Defining an Urban Sprawl

An urban sprawl can be defined as the spreading of people between the suburbs and the city of a rural area. This means that people from a city spread out over a rural area and develop the suburban towns. The problem that I see with that is the fact that people have been in the past 150 years and are continuing to take down the forests, which inhabit many species of animals. The article that I read that discussed some of the disadvantages to urban sprawl by saying, "There are the obvious environmental costs of sprawl—lost open space and natural habitats, increased air pollution from more traffic, depleted water quality caused by urban runoff." Obviously urban sprawl is not the greatest thing for cities, and for the environment, but there could be things that are a lot worse. I think it is important for a highway system between the suburbs and the city, but the problems come in when it costs a state millions of dollars to build an effecient highway system. Since the highways are not as effecient as possible, it is important to keep in mind that the gasoline that cars use is wasted when there is a lot of traffic because of rush hour or an accident. I believe (and I know I'm starting to drift away from the topic that was focused upon in the article) that we need to have more fuel effecient cars to be able to withstand bad traffic, even beyond just highways. Most states in America can't afford an effecient highway system because it would cost millions of dollars just to start it.

Fregonese, John, and Lynn Peterson. "Smart-Growth Policies Will Improve Urban Areas." Opposing Viewpoints: Urban America. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 5 Feb. 2010 .