Largely a post Word-War II phenomenon, the word sprawl describes
what its name evokes: formless, spreading, inefficent consumption of
land. A "sprawling" landscape generally has no center and few public
spaces where people congregate.
Many Americans feel
that sprawling development has accrued too many costs: The environment
has suffered as Americans make more and more vehicle trips, new houses
gobble up farmland and scenic countryside and new sewer lines and
septic tanks damage the water supply in many areas. Civic participation
also suffers as we spend more time stuck in traffic, know fewer of our
neighbors, and inhabit a privatized landscape with few public squares
or "third places". In addition, as varying ethnic groups and social
classes live in isolation from each other, there is less of a sense of
unity and shared fate.
The sprawl model also
negatively affects small locally owned stores. When permissive zoning
laws allow large megastores to locate on the outskirts of town (with
generous tax breaks often thrown into the deal), money is siphoned away
from the local businesses, further undermining a sense of place and
community. (See New Rules Project's Retail Sector for more about this problem. Also see Stacy Mitchell's book The Hometown Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores and Why it Matters.)
This
section offers several policy measures that encourage a more efficient
use of land that fosters civic participation and social interaction.
Some federal policies encourage sprawling development (for instance,
the federal income tax home-mortgage interest deduction encourages
sprawl because it provides the largest benefit to those who buy the
most expensive houses, which often are on larger lots). The
federal-government-backed Location Efficient Mortgage initiative is a
step in the other direction. The goal of Location Efficient Mortgages
is to encourage development and home purchases in dense urban areas
with amenities and public transportation close by.
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In 1993, the city of Lancaster developed an innovative model for
assessing impact fees on new development. Known as the Urban Structure
Program, the model includes a surcharge levied on new development
beyond the central core (5 mile radius).
The further
out from the central core, the higher the surcharge. A typical new
house located within the core, for example, would incur an impact fee
of $5,500. The same house located one mile beyond the core would incur
a fee of $10,800.
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Hasselt, the capital of the Belgian province of Limburg, has a
population of 68,000, and is the regional center for a population of
800,000 people. 200,000 people from the region commute in and out of
the city every day. Faced with rising debt and congestion, the city
council decided in 1996 that they would not build a third road ringing
the city. Instead, the city converted the inner ring to a bicycle and
pedestrian path, increased the frequency of buses, and announced that
buses would be free of charge.
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In July 1999 significant amendments were added to Chicago's landscape
ordinance, making it stricter. For instance any new parking lot of
3,000 square feet or more was required to install landscape islands and
trees within the lot. New parking lots of 1,200 square feet or more
that are visible from a public right-of-way were required to surround
themselves with 2-to-4 foot hedges. In addition, a shade tree must be
planted for every 25 feet of new building frontage in most commercial
and residential neighborhoods. In addition, the city has embarked on a
tree-planting campaign, with the intention of planting 500,000 more
trees over the next five years.
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Can a land tax reduce sprawl and strengthen urban economies? The
evidence is persuasive though not conclusive. Political economist Henry
George first proposed a land value tax over 100 years ago, as a way to
eliminate land specualtion and make more land available for production.
Today,
some observers hail it as a way to curb sprawl. Current property taxes
are based in the value of property, reflecting both the land and
structure value, in a proportion determined by local property
assessors. Decisions to reinvest or remodel currently result in higher
assessment valuations and thus higher taxes.
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The state of Vermont uses a Land Gains Tax to protect rural land
from short-term speculation. First effective in 1973, the tax imposes
very high taxes on sales of land held a short time and sold for a large
profit.
The land gains tax is imposed on the gain from
the sale or exchange of Vermont land that was held less than six years,
and the land is not part of the first ten acres beneath or contiguous
to the seller's principal residence.
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