Sprawl and the 'Death of the American South'

A post by Sustainatlanta reacts to the recent study that predicted massive, sprawling growth in the South in the next 50 years. The post's concern is that sprawl will "eviscerate' the Southern lifestyle.

1 minute read

August 24, 2014, 1:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Atlanta Sprawl

Hunter Desportes / flickr

"The South, for many years now, has served as a refuge from the blunt, fast-paced Northeast, offering all the charms of the city at a much more leisurely pace," according to Sustainatlanta. But if the findings of a recent study, called "The Southern Megalopolis" and written by researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey and North Carolina State University, are prescient, "[the] massive urban sprawl predicted for the Southeast could eviscerate that leisurely lifestyle, that southern hospitality, and that beautiful forestry that has come to define the region."

The post goes on to detail the negative externalities of the South's predicted sprawl, including increased infrastructure expenses, destruction of the environment, and loss of quality of life.

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