Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Sprawl

Sprawl Madness Redux: Driving 17 Miles to Go 500 Feet in Phoenix

By Angie Schmitt | May 20, 2014 | No Comments

Last year, Angie posted an unfortunate map of two houses in Orlando that share a backyard but are seven miles apart if you take the disconnected local street system. That’s quite a distance to ask your neighbor for a cup of sugar. Well, reader Sean Horan just sent this mind-blowing sequel: two houses in Phoenix, […]

Book Excerpt: “Dead End,” a Look at Sprawl and the Rebirth of Urbanism

By Ben Ross | Apr 22, 2014 | No Comments

“Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism” is a new book by Ben Ross, longtime president of Maryland’s Action Committee for Transit and a frequent contributor to Greater Greater Washington. This excerpt is preceded by a section describing the post-war expansion into the suburbs and the surrender of public space to automobile […]

Two Maps Show How We Designed Walking Out of the Suburbs

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 24, 2014 | No Comments

Having a finely grained street grid is incredibly important to walkable communities, as the above graphic from the Sightline Institute demonstrates. These side-by-side maps show how windy, disconnected, suburban streets make it difficult-to-impossible to get around on foot. This is why Happy City author Charles Montgomery noted in Slate that “cul de sacs are bad […]