Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Sprawl

William Fulton on Why Smart Growth Pays and Sprawl Decays

By Angie Schmitt | May 23, 2013 | 2 Comments

Earlier this week, Smart Growth America released an important study that illustrates how walkable development results in huge savings and significantly better returns for municipalities compared to car-centric development. The analysis of 17 case studies found that walkable, mixed-use development produces 10 times more local tax revenue per acre than sprawl. In addition, SGA found […]

Suburbanization of Poverty Isolates a Growing Number of Americans

By Tanya Snyder | May 21, 2013 | 12 Comments

Poverty is no longer a predominantly urban problem — and the suburbs are no longer the refuge of the upper classes. There are now almost 3 million more poor people living in suburbs than in cities, according to a new book, “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America,” by Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube of the Brookings […]

Taxes Too High? Try Building Walkable, Mixed-Use Development

By Angie Schmitt | May 21, 2013 | 12 Comments

Smart growth could increase Fresno’s tax revenue by 45 percent per acre. In Champaign, Illinois, it could save 23 percent per year on city services. Study after study has demonstrated: Walkable, mixed-use development is a much better deal for municipalities than car-oriented suburban development. Smart Growth America recently conducted an analysis of research examining the impact […]

Millennials Will Drive More As They Age, But Still Less Than Their Parents

By Tanya Snyder | May 14, 2013 | 20 Comments

At some point over the past few years, a lot of my friends started moving to Silver Spring and Takoma Park and Falls Church. These inner-ring, transit-connected suburbs of DC are still far less compact and walkable than the neighborhoods my friends moved from. So they bought cars. Why did they do this? They’re entering […]

Streetfacts: Roads Are a Money Losing Proposition

By Clarence Eckerson Jr. | Apr 22, 2013 | No Comments

The majority of the roads and highways built in America are simply bad investments. Continuing this pattern will only ensure that wasteful projects consume larger chunks of our federal, state, and local budgets, without addressing the real need for transportation options. This Streetfacts chapter has a bit more math than usual, but we think we’ve made an […]

After Years of Unchecked Sprawl, Employment Inches Closer to the City

By Tanya Snyder | Apr 19, 2013 | 1 Comment

To hear some urbanists talk, you’d think the outer suburbs have been abandoned wholesale, lawn-mowers still running with no one to drive them, picket fences left open in the owners’ haste to beat it to the city. A new Brookings report puts the re-urbanization of America in perspective. During the economic crisis, from 2007 to […]

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