Density by Design
What does a sustainable suburban region begin to look like when compact development replaces sprawl? Many planners and researchers predict a shift from the present city vs. suburb dichotomy to a more polycentric landscape in which self-sustaining suburban “nodes” orbit around larger urban cores.
All in One
Compact suburban villages have the potential to reduce vehicle miles traveled by putting residences closer to employment, shopping, and recreation. Organic growth is often concentrated around existing or future transit lines.
+ Cities and towns made of village-like neighborhoods balance resource needs.
– In suburban sprawl, the city and its suburbs compete for resources.
Pocket Sanctuaries
Poor land-use decisions can compromise water quality, reduce vegetation buffers, and degrade wildlife habitats. Zoning reform allowing compact-growth models that cluster buildings together and preserve open space may be one antidote to this trend.
+ With compact growth, homes placed on 1/6–acre lots at a density of one unit per acre achieve a landscape preservation ratio of 80 percent.
– Conventional subdivision zoning places homes on one-acre lots at a density of one unit per acre, thus allowing no preservation of open space.
Common Ground
The automobile-centric model of the post-industrial age put highways and clover-leafs at the center of it all, creating environments that were outright perilous for cyclists and pedestrians. As an alternative, many planners now advocate alternative site designs featuring wide, walkable boulevards, central public greens, and street-activating mixed-use buildings.
+ Boulevards lined by mixed-use retail allow the town and highway to work in harmony.
– In auto-centric sprawl development, the highway guts the town.
Efficiencies Through Desegregation
Site planning that places a variety of housing types in proximity to each other can prevent the need for repetitive infrastructure development, which causes further environmental degradation and is a source of burdensome impact fees for builders.
+ The urban-style neighborhood allows five market segments to exist in close proximity at one-third to one-half the infrastructure cost.
– Suburban pod development requires major infrastructure build-out to provide for five segregated market segments.