THE COSTS OF SUBURBAN SPRAWL AND URBAN DECAY

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THE COSTS OF SUBURBAN SPRAWL AND URBAN DECAY

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What is Suburban Sprawl?
Sprawl is unsustainable development that wastes
tax dollars, destroys farmland and open space,
and neglects existing infrastructure and
community resources.
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Everything is a Drive Away
Suburban parents spend17 full days a
yearbehind the wheel, more than the average
parent spends dressing, bathing and feeding a
child. Source Surface
Transportation Policy Project
Schools
Shops
Home
Recreation
Workplace
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About Grow Smart RI

• Statewide non-profit organization
• Diverse coalition of interests

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Mission

• Promote patterns of development that
• - Revitalize city town centers
• - Preserve historic, cultural and natural
  resources
• - Expand economic opportunity for all Rhode
  Islanders

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How We Get it Done

• Research / Education
• Policy Reform / Advocacy
• Building municipal capacity

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The Costs of Sprawl and Urban Decay in
Rhode Island
Published December, 1999
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(No Transcript)
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Rhode Island Growth Trends1980-2000

• Population growth 6.9
• Housing growth 17.2
• Motor vehicle growth 16.4

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Increase in developed land1961-1995

• Core 54 increase
• Ring 122 increase
• Suburb 169 increase
• Rural 205 increase

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Costs of Sprawl

• Loss of farms and forestland
• 1964-1997 farmland reduced by half
• Potential additional loss by 2020
• 3,100 acres farmland
• 24,000 acres forestland
• Infrastructure Costs
• Roads
• School facilities
• Utility lines

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Social Costs
Poverty in Core Cities
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Loss of jobs from core cities
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Fiscal Impacts on Urban Centers

• Lost Tax Revenue
• Estimated loss in assessed valuations
• 1.3 billion
• 1998 934 acres of vacant lots in Providence
• 8 of citywide acreage
• 1999 560 vacant buildings in Providence

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Urban Fiscal Impacts

• Reduced property values
• Increasing tax rates

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Fiscal Impact on suburban and rural towns

• Increased taxes due to
• Increased cost of community services due to
  amount of growth
• Increased cost of community services due to
  pattern of growth

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Other Impacts

• Increased motor vehicle usage negative
  environmental impacts
• Increased storm water runoff from roads and
  parking lots
• Increased auto emissions

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Calculating the Costs

• Current pattern net gain of 25,000 new housing
  units from 2000-2020
• 34,000 units -- ring/suburban/rural
• - 9,000 units urban
• 25,000
• (RI Statewide Planning Projections)

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• Alternative Core Development pattern
• 8,750 new units in Urban Core and Ring
• 6,250 new units in Suburban
• 10,000 new units in Rural
• 25,000 new units

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(No Transcript)
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How can communities grow smart?

• Encourage growth development in existing city
  and town centers
• Mix land uses
• Create a range of housing opportunities and
  choices
• Foster walkable close-knit neighborhoods
• Preserve protect open space, farmland,
  critical environmental areas
• Provide a variety of transportation choices

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• Promote a distinctive sense of place through
  preservation
• Take advantage of existing community assets
• Make development decisions predictable, fair and
  cost-effective
• Encourage citizen participation in development
  decisions

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What Smart Growth Is And Is Not
More transportation choices and less traffic
Not against cars and roads
Vibrant cities, suburbs and towns
Not anti-suburban
Wider variety of housing choices
Not about telling people where or how to live
Not against growth
Well-planned growth that improves quality of life
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www.growsmartri.com
345 South Main Street Providence, RI
02903 273-5711 Jflaherty_at_growsmartri.com