Sprawl

Cartoon by Andy Singer

Introduction

Smart Growth America is the place to start.

Click on your favorite city and pay careful attention to what factors they use to measure sprawl.
Read the report called, Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl.
Look at how many square miles are expected to be developed in the top 20 fastest growing counties in the U.S. in the next 20 years.
Examine the impact of sprawl on species extinction in the U.S.

Here’s a great case study from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. It’s useful not only because it’s local, but also because Pennsylvania is losing land to sprawl at an alarming rate, especially since population growth in Pennsylvania is stagnant. Click through the presentation by pressing the NEXT button and figure out the answers to the questions on the first page.

Take a trip through this excellent slide show prepared by the Christian Science Monitor.

Here’s a short summary of sprawl prepared by the Sierra Club.

Additional cool websites.

Here’s a website that refers back to our first class. It asks what’s more important: 1,400 square feet of house in the suburbs with a long commute, or a tight community of people in the city. Sprawl Fallout: The distance between home and work continues to grow, taking its toll on commuters. Some urban developers are looking to hit the brakes.

The lead story of the Religious News Network on August 18, 2005 explains why Christian Leaders are in favor of New Urbanism. Churches Embrace 'New Urbanism' as Antidote to Isolation by Marshall Allan.

What you can do.

Definitely check out this website, http://www.sprawl-busters.com/ and admit to yourself the guy in the photo on the homepage is gorgeous. If only he had glasses…

Prepared by Eric Pallant and Terry Bensel 9/05.