Sprawl is killing us economically, environmentally, socially, and physically.
It's time to rethink land use, rethink car-dependency, and reimagine the human habitat at human scale.
It's time to rethink land use, rethink car-dependency, and reimagine the human habitat at human scale.
WHAT IS SPRAWL?
Sprawl is ever-spreading low-density development, where cars are the only practical form of transportation.
Sprawl is cookie-cutter suburbs, mega-highways, and wide boulevards lined with fast food drive-thrus and strip malls (all with large parking lots).
In short, sprawl is a world built for cars, not humans.
Sprawl is cookie-cutter suburbs, mega-highways, and wide boulevards lined with fast food drive-thrus and strip malls (all with large parking lots).
In short, sprawl is a world built for cars, not humans.
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VIDEO EXAMPLE: 30 years of sprawl growth in Raleigh-Durham (1985-2016)
ARROGANCE OF SPACE: Land use in Atlanta vs Barcelona
A BETTER WAY TO LIVE
We need to rethink the way we build the human habitat. We can start by envisioning a world built at human-scale, where cars don’t shape everything about the places we live.
EXAMPLE VIDEO: Delft, the Netherlands, courtesy of Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife
VIDEO ESSAYS
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SO WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
5 STEPS TO FIX SPRAWL:
1. Zoning reform. Sprawl is not the result of choice made in a free market. In most of our cities and towns, sprawl is mandated by outdated zoning laws. These include: single-family-only zoning, parking minimums, setbacks, minimum lot sizes, and many more. These zoning laws are a primary driving force behind suburban sprawl, and they are based in a history of prejudice and exclusion.
2. Stop spending billions to widen and expand highways and roads. Road expansion will never solve traffic, it only encourages more people to use the road by making driving easier (a phenomenon known as induced demand). Instead, we should invest in walking and biking infrastructure, and give ourselves the freedom of having more transportation options.
3. Create human-scale places. That means human-scale "10-minute neighborhoods" where you can safely and comfortably walk, bike, or take public transit to jobs and everyday services within 10 minutes.
4. Invest in good public transportation. When properly implemented, public transit is a far more pleasant and efficient way to transport people than cars. When combined with dense mixed-use development, public transit accelerates economic development by improving mobility and quality of life.
5. Take back streets from cars. To break out of car-dependency, we need more transportation options. To accomplish this we must provide safe and comfortable infrastructure for pedestrians, bicycles, and other micromobility devices like electric skateboards and scooters. This applies to public transit too: busses and streetcars work much better when they have dedicated lanes and priority at intersections.
2. Stop spending billions to widen and expand highways and roads. Road expansion will never solve traffic, it only encourages more people to use the road by making driving easier (a phenomenon known as induced demand). Instead, we should invest in walking and biking infrastructure, and give ourselves the freedom of having more transportation options.
3. Create human-scale places. That means human-scale "10-minute neighborhoods" where you can safely and comfortably walk, bike, or take public transit to jobs and everyday services within 10 minutes.
4. Invest in good public transportation. When properly implemented, public transit is a far more pleasant and efficient way to transport people than cars. When combined with dense mixed-use development, public transit accelerates economic development by improving mobility and quality of life.
5. Take back streets from cars. To break out of car-dependency, we need more transportation options. To accomplish this we must provide safe and comfortable infrastructure for pedestrians, bicycles, and other micromobility devices like electric skateboards and scooters. This applies to public transit too: busses and streetcars work much better when they have dedicated lanes and priority at intersections.
A REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
In 2010, Lancaster Boulevard in Lancaster, California was converted from a car-dependent stroad into a pedestrian-friendly street. It cost the city $11.5 million, and in four years it attracted $130 million in private investment and generated $273 million in economic output. It also doubles as a space for street festivals that attract tens of thousands of people.
With small, incremental changes like this, our cities can see dramatic increases in livability and economic prosperity.
(For more real-world examples, check out the CNU Project Page.)
(For more real-world examples, check out the CNU Project Page.)
Want to learn more?
Check out the resources page!
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