First Draft, Persuasive Project Suburban Sprawl

Amanda Dalton
First Draft, Persuasive Project-Suburban Sprawl

In today’s world, building is like an epidemic that is not settling down any time soon. Suburban sprawl is occurring at a rapid pace, with a lot of irresponsible acts behind it. Shopping malls, housing developments, roads, and sewers are just some of the problems, most being unnecessary, but no one is taking a stand to stop it. Land is something that should not be taken for granted, but until something is done, suburban sprawl will continue to engulf what little land is left.
Over the years suburban sprawl has taken up many parcels of land with developments, strip malls, and business buildings. With all of the development there comes a very unfortunate and serious consequence, pollution. Suburban sprawl has left one giant carbon footprint with all of the developments it leaves behind. One major problem of pollution comes from the carbon emission of vehicles mainly named, sprawl-induced driving. Due to suburban sprawl being more wide spread, people can no longer walk to go to places, but resort to driving their cars and traveling instead. The National Resources Defense Council has noticed this problem stating, “In particular, cars and other highway vehicles continue to emit some 60 million tons of carbon monoxide per year, about 62 percent of our national inventory is of that pollutant.” The article also went on to state that volatile organic compounds, nitrous oxides, carcinogenic and toxic air pollutants, such as benzene and formaldehyde are all being emitted into the air. This will eventually cause damage to people’s health if it is not put under control.
Health issues are another form of concern due to suburban sprawl. The chain reaction of building, forces people to drive more, essentially causing more carbon emissions into the air. This in return causes a great concern because all of the emission in the air is affecting everyone’s overall health. The Washington Post issued an article, Sprawl May Harm Health, Study Finds, listing the many harmful effects to people who reside in overdeveloped areas due to sprawl. The article stated that two researchers, Ronald Sturm and colleague Deborah Cohen found many problems stating, “…particularly significant with arthritis, respiratory problems such as asthma, stomach problems, headaches and urinary tract infections. But the researchers also found some evidence of an association with heart disease and high blood pressure.” The article also mentioned a shocking statistic stating, “Living in areas with the least amount of sprawl, compared with living in areas with the most, was like adding about four years to people's lives in terms of their health...” Health is something no one should take for granted, yet suburban sprawl is a big effect that many have no choice but to succumb to.
Money issues have also trailed behind the problems of suburban sprawl. The increasing building rate that sprawl has created has also increased another thing, taxes. The Sierra Club published an article, Sprawl Overview, discussing the detriment of suburban sprawl with the effects of increasing taxes stating, “Taxes subsidize millions of dollars worth of new roads, new water and sewer lines, new schools and increased police and fire protection at the expense of the needs of the core communities.” Not only does suburban sprawl drain the tax payer’s money, but it also spreads the economic resources as well. Sprawl Overview continued to say, “It pulls economic resources away from existing communities and spreads them out over sparse developments far away from the core.” Suburban sprawl is doing nothing beneficial to people residing in suburban communities. Instead of working together to conserve space and limit the amount of resources, the opposite is occurring and is being spread out more and more each day.
Luckily, suburban sprawl has raised the attention of many people to go out and make a difference. A new phenomenon called smart growth is a movement that is trying to clean up the terrible mess that suburban sprawl has left behind. Smartgrowth.org is a website dedicated entirely to the education and determination in making a positive difference with the issues of suburban sprawl. A statement from smartgrowth.org states, “In general, smart growth invests time, attention, and resources in restoring community and vitality to center cities and older suburbs. New smart growth is more town-centered, is transit and pedestrian oriented, and has a greater mix of housing, commercial and retail uses. It also preserves open space and many other environmental amenities.” Thankfully a movement is finally being perused to rehabilitate the damaging effects of suburban sprawl. Smart growth is taking the most realistic approach possible in knowing the inevitable fact that suburban sprawl will never end. Building will always be occurring, but there is a smarter, more beneficial way to conduct it. Instead of the traditional haphazard ways that sprawl is know for, there can be a more beneficial way of building. If builders take a step back and utilize more realistic approaches for building designs, there could almost be an opposite effect of what is currently happening.
Overall suburban sprawl is a very troubling issue that needs a fast resolution. Taxes, pollution, and health problems are just some of the damaging effects that people have no choice but to deal with. People’s lives should not be in jeopardy due to sprawl taking over land. There should be a more concise way of adapting building regulations and a better understanding by all as to what suburban sprawl is really doing to the country and the economy. Thankfully there are organizations coming together to make a positive difference on such a negative issue that has really cause a great deal of problems. Only time will tell as to what suburban sprawls outcome may be but there is always hope that it will be a positive one.





Sources

Sprawl Overview http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/overview/
Smart Growth http://www.smartgrowth.org/about/default.asp
Sprawl May Harm Health, Study Finds http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52470-2004Sep26.html
Natural Resources Defense Council http://www.nrdc.org/cities/smartGrowth/rpave.asp