nature in fragments the legacy of sprawl

[...]... looking ahead, as the alternative minimum tax becomes the critical determinant for an increasing number of Americans, once again the attractiveness of the interest deduction will be even greater.) Although no specific provision in the tax code prohibits the application of these benefits to urban residents, in practice most new housing is being built in sprawling suburbs, according to a Brookings Institution... disinvest in existing public-transit infrastructure in favor of new roads Trolleys, streetcars, and commuter rail lines had provided the backbone of the transportation infrastructure through World War II Little investment was made in these systems during the war; they were beginning to deteriorate at the very time that massive federal investments were being made THE CONTEXT AND CAUSES OF SPRAWL ■ 9 in. .. Many of these decision makers have little or no formal training in planning, architecture, public policy, ecology, or engineering Most of them are well-intentioned volunteers giving their time to make their piece of the country a better place The purview of each of these local bodies—known as planning commissions, planning boards, community boards—is by definition local In few places do they have the. .. for a more holistic way of thinking about the environment and about the importance of land use as a determinant of environmental quality Also gaining currency in the 1970s was the concept of growth management Although initially thought of as describing the “no growth” or “slow growth” techniques, the term growth management gained support in the 1980s as describing the way to make infrastructure and development... sharing their scholarly work and for their patience during the revision and editorial process Their contributions have added depth to the understanding of biodiversity, the challenges of sprawl, and the ways we can make a meaningful contribution to reversing the frightening trajectory of ecological waste that characterized the closing decades of the twentieth century We are indebted to all those individuals... out of congesSPENDING ON INFRASTRUCTURE THE CONTEXT AND CAUSES OF SPRAWL ■ 11 tion But because these roadway expansions are not tied to appropriate land uses, they will ultimately fail to alleviate congestion Anthony Downs (1992) of the Brookings Institute often cites the “triple convergence” of people shifting their trips to the new facility from (1) other routes, (2) other times of day, and (3) other... parties Beginning in the latter half of the 1990s, Republican and Democratic governors began to embrace the smartgrowth label and its ideas The trend began on the East Coast, with the governors of New Jersey and Maryland, and has been picked up by other governors, using their state of the state and inaugural speeches to stake their claims as sprawl fighters Fighting sprawl is also bipartisan at the local... out of the mix, states have failed to promote diverse land-use types and mixed-use communities The single-use nature of most new development has further exacerbated sprawl In a few places, most notably the Minneapolis–St Paul metropolitan area, tax sharing has been introduced to reduce local competitive instincts and to redress the inequity between the growing suburbs and the older places left behind... the federal government, but also by private bankers, ensuring that the potential for urban decline was fulfilled A year after the Homeowners Loan Corporation enabled longer mortgage terms, the National Housing Act of 1934 was signed into law, creating the FedHOUSING POLICY THE CONTEXT AND CAUSES OF SPRAWL ■ 7 eral Housing Administration (FHA) The act’s immediate goal was to increase employment in the. .. were the primary drivers On the local level, zoning was invented to protect private-property owners from the impact 6 ■ BIODIVERSITY AND THE GENESIS OF SPRAWL of nearby factories and other noisy, unsafe, and noxious facilities However, the unintended consequences of single-use zones provided a means of closely regulating undeveloped land, locking in a segregation of land uses and locking out the flexibility . AND MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF SPRAWL 11. Maintaining Connectivity in Urbanizing Landscapes 239 M. A. SANJAYAN AND KEVIN R. CROOKS 12. The Economics of Biodiversity in Urbanizing Ecosystems. ELIZABETH A. JOHNSON Index 363 PREFACE T his book is based in part on the symposium Nature in Fragments: The Legacy of Urban Sprawl, ” held in April 2000 at the American Museum of Natural History. pro- cess. Their contributions have added depth to the understanding of biodiversity, the challenges of sprawl, and the ways we can make a meaningful contribution to reversing the frightening trajectory