Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Sprawl

Q&A With Sam Hoyt: Why New York State Needs a Smart Growth Law

By Noah Kazis | Jun 9, 2010 | 9 Comments

State spending on infrastructure to support exurban McMansions drains people and resources from urban centers — and costs taxpayers a bundle. Photo: highflyingknight12/Flickr With Albany’s legislative session drawing to a close, the state legislature is considering several initiatives to promote sustainable transportation and livable communities in New York state. One of those initiatives is the […]

Why NYC Residents Should Care About the Upstate Sprawl Bomb

By Peter Fleischer | Jun 4, 2010 | 51 Comments

Peter Fleischer is the executive director of Empire State Future, a coalition of 39 business, civic, and environmental organizations advocating for smart growth across New York state. Over four hundred New York Thruway miles from Manhattan, in a corner of the state as remote as the Outer Banks of North Carolina or Acadia National Park […]

Signs of Street Life in Sprawlanta?

By Brad Aaron | May 10, 2010 | 3 Comments

I lived in Athens, Georgia, for seven years, and though Atlanta is only about an hour away (by car, of course), with a little effort I could probably count the number of times I made the trip. This video, the first in the American Makeover web series, goes a long way toward explaining why "Sprawlanta" […]

New Report Links Foreclosure Risk to Auto Dependence

By Elana Schor | Jan 28, 2010 | 4 Comments

Homeowners in car-dependent areas are at greater risk of foreclosure, according to a report released yesterday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that calls for mortgage underwriting standards to begin taking so-called "location-efficiency" into account. Weeds spring up near a foreclosed home in Illinois. (Photo: Getty) The NRDC examined data for 40,000 mortgages in […]

A Message from Copenhagen: Climate Plan Must Include Walkable Urbanism

By Ben Fried | Dec 9, 2009 | 7 Comments

The energy-saving benefits of transit aren’t limited to the transportation sector. Image: Jonathan Rose Companies via Richard Layman. At a panel discussion yesterday at the Copenhagen climate summit, American policymakers and transit experts delivered a clear message: Walkable urban development must be part of any effective plan to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to […]

Congress Set to Double the Size of Sprawl-Centric Home Buyer’s Tax Credit

By Elana Schor | Nov 4, 2009 | 11 Comments

Photo: US Department of Agriculture The $8,000 tax credit for new home buyers — which was wracked by fraudulent claims after its creation as part of the nation’s economic recovery effort — is on the verge of a significant expansion by Congress. Just how much will the tax credit mushroom thanks to the deal reached […]

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