Sprawl
McMansions Fading Away?
Just a few months ago we were being told—erroneously, in our view–that the McMansion was making a big comeback. Then, last week, there were a wave of stories lamenting the declining value of McMansions. Bloomberg published: “McMansions define ugly in a new way: They’re a bad investment –Shoddy construction, ostentatious design—and low resale values.” The Chicago Tribune chimed in “The McMansion’s day has come and gone.” Whither are these monster homes headed?
September 13, 2016
Will Cleveland Finally Get Serious About Confronting Sprawl?
The Cleveland region has been struggling with sprawl for a long time.
April 22, 2016
Calgary Tackles the “Sprawl Subsidy”
As of last month, it costs more to buy a home on the sprawling edges of Canada's third-largest city.
March 23, 2016
Subsidizing Uber for the “Last Mile”? An Orlando Suburb Is Trying It
In a January 2015 paper, the Yale Law professor David Schleicher and Yale Law student Daniel Rauch published a paper on how local governments might regulate “sharing economy” companies, such as Uber, in the future.
March 16, 2016
Study: Upward Mobility Much Higher in Regions With Less Sprawl
Living in a sprawling area, like Atlanta, or a compact one, like Boston, doesn't just affect how you get around. A new study published in the Journal of Landscape and Urban Planning suggests it may also have a significant impact on your chances to escape poverty.
January 28, 2016
Real Estate Giant: Suburban Office Parks Increasingly Obsolete
What tenants want in an office building is changing, and the old model of the isolated suburban office park is going the way of the fax machine. That's according to a new report from Newmark, Grubb, Knight and Frank [PDF], one of the largest commercial real estate firms in the world.
December 10, 2015
Study: Sprawling Areas Require 3 Times as Much Pavement Per Person
One of the big downsides to sprawl is the public cost of maintaining infrastructure that is extended over wide areas. A new study of New Jersey by Smart Growth America and New Jersey Future [PDF] attempts to quantify this relationship by looking at the amount of space devoted to roads in communities of varying densities.
November 11, 2015
Braves Stadium Relocation Shaping Up to Be a Disaster
When the Braves announced they were leaving Atlanta for suburban Cobb County in 2013, logistically it seemed to make some sense. After all, the new stadium site is more centrally located in relation to the highest concentration of fans who attend games.
October 30, 2015