Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Sprawl

Census Breaks the News We Already Knew: The Exurbs Are History

By Tanya Snyder | Apr 9, 2012 | 17 Comments

Last week, the New York Times and USA Today reported that Census numbers had confirmed the death of the outer ring suburbs, or exurbs. The latest numbers, capturing the year (actually 15 months, April 2010 to July 2011) since the last Census, showed a major shift away from the settlement patterns from 2000 to 2010. […]

Anti-Sprawl Doctor to Host PBS Series on Urban Design and Public Health

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 27, 2012 | 5 Comments

“A leading voice for better urban design for the sake of good health.” “A public health/social justice hero.” Dr. Richard Jackson, chair of environmental health at UCLA, is a leading voice for transportation reform whose work has linked America’s sprawl to the nation’s high rates of obesity. The former director of the Center for Disease […]

Conservative Pols Hate Government Subsidies, Unless They Subsidize Sprawl

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 5, 2012 | 10 Comments

UPDATE 1/5/12: Corrects the Congressional district outline. At a recent meeting of the city council in Celina, Ohio, members considered a request to extend sewer lines to six homes that are currently outside the city’s boundaries. Extending the sewer line 800 feet to the houses would cost the city $40,000. A new water line was […]

Quantified: The Price of Sprawl in Florida

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 14, 2011 | 8 Comments

We all know sprawl is costly to local communities. Roads, schools, sewers: It all adds up. But the total price-tag is hard to determine, and that ambiguity undermines efforts at reform. What qualifies as sprawl? How much additional infrastructure is needed to support it? That’s why it’s exciting that a group of concerned Florida homeowners […]

Meet the Rick Perry Donor Who Runs Texas DOT

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 10, 2011 | 6 Comments

Last week Streetsblog looked into the suburban real estate moguls who used their public offices to advance the country’s largest sprawl project — Houston’s third outerbelt, also known as the Grand Parkway. But even with all the cronyism and self-deal propelling this project forward, just a few months ago it looked like the Grand Parkway had […]

Transforming Tysons Corner: A High-Stakes Suburban Retrofit

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 27, 2011 | 7 Comments

“That strip mall just got rezoned for high rise buildings.” “These auto dealerships are going to disappear.” Those aren’t words you hear very often in suburbia, but if you’re hanging out in Tysons Corner, Virginia, you’d better get used to it. This office enclave, which sits dead center between Washington, DC and Dulles International Airport, […]

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