Top Ten Sprawling Metro Areas

"Metropolitan areas that sprawl more have higher traffic fatality rates, more traffic, and poorer air quality than less sprawling areas, according to a landmark study released today. The report, Measuring Sprawl and Its Impact, is based on a three-year research project conducted by professors at Rutgers and Cornell universities... This comprehensive and academically rigorous study truly breaks new ground by going a step beyond the index to demonstrate how sprawl development patterns affect the way people live...The report ranks 83 metropolitan areas, accounting for nearly half the country’s population, and finds that Riverside-San Bernardino California is the most sprawling overall. It is followed by Greensboro and Raleigh, both in North Carolina; Atlanta; Greenville, South Carolina; and West Palm Beach." [Entire report available in PDF format.]