Sprawl
Texas Prairie Endangered By Stimulus Funding
A proposed toll road near Houston exemplifies an unintended effect of the stimulus: encouraging sprawl.
Directing Raleigh's Future
A new comprehensive plan being released in Raleigh has many -- both in and out of the city -- wondering what's the best way to grow in the post-sprawl world.
Commercial Vacancies Hit Tax Rolls Hard
As commercial vacancies increase, cities are feeling the pain of lower tax revenues.
What Lies Ahead for Las Vegas
This article looks at what the end of sprawl will mean for Las Vegas.
Sprawl A Major But Ignored Factor in Infrastructure Costs
The federal stimulus package has made infrastructure into a hot topic among states. But, as Mary Newsom writes, states are not addressing the land use patterns that drive up the costs and bring down the efficiency of infrastructure.
New Jersey: It’s Like Ohio, But Even More So
The second semester in planning school at Penn is defined by a major project in which students are broken into groups, given a problem region, and tasked with, in the space of three months, coming up with a plan comparable to what professionals do in 12 to 18 months. Over those three months, the students get intimate with their designated locale, exploring every nook, cranny and underused land parcel. Helloooooooooo, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. There’s an old John Gorka song called “I’m From New Jersey.” It goes, “I’m from New Jersey/ It’s like Ohio/ But even more so/ Imagine that.” I’d bet good green cash he was driving down Route 70 when he wrote that.
Concerns Over Tolls and Sprawl May Determine Bridge Width
Plans for a new bridge over the Columbia River in Oregon have local officials in a debate over lanes, tolls and sprawl.
Inside the Mind of the Green Market
The green marketplace is the marketplace of the future. From Wal-Mart to Toyota to the neighborhood dry cleaner, it seems like every business is going out of its way to tell us how green they are. That could either be a great thing because these businesses are actually using environmentally-friendly practices, or it could be a bad thing because they're just claiming to be green. Regardless of whether it's one or the other, what's certain is that they say they're green because that's what we want to hear.
The Sprawl of Unsold Cars
The downturn in the economy has hurt the auto industry, leaving many cars unsold. Storage of these cars is becoming a problem for many automakers.
Sprawl To Become Unaffordable For Waco's Future
Growth rates in Waco, Texas, have planners concerned that the region won't be able to afford the necessary roads and services the new sprawl will require.
Obama Plan: Stimulating The Economy Or Sprawl?
Obama has compared the size of the stimulus package he wants to the 1956 National Highway Act. If the states have their way, it may be just that -- a new highway bill with little left for transit.
Obesity and Sprawl Correlation Found in Australia
A new study from the University of New South Wales has outlined a connection that suggests living farther away from central cities results in higher rates of obesity.
Greenhouse Gas Plan Punts On Land Use Issue
In a surprising last-minute change, a new plan that outlines how California will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions does not include a concrete target for reductions attributable to less-sprawling land use patterns.
Cooling Markets May Halt Sprawl in Maine
For decades, development in Maine sprawled away from cities and across the landscape. The flailing economy may be the only thing that can change the pattern.
New Suburbs Attract New Wildlife
Around Puget Sound, the spreading suburban fringe is changing the types of birds that live in those areas, pushing some out and attracting others. 'It's a change in who's top,' says a local biologist.
Effect of California's New Anti-Sprawl Law Uncertain
Clearly it has aroused enormous excitement and hope amongst California's smart growth advocates, but the new anti-sprawl, greenhouse gas-reducing law, SB 375, may do more in the tone it sets than in the changes its supporters hope it makes.
Cities are Gas Guzzlers, Too
Like the major automakers, cities have been warned for years that they need to rein in sprawl and become more energy-efficient; and having neglected these warnings must now restructure how they operate, says Jack Diamond of the Globe and Mail.
Colossal Sprawl in Greater Toronto
"Why did nobody notice it? If these things were so large, how come everyone missed them?" - Queen Elizabeth, on the global credit crunch. Things are so large in the Vaughan Corporate Centre, an edge city about 20 kilometres northwest of downtown Toronto, that a cross-section of Vancouver's downtown peninsula, from False Creek to Lost Lagoon, could fit within five of its blocks. There's a street named Colossus, leading to a cineplex of the same name. The overpass and ramps of the adjacent freeways take up an area the size of the West End. They in turn are surrounded by acres of emptiness, just grass and dirt, awaiting more big boxes, more asphalt.
Why I fight
Occasionally, someone familiar with my scholarship asks me: why do you care about walkability and sprawl and cities? Why is this cause more important to you than twenty other worthy causes you might be involved in? The answer: Freedom. I grew up in a part of Atlanta that, for a carless teenager, was essentially a minimum-security prison. There were no buses or sidewalks, as in many of Atlanta’s suburbs and pseudo-suburbs. But in my parents' non-neighborhood, unlike in most American suburbs, there were also no lawns to walk on, so if you wanted to walk, you had to walk in the street - not a particularly safe experience in 40 mph traffic.
The End of Atlanta's Sprawl
The age of sprawl is ending in Atlanta, according to Christopher Leinberger, who highlights the city's move towards a more dense, walkable future.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
