The Rise and Spread Of Sprawl

"As Andrew Leonard wrote in Salon after taking his kids on a recent road trip to Southern California, 'If the rest of the world continues to follow Los Angeles' example, we're all doomed.'"

"[But] Leaders in India, China and other quickly expanding countries are, indeed, engaged in a mostly futile battle to keep the outer edges of their cities from looking too much like this one."

But why is the sprawling landscape invented in Los Angeles alluring and pervasive? Perhaps because it was the first city that gave any aspiring family a chance to own a piece of domestic bliss -- a detached home, a private car, and an opportunity to pursue their own desires and dreams independent of others.

"It hasn't been lost on many pundits that the word that best describes the way Los Angeles has developed -- auto-centric -- can define a city that revolves around the car as well as one dedicated to the individual."

While Los Angeles and other cities hope to reign in the negative consequences of sprawl, it may be important to reconcile why this sprawling urban structure remains so attractive for people from all places and walks of life.