E-briefing
Sprawl: the Newest Expletive

Experts will tell you that sprawl's been around for decades. So, why is it attracting so much attention and emotion now? For instance, last December, Earth Liberation Front or ELF apparently burned down new residential construction on Long Island scrawling the epitaph "if you build it, we will burn it" on one wall of a partly completed house.

Is the current debate likely to lead to any lasting change, or are most of us just grousing but unwilling to make for real change? Read below in this week's University of Cincinnati e-briefing to find out what the researchers, policy planners, and builders think will come of the debate.

Table of contents:

I. The latest spin on sprawl

A. Why such a hot topic
B. "People are just fed up."
C. Is life better in the 'burbs?
D. Sprawl fosters racial unrest

II. Sprawl-busters

A. The legal landscape: sprawl issues stuff the ballot box
B. More municipalities than ever calling for help
C. Education is key
D. Budgeting to battle the "amoeba that ate Maryland"
E. Let the cities be cities, let the suburbs be suburbs
F. But first, fight the fear of crime

III. The future of suburbs

A. Life goes on with limited horizons
B. Crowd the cities to make for healthy suburbs
C. Home size sprawls too
D. Not "home sweet home" but "home-sweet-investment"

IV. What's ahead

A. A local view
B. States continue leading the way
C. Bipartisan problem
D. Most politicians to sit on the fence
E. Sprawl: the price of liberty
F. Finding more middle ground

I. THE LATEST SPIN ON SPRAWL

A. WHY SUCH A HOT TOPIC
Brenda Scheer, UC associate professor of planning, says that sprawl is currently so prominent in news reports and community discussion because, at long last, suburbs are not giving people what they want. "Suburbs began in the late 19th century. People chose the suburbs for a bucolic setting and to own a little piece of green land. That setting is no longer bucolic. It's frenetic and intense."

Part of the reason suburban life is so harried today is that the roadway infrastructure is overwhelmed. The highways surrounding and bisecting cities that were built in the 1970s were supposed to take care of all future traffic needs. They obviously cannot do so. So, now, congestion and its costs (especially in terms of time) have become a quality-of-life issue for increasing numbers of people.
Contact: 513-556-0211

B PEOPLE ARE JUST FED UP.
UC geographer Howard Stafford, a frequent visitor to the Washington/Baltimore area, said that Maryland's "smart growth" initiatives are finding a power base in the people, because they've become fed up with all the traffic and waste of resources. "People see that there is no way they can keep building more roads, because that just creates more and more traffic. I think the public sentiment is saying OK, this isn't working," Stafford said. "We build new highways, and they get filled up immediately. People have just become fed up."
Contact: 513-556-3426

C. IS LIFE BETTER IN THE 'BURBS?
Ohio Eminent Scholar in Urban Planning David Gosling, author of "Evolution of American Urban Design" to be published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., said that Seattle, San Diego, and Portland, Oregon, are American models for controlling sprawl. He predicts other cities will join that list as sprawl is now perceived as a quality-of-life issue. "Is life in the U.S. improving or not in terms of transportation, commuting time, etc? No, it's not. When people become frustrated enough with the downward spiral, that's when change comes."
Contact: 513-751-7376

D. SPRAWL FOSTERS RACIAL UNREST
Zane Miller, UC professor emeritus of history and an urban history expert, says there is no mistaking the connection between urban sprawl and the racial unrest as witnessed in Cincinnati recently. In the 1950s and 1960s, expressways were built right through ghettoes in U.S. cities, displacing thousands of African Americans at the same time African Americans were flowing into the city for jobs. That displacement led to "second ghettoes."

The problems won't go away, he said, "unless we do something, not only about education and jobs, but to attack residential segregation. There has to be some assurance that as blacks move in, the neighborhood won't change as whites flee." Middle class African Americans and whites who want to live in racial integrated neighborhoods, he said, express frustration at the limited range of choices and instability of such places.
Contact: 513-556-2142

II. SPRAWL BUSTERS

A. THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE: SPRAWL ISSUES STUFF THE BALLOT BOX
Ballot initiatives are increasing as a method for addressing issues of growth, and they are largely finding a receptive audience with voters. That was the overall finding of a survey, "Growth at the Ballot Box: Electing the Shape of Communities in November 2000," published by the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy. The survey found there were 553 state and local ballot issues related to growth last November and that more than 70 percent passed. In a similar Brookings study of the 1998 election, the passage rate was about the same but there were only 240 such issues proposed.

Generally, measures designed to preserve open space or build and maintain parks and recreation facilities continue to be highly popular, while transportation measures received a mixed reception. Regulatory restrictions on growth were controversial and contentious. A total of 38 states had initiatives on the 2000 ballot, with Ohio ranking second among all states nationally with 69 initiatives.

The full Brookings report can be seen on the Web at: http://www.brook.edu/es/urban/ballotbox/finalreport.pdf

B. MORE MUNICIPALITIES THAN EVER CALLING FOR HELP
Jeff Soule, director of national policy for the American Planning Association, estimates that the APA's Planners Advisory Service receives up to 200 calls a week from local municipalities seeking advice on sprawl-busting measures. That's up markedly from the number of calls received a few years ago. "It's been a huge increase. We used to get calls in, say, the double digits."

The calls often center on how to update subdivision ordinances, many of which were drawn up in the early 1950s. Others focus on how to create connections in existing communities so that residents can more easily walk or bike to conduct errands; how to convert parking lots to mixed-use residential, recreational and commercial use; or how to recapture rainwater falling on parking lots. The answer: a simple basin in a corner of the lot that will allow water to soak into the soil.
Contact: 202-872-1497, ext. 1012

C. EDUCATION IS KEY
Author and housing researcher David Varady, UC professor of planning, says that for many families, schools are the driving force behind housing choices. Good schools are key to combating sprawl. Those currently moving back into and reviving city centers are families and adults without young children. If families with children are to be encouraged to live within or closer to the city center, good schools are likely to be the linchpin. He admits there are financial and political problems to be overcome in order to attain the educational improvements needed to attract middle-class families. Parents need to be convinced that the schools will uphold high educational standards and that their children will be safe to and from school, as well as on school property.
Contact: 513-556-0215

D. BUDGETING TO BATTLE THE "AMOEBA THAT ATE MARYLAND"
Maryland's "Smart Growth" program was selected as a winner from among more than 1,300 applicants to Harvard University's annual Innovations in American Government awards program. It was named one of the 10 most innovative new government programs in the Year 2000 competition. New efforts in Maryland come from a determination to fight the sprawl Governor Parris Glendening once the "amoeba that ate Maryland." Glendening, a second-term governor, is tapping Maryland's budget to change the state's development patterns in an attempt to save forests, farmlands and the quality of life.

According to John Frece, the governor's assistant on Smart Growth, Glendening realized there was no way the state could superimpose zoning or land use authority over local governments. Instead, the state budget is used to combat sprawl. For example, "He turned on its head what the state does for school construction. When he first took office, 43 percent of state construction funds for schools went to older schools, while the rest went to new ones. He has reversed that. Now, 84 percent of the money goes to older schools, rather than new ones," Frece said. Under the Smart Growth law, state funds for water and sewer improvements, roads, economic development loans and grants, construction or leasing of state office space, and other purposes are restricted to municipalities and other locally-designated growth areas. Local governments may permit growth outside those areas, but the state will no longer subsidize it.
Contact: 410-260-8112

E. LET THE CITIES BE CITIES, LET THE SUBURBS BE SUBURBS
Since 1990, downtown Milwaukee has experienced a 22 percent increase in its residential population, thanks mostly to a master plan embarked upon in 1997 by the city and the Wisconsin Center District Board and the Milwaukee Redevelopment Corporation (MRC). In the last four years, about 2,200 new housing units have been built, are planned or under construction in the downtown area, according to Peter Park, Milwaukee director of planning. More than 11,000 people are now living downtown.

One key to the plan's success has been a re-emphasis on the urban character of the city. In the recent past, more cities were trying to make themselves over in the image of the suburbs, clearing blocks, putting up downtown malls and even cul de sacs. "It was really a displaced philosophy. It assumed that the suburban pattern was a superior one to the urban one," said Park. This fall, Milwaukee will tear down a one-mile stretch of the Park East Freeway (I-45), an uncompleted highway intended to encircle downtown. The demolition will open 23 acres of land for redevelopment. It will be an extension of the Milwaukee's successful RiverWalk, with mixed uses, said Park.
Contact: 414-286-8580

F. BUT FIRST, FIGHT THE FEAR OF CRIME
John Eck, UC associate professor of criminal justice, studies crime and the places where it occurs. He says that any urban renaissance must take into account the fear of crime, rather than actual crime rates. "My general feeling is fear of crime definitely influences (willingness to live in the city). It's not the crime itself as much as the fear of it. It can have a spiraling downward effect, which started in cities after World War II, accelerated in the 1960s and possibly has been bottoming out in the last decade." Eck adds that crime and race have become bundled together in some potential city-dwellers' minds. "The consequence is that many safe neighborhoods that are populated by African Americans look unsafe to European Americans. You could think of it as a civilian version of racial profiling."
Contact: 513-556-5833

III. THE FUTURE OF SUBURBS

A. LIFE GOES ON WITH LIMITED HORIZONS
Brenda Scheer, UC associate professor of planning, doesn't think that sprawl problems will kill the suburbs. "A piece of land and space are part of the American dream. The earlier immigrants who came to this country came because they wanted land. They didn't want to live in the crowded cities of Europe. That's a value that has been passed down. So while new immigrants from the Hispanic world and from Asia are driving the resurgent population of cities, many other Americans will still want their piece of green land." She does, however, think that, when they get frustrated with a deteriorated quality of life, many Americans will be persuaded to forego the one-and-a-half acre plot for the smaller one-eighth or one-quarter of an acre plot once common in suburbs. "It's already happening. Where developers are allowed to do so [because of zoning laws], they're building denser suburbs."
Contact: 513-556-0211

B. CROWD THE CITIES TO MAKE FOR HEALTHY SUBURBS
UC planning professor Michael Romanos has studied metrotowns or edge cities, suburbs that become "urbs" in their own right. Jobs and businesses move to where people live and shop until a typical suburb eventually has more workers than residents. Across the country, Romanos explains that metrotowns tend to prosper when the central city is filled to capacity. The edge cities around Washington D.C. are vibrant because "Washington D.C. [the city itself] doesn't have room to grow. The same is true for Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles." Highways, economic growth in the region, and the appearance of metrotowns all contribute to the tendency to live further and further out in the countryside, since jobs, shopping, and entertainment all can be found there, while at the same time, the environment is considered cleaner and safer.
Contact: 513-556-0258

C. HOME SIZE SPRAWLS TOO
Bob McNamara, a senior policy planner for the National Association of Home Builders, says surveys by the National Association of Home Builders suggest the average American home is growing larger, while the size of the land around that home is shrinking. "If you put that in terms of smart growth principles, reducing the size of the lot is making better use of the land," says McNamara. He adds that some communities, middle class neighborhoods where homes went up in the '50s, are fighting efforts by new residents who want to build bigger homes. "They'll say the larger homes that are in demand today are out of character with the neighborhood...." McNamara adds that the growing size of the home is a symbol of our growing affluence. "We're the best housed people on the planet. People want larger homes, because they have more things. It's almost unthinkable these days to have just one bathroom in the home."
Contact: 800-368-5242 ext. 498

D. NOT "HOME SWEET HOME" BUT "HOME-SWEET-INVESTMENT"
David Lee Smith, UC professor of architecture, professes amazement at the ever-expanding girth - sprawl if you will - of the modern, upscale suburban home. Plus-sized homes are being shoehorned into existing neighborhoods where a 3,000 to 5,000 square-foot home takes up nearly every inch of lot...fairly ironic considering that residents move to suburbia for openness and green space. U.S. census information shows the average size of a new single-family house sold in 1999 was almost 10 percent larger than it was a decade earlier while the average yard size was 13 percent smaller. Said Smith, "It used to be that a 1,500 square-foot home was typical. Now, 2,500 square-feet is small. It's now got to be 3,000 to 5,000 square feet. I think that it stems from a change of mindset. A home used to be a place to live, but now, it's an investment rather than home."

In the past two years, Smith closely examined homes in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Washington DC. He sees little sensitivity to quality in modern mega-houses. "There's no real quality of space, of flow, of workmanship. These homes also require so much more energy. For instance, you can't create cross-ventilation in many of these homes because rooms are often without windows along two walls. Thus, you are forced to use air conditioning. Older homes were typically built with windows along front, back, and side walls so people could create cross ventilation for cooling."
Contact: 513-556-5291

IV. WHAT'S AHEAD?

A. A CINCINNATI VIEW
Planning professor Michael Romanos says two of Greater Cincinnati's "edge cities" or "metrotowns" have continued to grow beyond expectations. They are the Tri-County, Mason and Monroe triangle and the airport, Erlanger, Florence triangle in Northern Kentuckuy. Another one-time metrotown contender, Anderson Township, has not grown as expected because of policies limiting growth there. Overall, said Romanos, Cincinnati is growing eastward rather than westward.

This would seem counterintuitive at first. After all, there is no major highway to the east that links Cincinnati with another important regional city whereas I-74 links to Indianapolis to the west. The location of the airport, and the I-275 beltway made the difference, explained Romanos. "Convenience to the airport was key. You can reach east of the city, without going through the city, fast and easy on I-275. To go west on I-275, you have to cut well into Indiana."
Contact: 513-556-0258

B. STATES CONTINUE LEADING THE WAY
Jeff Soule, director of national policy for the American Planning Association, said that more and more state governments are getting involved in sprawl and growth issues. Maryland's Growth Management Act asked each county to designate growth areas, and a line was literally drawn on a map. Areas inside the line received state funds geared for growth. Areas outside the lines were preserved. Other states are also moving forward. Ohio purchased land for open space and funded cleanup of brownfields. "With the new economy, people can often work where they prefer rather than where they have to. It's no mystery why people choose Portland, Oregon, or San Francisco. They want a sense of place, not an endless expanse of tract mansions, big box houses."
Contact: 202-872-1497, ext. 1012

C. BIPARTISAN PROBLEM
While Maryland's governor Parris Glendening has been described in some media as one of the nation's "most liberal governors," John Frece, the governor's assistant on smart growth, notes that Glendening often points out that smart growth really is a conservative approach. "It's a conservative approach to how you use your land and how you use the state's money for infrastructure. There are certain costs to growth if you let it happen willy-nilly, and ultimately all that goes back to the taxpayers to pay," he said.
Contact: 410-260-8112

D. MOST POLITICIANS TO SIT ON THE FENCE
Citizen and community groups are lining up behind smart growth concepts, but it may yet take more time and a greater show of strength before individual politicians move the topic towards the top of their platforms in upcoming elections. Jane Anderson, UC adjunct associate professor of political science, sees group support for smart growth, but not from individual politicians. "...the perception still is the general voter doesn't support this, so why risk political suicide?" Anderson is encouraged to see more of a common ground approach developing between varied urban, suburban and rural communities as well as growing support among business groups, but "studies have shown (individual politicians) just aren't aware of the consequences of sprawl. Citizen groups have to be willing to back them and show leadership. Until that happens, you're going to find political leadership behind the curve on this."
Contact: 513-556-3300

E. SPRAWL: THE PRICE OF LIBERTY
Ohio Eminent Scholar in Urban Planning, author and international transportation researcher David Gosling says that America's sprawl woes are rooted in U.S. law and America's emphasis on individual liberty. "In Europe, planning legislation is keen to prevent sprawl. Urban cores are surrounded by green belts, rural land that is not to be touched for development. In the U.S., the chaotic system of local governments are a recipe for disaster in this regard. There is no way to control growth. So, anyone who moves further out to get away from it all is quickly surrounded by development. So, they move further out...are surrounded again and on and on and on. Sprawl is the price for this freedom."
Contact: 513-751-7376

F. FINDING MORE MIDDLE GROUND
Jeff Soule, director of national policy for the American Planning Association, believes the recent interest in sprawl is having an impact. First, he says that more developers are adopting "smart growth" options like bike paths that connect communities to local businesses because there's money to be made in "smart growth." He explained, "I was with a local home builder on a panel in Louisville, and we agreed more than we disagreed. In another example, I was just at a meeting here in Washington DC to go over new plans to connect World War II era suburbs with a bike path. These are changes people are willing to adopt because they're economical, they add convenience and quality of life."
Contact: 202-872-1497, ext. 1012

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