Planners Book Club — July 2008

Sprawl Costs

Sprawl Costs was the July 2008 selection of APA's Planners Book Club.

What are the real drawbacks of sprawl? What are its benefits? Sprawl Costs looks at the real price of sprawl — including everything from the cost of extending sewers to time lost in traffic — and compares it to the price of more compact development. Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of sprawl for your community. Here are some questions to get your discussion started:

1. Is redirecting growth to already developed areas always effective in controlling sprawl? Why or why not?

2. Where do the benefits of agriculture and the benefits of open space overlap? What factors may reduce the open space benefit of agriculture?

3. Is greenfield development cheaper? How are the costs and benefits of that kind of development divided between the public, home buyers, developers, and governmental entities?

4. Is it helpful to discuss the benefit of compact development as "deficit reduction" rather than "cost savings"?

5. What's the difference between decreasing automobile travel and decreasing traffic congestion? What importance do these two terms have when considering sprawl versus compact growth?

6. How do quality of life consequences fit in with discussions of the costs of sprawl? How can planners adequately incorporate these aspects when deciding how to manage growth?

7. Which benefits of sprawl are true benefits? Which of them could be replicated in more compact development? How?

8. What role might regional strategies like regional governance and tax-base sharing play in creating an environment for successful compact growth? What conditions are necessary to begin implementing regional strategies?

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