Sprawl

The housing market -- and especially the exurban housing market -- played a major role in bringing about the current economic recession, according to this piece from Christopher Leinberger. He says sprawl is unlikely to regain its lost value.

January 28, 2010 - The New Republic

Metropolis presents a slideshow of photographs by artist Christoph Gielen, who photographs suburban developments from a helicopter.

January 16, 2010 - Metropolis

Regional planning in CA's sprawling Central Valley has turned to the huge challenge of increasing density. Fortunately, SB 375 will facilitate planners' efforts to double Fresno County density to 8 units per acre. Yet institutional obstacles remain.

January 7, 2010 - The Fresno Bee

Like many American cities, Lansing, Michigan, has been afflicted with sprawl since the end of World War II. Locals have identified the culprit: separate-use zoning.

November 30, 2009 - Lansing City Pulse

There's no looking back now in the shift away from suburbs to a more sustainable urban model, writes Andre Shashaty, president of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

November 19, 2009 - Salon.com

This report from NPR looks at Houston's growth pattern, and the evolution of a city that at once provides a high quality of life but also creates a big environmental impact.

September 20, 2009 - NPR

Should society encourage parents to drive children to school rather than walk or bicycle? Should our transportation policies favor driving over walking, cycling, ridesharing, public transit and telecommuting? Probably not. There is no logical reason to favor automobile travel over other forms of accessibility, and there are lots of good reasons to favor efficient modes, so for example, schools spend at least as much to accommodate a walking or cycling trip as an automobile trip, and transportation agencies and employers spend at least as much to improve ridesharing and public transit commuting as automobile commuting.

September 17, 2009 - Todd Litman

Policies that encourage density as a way to reduce carbon emissions won't be able to play a significant role in reducing carbon emissions in time to counteract global warming, according to a new report from the National Academy of Sciences.

September 3, 2009 - Technology Review

Consumer preference surveys indicate that total U.S. demand for large-lot, exurban housing will not increase, while demand for small-lot and attached housing in accessible, multi-modal locations will double during the next two decades.

September 3, 2009 - Victoria Transport Policy Institute

Location, location, location. Choosing a smart home location can help households become healthy, wealthy and wise, since it affects residents’ physical activity levels, long-term financial burdens and opportunities for education and social interaction.

September 2, 2009 - Todd Litman

Beijing could be heading towards a sprawling future, according to a new report from the World Bank. Despite expanding transit options, the location of jobs is pushing more people out from the center of the city.

August 20, 2009 - The New York Times Style Magazine

Once upon a time, there was a city called City. And everyone living in City voted in the same elections and paid taxes to the same government. And then 5 percent of the people decided that they wanted to live in an new neighborhood that was opened up for development by the highways. And they called it Richburb, because they were, if not rich, at least a little richer than many of the people in the city (since even if there wasn’t zoning to keep the poor out, new housing usually costs more than old housing anyhow).

July 20, 2009 - Michael Lewyn

The Phoenix Region recently opened a 20-mile light rail serving three cities. StreetFilms brings you a video profile of the new system.

June 20, 2009 - la.streetsblog.org

With great fanfare, the Bay Area's Greenbelt Alliance has released a new report, "Grow Smart Bay Area", the premise being that future population and job growth can be accommodated by infill and by doing so, will add to the region's sustainability.

June 17, 2009 - San Jose Mercury News

A controversial bill on the desk of FL Gov. Crist is touted by supporters as 'smart growth' because they feel it will direct growth to urban areas, which are defined as 1,000 people per sq. mile. At stake is transportation mitigation of new projects.

May 22, 2009 - The New York Times - U.S.

Wendell Cox argues that the growth of the suburbs is not attributable to flight from cities, but to residents of small towns and the countryside moving to denser living.

May 21, 2009 - New Geography

May 8, 2009 - Mike Lydon

Transportation concurrency is the subject of a bill that has passed one house of the Florida legislature. "Concurrency" is the Florida term for "adequate public facilities controls," indicating that facilities need not necessarily be in place at the time of project approval but that they must be scheduled to become available "concurrently" with demand from proposed development.

April 6, 2009 - Eric Damian Kelly

Despite some states using stimulus money to fund sprawl-inducing projects, Colorado seems to be avoiding projects that encourage exurban growth, according to this review.

March 31, 2009 - The Colorado Independent

In a recent blog I emphasized the value of using smart growth policies to increase household affordability and support regional economic development. In his blog, “Planning Foreclosures,” Samuel Staley reaches a very different conclusion.

March 23, 2009 - Todd Litman