Urban Sprawl Analysis - Research Paper Example

?Suburban sprawl is a controversial topic. Many people love the idea of the suburban community, with its clean, fresh buildings and trappings of the upper middle class lifestyle. However, the truth about suburban sprawl is that devours. The expansion of sprawl devours resources—both human and natural—while withholding a sense of community or diversity. In other words, sprawl takes from the individual without giving back. In the United States, as well as across the pond in the UK, suburbanization began in the early nineteenth century (Frumkin, Frank and Jackson). Suburbanization is defined as “a process involving the systematic growth of fringe areas at a pace more rapid than that of core cities, as a lifestyle involving a daily commute to jobs in the center” (Jackson 13). Suburban life is characterized by the icon of the ‘soccer mom,’ whose life is spent in her minivan as she shuttles her child to and from activities, while they await the arrival of the suburban dad, whose commute to work takes him away from the center of family life. When you understand our history, the attraction to the suburbs is clear. We’ve long been driven to own and improve upon land. Cronon writes of the colonists’ argument for taking land from the Native Americans: “their supposed failure to ‘improve’ that land was a token not of their chosen way of life, but of their laziness” (55). We’re infused with the notion that land is not precious unless someone owns and builds something on it. Beyond that, we have begun to associate owning single-family residences in the suburbs with moral superiority. In Russell Conwell’s popular lecture, “Acres of Diamonds,” he asserts: “drive me out into the suburbs of Philadelphia, and introduce me to the people who own their own homes around this great city…and I will introduce you to the very best people in character as well as enterprise in this city… A man is not really a true man until he owns his own home” (qtd. in Jackson 50). The suburbs we have constructed and allowed to sprawl and creep into every nook and cranny of undeveloped space reflect our social mores and values. “Built space expresses a society’s material and political priorities” (Hayden 7). Looking about at the growth and explosion in certain areas of the country, the value of our culture are evident. We worship the new, the exclusive, and the private. Our sprawl entails new buildings where people flee to avoid looking at the old buildings they abandoned. The cost of such configuration, however, is quite high. It costs not only in dollars and cents, but resources, and socio-culturally as well. Sprawl is costly in terms of dollars and cents. Burchell points out that there is a budget “deficit projected under the sprawl growth scenario” (80). Local governments begin to strain under the burden of maintaining existing structures while providing new roads and services to new buildings. Suburban sprawl is extremely costly in terms of our natural resources. “In the decade between 1982 and 1992, over 13 million acres in the 48 contiguous states of the United States and Hawaii changed from forests, fields, and rangeland to urban use” (qtd. in Pendall 555). There is a finite amount of resources and sprawl does not make efficient use of them. Hayden elaborates on sprawl as “careless new use of land and other resources as well as abandonment of older built areas” (7). Something sprawl takes from the individual is the sense of community. “A cost of development that is truly impossible to measure is how much a neighborhood, town, or city contributes to or denies people a sense of place and community” (Burchell 110). Suburban sprawl creates homogenous spaces that lack character or uniqueness. People come and go in their cars and neighborly bonds are often simply not formed. Part of the reason is that suburban spaces are built around automobiles. Hayden refers to the tract-housing, common to suburban developments, as “automobile-oriented buildings” (8). Rather than being able to walk to work, to the store, or to the park, suburban spaces require the ownership and utilization of an automobile. The consequence is that people are outside less and they interact with one another less. As a society, we are more isolated from one another than ever before. Between the long commutes to work and working remotely, the days of having a cup of coffee with a coworker or swinging by on the way into the office are over. And that isolation is spreading so that even those we share a living space with are more estranged. Some wonder if this is part of the bigger plan for us to be work-driven in a capitalistic society. Capital has long dreamed of sending us to work in space, where nothing would be left to us except our work-machine...but the fact is that the earth is becoming a space station and millions are already living in space-colony conditions: no oxygen to breathe, limited social/physical contact, a desexualized life, difficulty of communication, lack of sun and green... even the voices of the migrating birds are missing. (“Introduction to the New Enclosures” 5). Indeed, there has been a marked decline in the level of social engagement in the last several decades. Those trying to puzzle out the reason for the decline in civic and social engagement—despite the increases in education levels, which should boost those levels—list suburban sprawl and residential mobility among the chief reasons (Putnam 187). Commute times play a role in our increased social isolation. Putnam estimates that there is a ten percent drop in civic engagement for every ten minutes spent in commute to work. Another byproduct of sprawl is a less diverse neighborhood, which leads to cultural isolation. We live in a heterogeneous society, where diversity of culture, background, and thought are the norm, not the exception. Yet more Whites than ever before are geographically isolated from other races and cultures. “Whites still live in neighborhoods with people from their same racial group” (Tatum 13). Since schools are neighborhood-based, Whites living in neighborhoods populated with other Whites results in suburban children have limited experiences with people who do not look like them. “The next generation of White students will likely have less school contact with people of color than their predecessors did” (Tatum 14). Sprawl creates homogenous neighborhoods. In fact, “the American landscape was transformed both physically and economically to favor suburban, White populations and male-headed households” (Hayden 11). Suburbia is a stage for White males to be the king of their households and White-dominated culture to remain the norm. The schools serving the upper middle class and affluent children also serve as a place for social replication of the norms of suburban households (MacLeod). Sprawl not only delivers White neighborhoods, it sometimes necessitates the destruction of neighborhoods of people of color to create suburban enclaves (11). Older, more established neighborhoods have been demolished in urban centers in order to make way for fresh, new communities of homogenous dwellings and master-planned communities. This is certainly not the first instance of the rights of people of color being sacrificed for the interests of Whites (Bell). Class and race disparities existed before suburban sprawl, but sprawl perpetuates and exaggerates it. “Sprawl is socially destructive. It intensifies the disadvantages of class, race, gender, and age by adding spatial separation” (11). Sprawl creates spaces where the affluent can fashion an entire life wherein they do not encounter people of other races or socioeconomic classes in the course of their day. Although segregation is considered to be a thing of the past, the housing market creates spatially defined class composition” (“Introduction” 7). The concept of ‘White flight,’ the tendency of Whites to move into the suburbs in order to lessen their contact or tendency to live near people of color, is not new. Blacks have begun the practice as well, fleeing to the suburbs in increasing numbers; however, the space between Whites and Blacks is consistently high. As Blacks move into the suburbs, Whites simply move “farther into the burbs and exurbs” (Pendall 557). Thus, sprawl continues to push boundaries to create fresh spaces for one group to flee another group, perpetuating class and racial separation and inequities. The very design of the suburban community is such that people are denied access. “Renters and people without automobiles, the people with the greatest need for affordable shelter and public transportation” are often denied access to suburban neighborhoods due to economic reasons (Hayden 11). This is detrimental in terms of access to better schools, but also in terms of political capital and the chance of greater economic relief: “suburban places exceed urban ones in numbers of residents and voters, as well as new jobs” (8). The health implications of sprawl are important to be considered as well. It is no secret that our nation is struggling with an epidemic of obesity and obesity-related illnesses. When you look around and see the “sprawling development [that] eats up farms, meadows, and forests, [and turns] them into strip malls and subdivisions that serve cars better than people,” is there really any mystery as to how this happened to us? (Hayden 12). Once a society of pedestrians, we have all become glued to our steering wheels and computer keyboards. Those living in sprawl more so than those living in urban and rural settings. In suburban sprawl, everything is accessible by car. Walking to the store becomes an unnatural—and in some places, an impossible—act. Sprawl favors the superstore and the shopping center, which house massive parking lots. Glance around the sprawl and you will numerous asphalt nations beckoning to consumers to bring their cars, so they can load their trunks full of items before heading home. Shopping on foot cuts down on consumerism because one can only buy as much as can be carried in that shopping trip. Thus, asphalt paved meccas are the norm in suburban sprawl. All of this leads to less physical activity built-in to the day. Now residents must ‘exercise,’ meaning setting aside time during the day to purposefully move about and work up a sweat. Many residents find this challenging since their day is already consumed with the commute to and from shopping spots, schools, work, and after-school activities. Even when residents can find the time to walk, the cheapest form of exercise available, they may lack the space to do so safely. The result is a decline in health. Commuting has been linked to numerous negative health outcomes, including bad moods, high blood pressure, and a lower tolerance for frustration (Burchell). Additionally, many find the aesthetic facet to be missing in suburban sprawl. A complaint about sprawl is that it can be visually unappealing. Between the massive billboards advertising local chain stores, the monotonous look to the homes, and the boxy quality of the architecture devoted to commerce, suburban areas are nearly completely absent the charm and eccentricities one finds in small towns and often big cities. Hayden found that students often “associate big cities with high culture and suburbs with banality” (9). Many times historic sites and buildings fall prey to sprawl. Abandoned or sometimes destroyed to make way for tract housing, historic buildings are rarely a part of a suburban setting. Historic buildings root a place to its past and help add flavor to the landscape. Those things are missing in the suburban setting. The benefit of tract housing is the idea that “similar houses sold at similar prices to families who purchase similar kinds of household goods” creates a condensed market for advertisers and providers of goods and services (32). These “clustered worlds” help perpetuate the segregation that was committed through practices in mortgages and insurance which were discriminatory. “These patterns have never been completely reversed, [so] clustered world can be a euphemism for a segregated metropolitan region with affluent white people in distant suburbs and people of color concentrated in poor, inner-city neighborhoods” (32). The case for suburban sprawl is the promise of a better life. Cleaner air, better schools, and safer neighborhoods are all inherent in the sale of a suburban dwelling. The promise of cleaner air is a myth. “Some observers have connected sprawling development to poor respiratory health because the increased driving required by sprawl means higher levels of air pollution” (Burchell 109). It is true that schools tend to be better staffed and better funded in suburban areas. Additionally, suburban schools tend to offer more to the student in terms of electives, and use of more cooperative and engaging teaching practices (MacLeod). In contrast, schools for children of poverty offer track learning, lessons in conformity and preparation for low status employment (MacLeod). Many experts argue that sprawl is a sign of growth. Indeed, it does much for the industries impacted. The construction industry enjoys a boost from all of the commotion of building. In fact, our national government endorses sprawl by covertly creating policies that encourage it. The FHA, tax deductions associated with home ownership, tax deductions for corporations centered upon ownership of commercial real estate, and funds for highway construction are all geared toward encouraging and supporting sprawl. “These federal programs have transformed a nation of cities and small towns into a nation of sprawling metropolitan regions” (Hayden 11). The alliance between big business and our government work to generate new growth and sprawl, which happens in the blink of an eye. “By the time ‘Going Out of Business’ signs appear on family enterprises that have flourished for decades a town green or on a local Main Street, it is usually too late for ordinary citizens to intervene” (8). Although sprawl is good for certain industries, such as banking, real estate, and construction, it is bad for the individual. “High levels of public debt and heavy reliance on property taxes, both of which indicate that established residents subsidize new development, are associated with more sprawl” (Pendall 567). Other supporters of sprawl claim that “since most Americans choose to live in suburbs, sprawl must be popular” (Hayden 13). Often what is popular in our culture is to the detriment of our society’s wellbeing long-term. Sprawl would be an excellent example of that very phenomenon. In our quest to have more, bigger, newer, we have lost our way to those things we need more than material items: connection, equality, and good health. In response to the popularity of suburban enclaves, many in the industry are attempting to create suburban spaces, which make better use of the available resources. There is trend toward designing neighborhoods to resemble a small town and an attempt to include ‘green spaces,’ where people can safely walk and congregate. However, critics cite that better design is not the answer. “Combating sprawl is not simply a case of countering bad design with good design, where good design creates instant community” (Hayden 13). Those who are concerned with the numerous detrimental effects of sprawl are calling for sustainable growth. To redesign sprawl is accept that eventually the space created will become obsolete and abandoned, just like the older, more established spaces people left to flee to the sprawl. Better design will only prolong the agony, not fix it. Some communities are going so far as to impose penalties and legislate mandates for how and where growth can happen, in an effort to protect undeveloped space and existing structures and communities. “New zoning, specific requirements for design quality, and specific limits on the size of buildings to help preserve the historic scale of older towns and suburbs” are some of the measures being employed by existing communities across the country to protect against ugly sprawl (16). Some people who favor sprawl believe that “privatopias” are the answer to the ugliness. In a privatopia, residents are bound to restrictions in their deed regarding what they can display, the colors they can paint their homes, and other such aesthetic decisions. However, these are most prevalent in areas with homogenous housing, which many would argue is in and of itself not aesthetically pleasing. The tendency to congregate with like people is nothing new. “People came together to form cities thousands of years ago, to enjoy the benefits of company, commerce, and mutual defense” (Frumkin, Frank and Jackson 26). But today’s suburban sprawl does little to enhance the sense of community or company. Commerce is booming as a result, but little else. Suburban sprawl is working toward the detriment of many important facets of our society. It is depleting natural resources, pushing up costs, and contributing to the decline of community. We are becoming increasingly more segregated by class and race as a result. Inequities based upon class and race are being perpetuated and accentuated through this destructive practice. While some see sprawl as progress and an outward measure of affluence, the detrimental effects of sprawl cannot be ignored. Works Cited Bell, Derrick. “White Superiority in America: Its Legal Legacy, its Economic Costs.” Villanova Law Review 33 (1998) 767-779. Burchell, Robert W. Sprawl Costs: Economic Impacts of Unchecked Development. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2005. Cronon, William. Changes in the Land. New York: Hill and Wang, 1983. Frumkin, Howard, Frank, Lawrence, and Richard Jackson. Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004. Hayden, Dolores. A Field Guide to Sprawl. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004. Jackson, Kenneth T. (1985). Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. MacLeod, Jay. Ain’t no Makin’ It: Aspirations & Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995. Pendall, P. “Do land-use controls cause sprawl?” Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 26 (1999) 555-571. Putnam, Robert. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Tatum, Beverly D. Can We Talk About Race? And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2007. Read More