Top Ten Sprawling Metro Areas

Three-year study ranks 83 metropolitan areas and associates urban sprawl with highway deaths, air pollution, and traffic. Find out your city's ranking.

1 minute read

October 17, 2002, 1:00 PM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"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.]

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan

Thursday, October 17, 2002 in Smart Growth America

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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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