Urban Sprawl in North America: Where Will It End?

1. Urban Sprawl in North America: Where Will It End? Chapter 5

2. I. Geoterms • A. Metropolitan Area: a major population center made up of a large city and the smaller suburbs and towns that surround it. • B. Rural Fringe: the small towns, farms, and open spaces that lie just beyond a city’s suburbs. • C. Suburb: a developed area at the edge of a city that is mainly homes. Many suburbs also have stores and businesses.

3. D. Urban Core: the older part of a big city. Often the urban core serves as the downtown or central business district of a city. • E. Urban Fringe: the ring of small towns and suburbs that surround a big city. • F. Urban Sprawl: the rapid, often poorly planned spread of development from an urban area outward into rural areas.

4. II. The Geographic Setting • A. The Old Walking City: The Urban Core • 1. Urban Core started during colonial times. This is the heart of the town (Downtown) where people could walk from their home to businesses. • 2. 1890s, street cars and trains were developed and people began to live further away and commute into the city. People moved outward along rail lines.

5. B. Suburbs Around the City: The Urban Fringe • 1. 1920s, cars were using paved roads so people didn’t have to live along rail lines. • 2. Common use of cars allowed housing farther away from the urban core. Suburbs ringed cities forming an urban fringe. • 3. Old city cores decayed as people and businesses moved out and started new town centers.

6. C. Where City Meets Country: The Rural Fringe • 1. Rural Fringe is where there are farms, open space, and fewer people. • 2. These areas grow and urban sprawl begins.

7. III. The Case for and Against Urban Growth • A. Urban Growth Creates Needed Homes • 1. Rural land is cheaper and building homes here is less expensive • 2. People usually believe it is better to raise a family in the suburbs • 3. New construction creates jobs. New homes require purchases. • 4. More taxes are paid to the government for the infrastructure.

8. B. Urban Sprawl Damages the Environment • 1. New homes take away animal and plant habitat • 2. Urban sprawl creates pollution from more cars and waste

9. IV. Portland, Oregon, 1973 • A. Growth Threatens the Willamette Valley • 1. Willamette Valley known for roses, farms, and orchards • 2. Portland’s growing population and urban sprawl would destroy this environment.

10. B. Difficult Decision: How Best to Grow? • 1. The state looked at several options. One option was to allow urban growth to continue, but for each acre developed, the state would require that another acre be set aside to be preserved as open space • 2. A second option was to not allow any more building to go on • 3. A third option allowed growth, just not in the Willamette Valley

11. V. Portland Plans for Smart Growth • A. Urban Growth Boundaries Limit Sprawl • 1. Urban Growth Boundaries • A. A legal border that separates urban land from rural land • B. Growth is allowed in the borders, but not in the rural area • 2. Metro was developed as a regional government to plan the growth within the boundaries.

12. B. Mixed Use Helps Portland to Grow Up, Not Out • 1. Today, Portland is a compact, controlled-growth area • 2. Public transit system (buses, streetcars) reduce the need to drive • 3. Mixed-use developments allow for mixed housing and business (apartments above a store) • 4. Advocates of the program say people drive less, thus less pollution • 5. Opponents say people cannot find large homes on big lots, thus not meeting the desires of the people

13. VI. Toronto, Ontario, 1999 • A. Building Up and Filling In Limits Sprawl • 1. Toronto has a long history, so by 1960s, the urban core was run down • 2. 1965, Toronto started “Infill” where old urban core is rebuilt and empty space is filled in instead of sprawling out. • 3. By the 1970s, Toronto rebuilt itself into a modern city

14. B. Rapid Growth on Toronto’s Rural Fringe • 1. By 1990s, urban sprawl took over farmland, forests, and wetlands. • 2. Traffic increased and so did the pollution • 3. They considered various plans (mixed-use development, ban all growth in rural areas, limit growth only to certain areas)

15. VII. Toronto Plans for 30 Years of Growth • A. Planning for Future Growth • 1. The Official Plan allowed growth in 25% of the city • 2. It allowed growth in the old urban core and on the waterfront. • 3. Public transportation was to be expanded • 4. Mixed-use and infill were to be developed

16. B. Concerns About Infill • 1. Developers said it was too costly because they had to clean up the old before building new. • 2. Current residents of the urban core felt that it would become too crowded

17. VIII. Atlanta, Georgia, 1998 • A. Rapid Growth Leads to Traffic Jams • 1. 1990s, Atlanta metropolitan area led the USA in urban sprawl • 2. Animal and plant habitat was being destroyed • 3. Residents drove more miles every day than drivers anywhere else in the world

18. B. Air Pollution Threatens Highway Funds • 1. Air pollution increased • 2. Respiratory ailments increased • 3. Atlanta violated the federal Clean Air Act and was in jeopardy of losing federal highway funds. • 4. Various options were studied

19. IX. Atlanta Fights Pollution with Public Transit • A. A Regional Transportation Authority was created • 1. Focus was on public transit • 2. Three goals were stressed • A. Reduce traffic jams • B. Reduce the amount of air pollution from cars • C. Reduce poorly planned development

20. 3. They encouraged people to get out of their cars • A. Encourage people to walk to shops and jobs • B. Encourage people to walk or bike through new bike trails and walking paths • C. Built new rails, subways, and bus lines

21. B. Atlanta Continues to Grow • 1. Atlanta now meets federal air-quality standards • 2. Urban sprawl still occurring • 3. Pollution still a problem • 4. Water supply a concern • 5. Mixed-use development taking place • 6. New homes in rural areas still being built

22. X. Beginning to Think Globally • A. Cities Continue to Sprawl • 1. USA and Canada still growing • 2. Need for housing still growing • 3. Concerns for the environment still present B. Sprawl is a Worldwide Problem 1. More people moving to cities, needing housing 2. Mumbai is good example

23. XI. Global Connection • A. Why might some regions have more metropolitan areas than others? • B. Why are there so many cities with more than 5 million people in Asia? • C. What special problems might urban sprawl create for poor countries?