[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/luk/wpaper/8645.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Compactness or Sprawl: America's Future vs. the Present

Author

Listed:
  • Harry W. Richardson
  • Peter Gordon
Abstract
This is the first time in U.S. history that an urban planning problem has featured, if peripherally, as a Presidential campaign issue. Never before have academic urban planners been in so much demand for T.V. news programs, radio talk shows, and newspaper op-ed pieces. Why? Because of a raging debate about U.S. residential lifestyles. The long-held American dream of a suburban detached home with a garden and a two-car garage (now often four!) has become a cardinal sin, if not a crime: indulging in and contributing to "sprawl". This addiction has a touted antidote: densification and public transit. Its defect is a widespread distaste for the medicine. Revealed preferences strongly favor the single-family home (andsurveys among apartment dwellers show that this is their dream too) and driving. The New Urbanists who live on multi-acre lots and the transit agency bosses who choose among a Mercedes, a Lexus or a limousine rather than between bus and rail are more than anecdotal. But perhaps the world is changing. In 1998, threequarters of the 250-plus local ballot initiatives in favor of growth management and development controls passed. Many developers have been "converted" to promote Smart Growth projects, such as infill townhome developments close to transit lines that pass a "sustainability" test. Billions of Federal and State dollars continue to be poured into transit (especially rail) with the perverse result that transit ridership continues to fall (primarily as a result of the diversion of resources from bus to rail). Suburban living is blamed for high school shootings, obesity anddysfunctional families. But, even if these diagnoses were correct and even if there has been a change of heart, would it make a difference?

Suggested Citation

  • Harry W. Richardson & Peter Gordon, 2000. "Compactness or Sprawl: America's Future vs. the Present," Working Paper 8645, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    • Handle: RePEc:luk:wpaper:8645
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://lusk.usc.edu/sites/default/files/working_papers/wp_2000_1008_0.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jones Charles I., 2001. "Was an Industrial Revolution Inevitable? Economic Growth Over the Very Long Run," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 1(2), pages 1-45, August.
    2. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2000. "Does Competition among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1209-1238, December.
    3. Kain, John F, 1992. "The Use of Straw Men in the Economic Evaluation of Rail Transport Projects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 487-493, May.
    4. Yoram Barzel & Tim R. Sass, 1990. "The Allocation of Resources by Voting," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(3), pages 745-771.
    5. Fielding, Gordon J. & Klein, Daniel B., 1993. "High Occupancy / Toll Lanes: Phasing in Congestion Pricing a Lane at a Time," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt2fv1c5p3, University of California Transportation Center.
    6. Cervero, Robert, 1993. "Surviving in the Suburbs: Transit's Untapped Frontier," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt40v4837v, University of California Transportation Center.
    7. Romer, Paul M, 1996. "Why, Indeed, in America? Theory, History, and the Origins of Modern Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 202-206, May.
    8. W. Kenn Farr & Richard A. Lord & J. Larry Wolfenbarger, 1998. "Economic Freedom, Political Freedom, and Economic Well-Being: A Causality Analysis," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 18(2), pages 247-262, Fall.
    9. Julie Berry Cullen & Steven D. Levitt, 1999. "Crime, Urban Flight, And The Consequences For Cities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(2), pages 159-169, May.
    10. Rubin, Thomas A. & Moore II, James E. & Lee, Shin, 1999. "Ten myths about US urban rail systems," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 57-73, January.
    11. Kenneth Button & Erik Verhoef (ed.), 1998. "Road Pricing, Traffic Congestion and the Environment," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 940.
    12. Wallace E. Oates & Wallace E. Oates, 2004. "An Essay on Fiscal Federalism," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 22, pages 384-414, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Robert W. Fogel, 1999. "Catching Up with the Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 1-21, March.
    14. Jan K. Brueckner, 2000. "Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedies," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 23(2), pages 160-171, April.
    15. Helen F. Ladd, 1992. "Population Growth, Density and the Costs of Providing Public Services," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 29(2), pages 273-295, April.
    16. Edwin S. Mills, 1999. "Earnings inequality and central-city development," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 5(Sep), pages 133-142.
    17. Landis, John & Cervero, Robert, 1999. "Middle Age Sprawl: Bart and Urban Development," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt9919j0ng, University of California Transportation Center.
    18. Daniel Immergluck, 1998. "Job Proximity and the Urban Employment Problem: Do Suitable Nearby Jobs Improve Neighbourhood Employment Rates?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 35(1), pages 7-23, January.
    19. Richard Voith, 1999. "Does the federal tax treatment of housing affect the pattern of metropolitan development?," Business Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, issue Mar, pages 3-16.
    20. Paul Collier & Jan Willem Gunning, 1999. "Why Has Africa Grown Slowly?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 3-22, Summer.
    21. Katherine M. O'Regan & John M. Quigley, 1998. "Where Youth Live: Economic Effects of Urban Space on Employment Prospects," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 35(7), pages 1187-1205, June.
    22. Ding, Chengri & Knaap, Gerrit J. & Hopkins, Lewis D., 1999. "Managing Urban Growth with Urban Growth Boundaries: A Theoretical Analysis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 53-68, July.
    23. Bruce L. Benson, 1998. "Economic Freedom and the Evolution of Law," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 18(2), pages 209-232, Fall.
    24. Richard A. Easterlin, 2000. "The Worldwide Standard of Living since 1800," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 7-26, Winter.
    25. Jeffrey A. Krautkraemer, 1998. "Nonrenewable Resource Scarcity," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 2065-2107, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Gordon & Harry W. Richardson, 2000. "Transportation and Land Use," Working Paper 8648, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    2. Glaeser, Edward L. & Kahn, Matthew E., 2004. "Sprawl and urban growth," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 56, pages 2481-2527, Elsevier.
    3. Edward L. Glaeser, 2012. "Urban Public Finance," NBER Working Papers 18244, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Thomas J. Nechyba & Randall P. Walsh, 2004. "Urban Sprawl," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(4), pages 177-200, Fall.
    5. Henrekson, Magnus & Johansson, Dan, 2010. "Firm Growth, Institutions and Structural Transformation," Ratio Working Papers 150, The Ratio Institute.
    6. Carrión-Flores, Carmen E. & Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso & Guci, Ledia, 2018. "An estimator for discrete-choice models with spatial lag dependence using large samples, with an application to land-use conversions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 77-93.
    7. Judit Kapás & Pál Czeglédi, 2007. "Economic Freedom: Theory First, Empiricism After," ICER Working Papers 10-2007, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    8. Miriam Hortas-Rico & Vicente Rios, 2020. "Is there an optimal size for local governments? A spatial panel data model approach," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(7), pages 958-973, July.
    9. Bento, Antonio M. & Franco, Sofia F. & Kaffine, Daniel, 2011. "Is there a double-dividend from anti-sprawl policies?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 135-152, March.
    10. Jeon, Jae Sik, 2019. "How housing market responds to greenbelt relaxation: Case of Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 328-334.
    11. Barankay, Iwan & Lockwood, Ben, 2007. "Decentralization and the productive efficiency of government: Evidence from Swiss cantons," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 1197-1218, June.
    12. Brueckner, Jan K. & Helsley, Robert W., 2011. "Sprawl and blight," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 205-213, March.
    13. Olsson, Ola & Hibbs, Douglas Jr., 2005. "Biogeography and long-run economic development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 909-938, May.
    14. Nathaniel Baum-Snow & Byron F. Lutz, 2011. "School Desegregation, School Choice, and Changes in Residential Location Patterns by Race," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 3019-3046, December.
    15. Jordan Rappaport, 2005. "The shared fortunes of cities and suburbs," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 90(Q III), pages 33-60.
    16. Leonardo Letelier S & Hector Ormeño C, 2018. "Education and fiscal decentralization. The case of municipal education in Chile," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(8), pages 1499-1521, December.
    17. Kahn, Matthew E. & Walsh, Randall, 2015. "Cities and the Environment," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 405-465, Elsevier.
    18. Siyu Miao & Yang Xiao & Ling Tang, 2022. "Urban Growth Simulation Based on a Multi-Dimension Classification of Growth Types: Implications for China’s Territory Spatial Planning," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-14, December.
    19. Miriam Hortas-Rico & Albert Solé-Ollé, 2010. "Does Urban Sprawl Increase the Costs of Providing Local Public Services? Evidence from Spanish Municipalities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(7), pages 1513-1540, June.
    20. Anas, Alex & Rhee, Hyok-Joo, 2006. "Curbing excess sprawl with congestion tolls and urban boundaries," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 510-541, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:luk:wpaper:8645. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Steins (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lcuscus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.