Title:

Is Los Angeles-style sprawl desirable? By: Ewing, Reid, Journal of the American Planning Association, 01944363, Winter97, Vol. 63, Issue 1

Database:

Academic Search Premier

Abstract:

Focuses on the characteristics, causes and costs of compact development. Distinction from high density or monocentric development; Indications of poor accessibility and lack of functional open space; Market-related causes; Result of market failure; Consumer preference on compact centers; Energy consumption and air pollution; Infrastructure and public service costs; Impact on cities and downtowns.

The only policy intervention endorsed by G & R is the imposition of congestion charges and emissions fees as shadow prices for external costs of auto use, specifically for delay and air pollution imposed on others. This is a safe endorsement for sprawl lovers. While congestion pricing and emissions fees have been touted by economists for decades, those in political power have not exactly rushed to meter their constituents' travel (Orski 1992; Arrillaga 1993).

The first federal demonstration program on congestion pricing, 1973-1978, produced no demonstrations. The current Congestion Pricing Pilot Program, started five years ago, has produced one limited pilot project (and many planning studies) (FHA 1996). Millions of dollars of spending authority were recently rescinded. Most candidates for future congestion pricing are individual bridges or expressways that already charge tolls, but would charge a premium at peak hours. Areawide congestion pricing is a good idea whose time has apparently not come.

The Professional Geographer

Volume 59 Issue 2 Page 193-208, May 2007

To cite this article: Selima Sultana, Joe Weber (2007)
Journey-to-Work Patterns in the Age of Sprawl: Evidence from Two Midsize Southern Metropolitan Areas*
The Professional Geographer 59 (2), 193-208.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-9272.2007.00607.x

Among others, one commonly identified negative consequence of urban sprawl is an increase in the length
of the journey to work. However, there has been more discussion of this than serious scrutiny, hence
the relationship between urban sprawl and commuting patterns, especially at the intraurban level, remains
unclear. Using the 2000 Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP) data for two Southeastern metropolitan
areas, this research investigates the extent to which workers living in sprawl areas commute farther to
work than those living in higher density areas. The analysis of variance confirms that workers commuting from
sprawl areas to urban areas experience a longer commute in terms of time as well as mileage, though this varies
when workplace and home locations are taken into account. However, multivariate statistical results suggest that
there are limits to the utility of sprawl as a predictor of travel behavior compared to workers’ socioeconomic
characteristics, as other factors appear to be equally or more important. 

Vancouver, British Columbia - To metro Atlantans, congestion is a dirty word.

But when a delegation of 117 regional leaders recently visited this Canadian city, they were introduced to a whole new concept.

"Congestion is our friend," said Larry Beasley, former city planning director for Vancouver, who has been recognized worldwide as helping create a new urban model. "Density is good."

Metro leaders were exposed to a vastly different approach to growth and development during the 11th annual LINK trip, organized by the Atlanta Regional Commission, short for "Leadership, Innovation, Networking, Knowledge."

Vancouver's strategy of density and transit is a stark contrast to the Atlanta region's road-oriented sprawl.

In the 1970s, Vancouver residents waged a 10-year battle to keep freeways from its urban core. They successfully defeated a plan that would have run a highway through its Chinatown and run along its downtown waterfront.

Now a traffic light at the edge of city limits signals that the interstate from Tijuana to Canada has come to a stop and is now a city street.