certain districts, and to promote transportation alternatives such as walking, bicycling and public transit.

• Take advantage of compact building design so that the town grows vertically rather than horizontally.

• Create a range of housing opportunities.

• Develop “walkable” neighborhoods.

• Work to foster a distinctive, attractive community, which includes protecting historic buildings.

• Preserve open space, natural beauty and critical environmental areas.

• Funnel new development into existing infrastructure to help preserve open spaces and improve efficiency in delivering town services.

• Provide a variety of transportation choices.

You can read all about their efforts here. Congratulations to Franklin for its leadership!