Synopsis
The environmental impacts of sprawling development have been well documented, but few comprehensive studies have examined its economic costs. In 1996, a team of experts undertook a multi-year study designed to provide quantitative measures of the costs and benefits of different forms of growth. Sprawl Costs presents a concise and readable summary of the results of that study.
The authors analyze the extent of sprawl, define an alternative, more compact form of growth, project the magnitude and location of future growth, and compare what the total costs of those two forms of growth would be if each was applied throughout the nation. They analyze the likely effects of continued sprawl, consider policy options, and discuss examples of how more compact growth would compare with sprawl in particular regions. Finally, they evaluate whether compact growth is likely to produce the benefits claimed by its advocates.
The book represents a comprehensive and objective analysis of the costs and benefits of different approaches to growth, and gives decision-makers and others concerned with planning and land use realistic and useful data on the implications of various options and policies.
About the Authors
Bob Burchell is distinguished Professor at the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers, is the author of 25 books and more than 50 articles. Professor Burchell, co-director of the Center, is an expert on fiscal impact analysis, land-use development and regulation, and housing policy. Dr. Burchell co-authored the Development Impact Assessment Handbook for ULI-The Urban Land Institute. His major publications include The Fiscal Impact Handbook, The New Practitioner's Guide to Fiscal Impact Analysis, The Adaptive Reuse Handbook, and the Environmental Impact Handbook.
Anthony Downs is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., where he has been since 1977. Before that, he was for 18 years a member and then Chairman of Real Estate Research Corporation, a nationwide consulting firm advising private and public decision-makers on real estate investment, housing policies, and urban affairs. Dr. Downs received a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University, and is the author or co-author of 20 books and over 480 articles. His most famous books are An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957), translated into several foreign languages, and Inside Bureaucracy (1967). His latest books are Stuck in Traffic (1992) and New Visions for Metropolitan America (1994), from Brookings and the Lincoln Institute, A Re-Evaluation of Residential Rent Control (1996), from the Urban Land Institute, and Urban Affairs and Urban Policy and Political Theory and Public Choice (1998), two volumes of his collected essays published by Edward Elgar Publishing.
Barbara McCann is the director of the Office of Safety, Energy and Environment at the US Department of Transportation. She was the founding Executive Director of the National Complete Streets Coalition, working with groups from AARP to the YMCA to develop and advance the adoption of policies to make streets safe for all users. More than 500 jurisdictions, including more than half the states, have now adopted Complete Streets policies. McCann co-created the Complete Streets Workshop program and speaks widely. In 2011 the NY/NJ Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers recognized her with the 2011 Transportation Advancement Award, given annually to a non-engineer "for contributions in advancing transportation programs through outstanding leadership."
Barbara founded McCann Consulting in 2003 to work with government agencies, non-profits, and researchers, authoring numerous reports and articles on transportation, health, and land use. McCann is also a co-author of Sprawl Costs. Prior to establishing her own firm, McCann served as Director of Information and Research at Smart Growth America (SGA) where she authored the report Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl, the first research report documenting the relationship between sprawl and obesity. She worked at CNN as a writer and producer for 13 years during her first career as a journalist.
She lives in Washington, DC with her husband Bob Bloomfield.
Sahan Mukherji is a research associate at the Center for Urban Policy Research.
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