Suburban Sprawl

[dbranch 0]

I love in Phoenix, the most sprawling low density city in the US next to Los Angeles.  And we're nowhere near the density downtown where I live.  It is now the 5th largest city in the US and has hit the 4 million mark counting the metro area.  Each small city like Tempe and Scottsdale have their own city centers too and only now are planners starting to connect them with Light rail.  Phoenix is supposed to surpass L.A. in 20 years or so.  Think I'll move to Tucson.................;(

[josefmayor 8]

Originally posted by: City2TheMax If you do a suburb right, it works out well. But if you don't do it right, you're screwed. I live down here in the south, and most suburban complexes seem to end up in ghettos. Suburban sprawl feels semi-communist because all houses look the same. You can't walk anywhere so you're forced to use a car. And the schools feel ridiculous. Schools here have the same number of students as in the German schools I've been to, but they take up at least 5X the space and use literally 40-50 school busses, because the suburbs make everyone spread out.

I'm generally against suburban sprawl, but again, if you do it right, it works out well.quote>

That sounds like Tampa! The suburbs outside of the city limits are more dangerous than the city!

Tampa has a fast growing city population around 400,000 (2007) And a Metro of 4 million. With this the area is growing fast in urban areas and slowing in suburban areas, so emphasis has been on cleaning up the city, and trying to get mass transit. Tampa used to be #9 in crime, but  our amazing Mayor Pam Iorio has saved the city essentialy and made this city safe to live in.\

Willis: In Tampa, inner city schools are 10000000x better than the suburban schools.

Hillsborough High School is one of the highest ranked IB programs in the nation. Blake (which is surrounded by projects) is one of the top music schools in the nation. Plant is one of the top magnets in the nation, just to name a few.

[jamietoronto 0]

I live in Toronto, (5th largest metro in N.A)

I actually don't mind the suburbs here. We are expiriencing a massive condo boom, with over 40,000 units sold last year. The suburbs aren't "cookie cutter" suburbs, but all have different characteristics. But Torontos suburbs began as villages, all with there own feel. We also are pretty compact with our suburb, for example we have high rises extending over 15 miles out of the core.

dbranch,

I was reading your post, and I think you exagerate too much.

I will start with the 5th largest city in the U.S, although that is true, the metro is 13th, and since is about sprawl...

I don't mean this to be offensive or confrontational, I just want the correct and true information to be on this forum.

[dogma555 187]

Originally posted by: dbranch I love in Phoenix, the most sprawling low density city in the US next to Los Angeles.  And we're nowhere near the density downtown where I live.  It is now the 5th largest city in the US and has hit the 4 million mark counting the metro area.  Each small city like Tempe and Scottsdale have their own city centers too and only now are planners starting to connect them with Light rail.  Phoenix is supposed to surpass L.A. in 20 years or so.  Think I'll move to Tucson.................;(quote>

I really dont get this whole suburban sprawl thing.. first off, is there anywhere that suburban sprawl does NOT occur? I always thought that suburbs were just a natural occurrence as most med-high wealth families will usually prefer to live in suburbs rather than the city..

2nd, how is Phoenix the "most sprawling" at a metro population of only 4 million, yet the NYC metro area has nearly 19 million in its metro area?

Also, so would the alternative to suburban sprawl be something like THIS: (Tokyo)

I just cant see how anyone would desire to live here rather than a suburb.

[owenluby 1]

That would be awesome! Subway station a hundred metres down the road, restaurants round the corner, fast paced!

After I get sick of it, I'll move out to the 'burbs...

[nickjbor 0]

What bugs me is that everyone assumes that there is nothing between detached houses with 100 foot wide lots, and apartment buildings with 30 floors. "Sprawling" out small houses is a bad idea, especailly if you cover much land with it, however having mixed-use and medium density areas works alot better. I was raised in Prince Edward Island, and over there many farmers made some cash by sectioning off a plot of thier farm (a small plot) and building a house to sell. The smarter farmers kept the new house and sold the old one. I lived in one of these old farmhouses built in the 1870s. Our neighbour was not a farmer either, but his house was built in the 1950's. The farmer lived in a house less then 10 years old. Due to this there is "rural sprawl". Much of the land is still farmland, but at the same time there is space for people to live.

What's really needed is a way to discourage inefficient use of land. Greenbelts tend to cause higher rents, and are not 100% effective.