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March 17, 2006
The benefits of sprawl?
To many ears it’s nearly the same as addressing the benefits of cancer. Yet Matthew Kahn thinks there’s much to like about sprawl:
- Today, most Americans who live in metropolitan areas live in single detached homes and commute to work by automobile. New York City is America’s sole urban center where a significant fraction of the population lives in apartment buildings, works downtown and commutes by public transit. As transportation costs continue to decline and household incomes rise, we are choosing sprawl as we live and work in the suburbs.
The conventional wisdom is that this trend imposes major social costs relative to its benefits. An advanced Google search reveals that there are 39,500 entries for the exact phrase “costs of sprawl” while there are only 455 entries for the exact phrase “benefits of sprawl”. The beneficiaries of sprawl may be a “silent majority” who are not as politically active as center city boosters, environmentalists and the urban poor’s advocates in voicing their views on the merits of the ongoing decentralization of jobs and people taking place across cities in the United States.
This paper seeks to address this intellectual imbalance by presenting original empirical work documenting some of the benefits of living in a sprawled metropolitan area.
More here.
Also check out this NYT mag profile of Kahn collaborator Ed Glaeser.
Some who gripe about sprawl seem to have their terms confused. In a Denver survey from 2000, the Pew Center highlighted this quotation from a resident:
- "Urban sprawl is creating more problems than anything else right now: Too many people crammed too close together."
Too many people crammed too close together? That sounds an awful lot like sprawl's antithesis, smart growth.
Posted by tedb at March 17, 2006 11:20 AM
Not much on my mind right now, but it's not important. I've just been letting everything happen without me. I just don't have anything to say right now.
Comment by: Sten49527 at January 26, 2007 07:53 AM
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Not much on my mind right now, but it's not important. I've just been letting everything happen without me. I just don't have anything to say right now.
Comment by: Sten18820 at January 27, 2007 04:35 AM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten42498 at January 27, 2007 09:09 PM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten59419 at January 28, 2007 04:01 AM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten89740 at January 29, 2007 02:22 AM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten76499 at January 29, 2007 04:08 PM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten97594 at January 30, 2007 12:39 AM
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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.
Comment by: Sten73013 at January 30, 2007 07:43 AM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten25867 at January 31, 2007 09:35 AM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten45011 at February 1, 2007 03:33 AM
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Comment by: Sten54288 at February 1, 2007 03:53 AM
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I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. I guess it doesn't bother me. Shrug. I haven't been up to anything. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten6655 at February 2, 2007 08:53 PM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten29384 at February 3, 2007 12:27 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten37837 at February 3, 2007 01:14 AM
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My mind is like a bunch of nothing, but I guess it doesn't bother me. I haven't been up to anything recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing to speak of.
Comment by: Sten41431 at February 3, 2007 06:20 AM
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I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning. My life's been pretty unremarkable these days. Eh.
Comment by: Sten10099 at February 3, 2007 11:17 AM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten29889 at February 4, 2007 03:22 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten2013 at February 5, 2007 04:50 AM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten73842 at February 5, 2007 06:56 AM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten63652 at February 5, 2007 07:08 PM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten39497 at February 6, 2007 03:29 AM
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