Thinking about Sprawl
Consider
the following two documentaries. View the short clips for each and then,
when you have time, allow an hour to view each completely. |
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What
according the Christopher M. Cook, the Producer of these two documentaries,
are the major contributing factors to sprawl in post-war America? |
Further Case Study Material
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Sprawl in Montana.
The photo spreads in the glossy magazines show big skies, tall
mountains and miles and miles of nothing. That's the image of Montana
we've been given. But like some exotic species of alien plant, urban
sprawl is invading as more people want a home on the range. NPR's
Elizabeth Arnold visits the Rocky Mountain state to find out what
drives "western" sprawl, and what people there are doing about it.
(12:30)
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The Price of Sprawl. From member station WNIJ in DeKalb, Illinois,
Susan Stephens reports that replacing farmland with housing developments
is leading to social and environmental problems. A new study says
the local community must pay higher taxes; police, fire and ambulances
are forced to cover a larger area; and children face up to two hours
a day on the bus, riding to and from school. (4:28)
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Virginia Sprawl - Hi
Tech to Suburbs. NPR's Snigda Prakash reports on the boom in technology
companies in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, and
on the sprawling growth of housing, shopping centers, and traffic
in the western part of Fairfax County, Virginia. The economic activity
is driven by the computer industry, specifically Internet access providers,
such as America Online, UUnet, and PSInet, whose offices are located
along the 13-mile road that joins Tyson's Corner to Dulles Airport.
Some of the wealthier residents of neighboring Loudon County are trying
to keep real estate development from spreading to their rustic enclaves.
(6:47)
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Suburban Sprawl - Albuquerque.
As part of The Changing Face of America series, NPR's John Nielsen
reports from Albuquerque on the real estate development formula that
drives the creation of regional shopping malls and suburban sprawl
across the country. Nielsen talks to Chris Leinberger, an expert on
'the science of sprawl,' who says that sprawl is planned, not random
or haphazard. (7:35)
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Changing Face of
America: Florida. Our series on the changing face of America continues
with a look at fast changing south Florida. Battered by several seasons
of severe storms, Floridians are abandoning the coasts and moving
inland. Hurricane immigrants have swelled the population of a once
quiet farming area on the edge of the Everglades. The neighboring
towns of Pembroke Pines and Southwest Ranches in Broward County, Florida,
have made different decisions about their destinies. Pembroke Pines
is a classic suburban community of subdivisions and strip malls and
is the third fastest growing city in the United States. It went from
1,500 residents in 1960, to ,000 in 1990, to an estimated 120,000
in 2000. The city is now almost totally built out and is now playing
catch up with problems that were created by the huge influx of people:
traffic, school overcrowding, water and environmental issues. Many
families moved to Pembroke Pines because they felt that it was a good
place to raise a family. The city has numerous parks and recreational
activities for kids, including a strong athletic league, and very
good schools. Despite the difficulties caused by sprawl, most people
still enjoy living there. Southwest Ranches made very different choices
about its growth. It is a much more rural town and it plans to stay
that way. It fought against annexation with Pembroke Pines, and in
March the city incorporated to ensure it had control over its own
destiny. Southwest Ranches residents, who number about 7,000, have
decided they want no more shopping malls and fewer traffic lights
and housing developments. (11:00)
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Northwest Arsons.Ecoterrorists
are suspected to be responsible for fires at a University of Washington
botany lab and an Oregon tree farm earlier this week. The arsons are
believed to be protests against genetic engineering. Noah Adams talks
with Tom Paulson, science reporter for the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
(4:30)
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The Case of Atlanta - Sprawl
City: |
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Atlanta's Growth.
From member station WABE, Joshua Levs reports on concern that
Atlanta is growing too fast. The increase in new jobs has
lead to an increased population that has created a serious
case of urban sprawl and traffic congestion. Now, many Atlanta
business and community leaders are trying to figure out a
way to control (7:30)
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Sprawl in Atlanta.
Urban sprawl is on a lot of agendas right now. Ground Zero
for urban sprawl in the U.S is the Atlanta metropolitan area.
In the 1990s, suburban development is eating up fifty acres
of green space a day. And, on average, a person in Atlanta
spends 34 miles on the road every day -- more than anywhere
else in the U.S. But in Atlanta, it's not just the politicians
and the environmentalists who are concerned about the pace
of the city's growth -- business leaders, too, are trying
to control Atlanta's development ... and they think they can
make money in the process. NPR's John Nielsen reports on developers
who have built their businesses in the suburbs who are now
focusing on in-town projects and big employers who are moving
their offices from the suburbs to the city. (7:00)
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Auburn Avenue. NPR's
John Nielsen continues his report from Atlanta. The southern
part of the city, which is traditionally African-American,
has been hurt by urban sprawl. Middle class blacks moved out
to the suburbs in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. But groups in
the city's black neighborhoods are trying to include their
communities in the revival of Atlanta's city center. (3:00)
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Sprawls and Cars.
Noah talks to transportation consultant Alan Pisarski
about driving in the suburbs. Pisarski says that driving other
than commuting takes up more and more driving time and is
causing more and more traffic problems. He says that 11am
on Saturdays, when people are running errands, may be one
of the heaviest traffic times, and that reliance on cars to
do personal business will probably not decrease in the future
because cars are much more efficient for these trips than
transit or carpooling. (2:30)
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Sprawl and Suburbs.
NPR's Kathy Lohr reports from Atlanta that even though there
is a movement in Atlanta to develop more heavily within the
city limits, the suburbs continue to grow. The Mall of Georgia
-- the biggest shopping mall in the area -- is near to completion,
and the outer counties of the Atlanta metro area are adding
more housing all the time. Suburban developers say that people
want to live and shop in the suburbs and they are just following
that desire. (5:15)
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