Sprawl is Holding the Recovery Back

A new report from Strong Towns Initiative argues that sprawl-friendly policies and overbuilt infrastructure are keeping the economy from properly recovering.

1 minute read

October 9, 2011, 1:00 PM PDT

By Tim Halbur


Angie Schmidt of Streetsblog summarizes the report, and what others are saying:

"Relief won't come, they say, until America begins confronting the systemic problems that produced the meltdown, including inefficient and unsustainable public infrastructure investments and housing development."

The report calls the suburban form of development a Ponzi scheme, and proposes that the only way to fix the economy is to change development patterns:

"The answer is not to continue to pour America's remaining wealth into suburban development which is not financially sustainable. The answer is another spatial shift; a change in the pattern of development moving away from mass-suburbanization and towards an arrangement with a higher public return on investment."

Sunday, October 9, 2011 in New Urban Network

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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