Geography Test II
Terms
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- Urban Sprawl
- Sprawl can be defined as “dispersed development outside of compact urban and village centers along highways and in rural countryside.â€
- Characteristics of Sprawl
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⬢ Low-density residential and commercial settlements
⬢ Leapfrog development
⬢ Fragmentation of political power
⬢ Dominance of transportation by cars
⬢ No centralized planning or control of land-uses
⬢ Widespread strip commercial development
⬢ Great fiscal disparities among localities
⬢ Segregation of types of land uses in different zones
⬢ Reliance mainly on the trickle-down or filtering process to provide housing to low-income households - Sprawl Impacts
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⬢ Sprawl is claiming 1.2 million acres of farmland and another .8 million acres of open space each year
⬢ Ohio lost 4.3 million acres of farms between 1984 and 1995
⬢ Between 1990-96 time wasted in traffic increased 260% in Cleveland - Causes of Sprawl
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Lifestyle choice
Zoning
Federal housing policy
Highway building
Competition for tax revenues
Failure of regional planning -
Causes of Sprawl
LIFESTYLE CHOICE - People want to get away from the “big cityâ€, live on their own one, two, or ten acre piece of property while still having access to urban-style municipal services.
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Causes of Spraw
ZONING - It supports the strict separation of land uses, with the basic idea being that every activity should be in a separate zone. For example, it would be harmful and indecent for people to live near shopping. This policy results in mandatory driving for daily living.
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Causes of Sprawl
FEDERAL HOUSING POLICY - Federal housing policy helped the middle class move from the city to the suburbs. It also guaranteed that the dominant dwelling unit would be a single-family residence on a suburban lot. Some say it helped keep lower income groups out of the suburbs.
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Causes of Sprawl
HIGHWAY BUILDING - Makes it feasible for people to continue to move outward.
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Causes of Sprawl
COMPETITION FOR TAX REVENUES - Local governments may feel they cannot encourage quality developments.
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Causes of Sprawl
FAILURE OF REGIONAL PLANNING - With fragmented metropolitan governance, regional planning is difficult to implement. Also, regional planning often is focused on promoting, not controlling, metropolitan expansion.
- Solutions to Stop Sprawl
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Create a sense of place
Transfer of development rights
Land purchases & conservation easements – -
Solutions to Stop Sprawl
CREATE A SENSE OF PLACE - More compact and mixed land use development (housing areas are not isolated from work and shopping); a strong pedestrian orientation: active civic and community life; more public transit; and higher housing densities
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Solutions to Stop Sprawl
TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS - Farmers and owners of open space are compensated for loss in income from not selling their land for a higher valued use by selling the land’s development rights which can be used to increase density in designated zones.
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Solutions to Stop Sprawl
LAND PURCHASES & CONSERVATION EASEMENTS - Organizations buy land and areas around significant environmental areas to preserve it. Examples are The Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, and The Conservation Fund.