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'Suburban Nation': 10 Things To Hate About Suburban Sprawl (PHOTOS)

But now, a preference has become a mandate, as sprawl has quietly been identified as a central cause behind a growing list of mounting national crises including foreign oil dependency, climate change, and the obesity epidemic.
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Over a decade ago, when we started writing our book, "Suburban Nation," we had no idea how quickly the conversation was about to change. The New Urban critique of sprawl, initiated by my co-authors in the late seventies, was at first an aesthetic discussion -- by God, this stuff is ugly. But then, when they discovered that it was possible to build real towns again, it became a social discussion -- we shouldn't have to live our lives stuck in traffic between the soulless subdivision and the plastic shopping mall.

But now, a preference has become a mandate, as sprawl has quietly been identified as a central cause behind a growing list of mounting national crises including foreign oil dependency, climate change, and the obesity epidemic. With economists, environmentalists, and epidemiologists all bemoaning suburbia, it is a good time to step back and remind ourselves what we're still up against.

Urban Sprawl
1. McMansions(01 of10)
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Complete with its “lawyer foyer” and Swiss Alps roofline, this economy-busting show-home resembles not so much a house as an entire village—with the energy bills to match. (Also available in Mexiterranean).Photo courtesy of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company.
2. Snout Houses(02 of10)
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Nothing says “suburban anomie” quite like the dull stare of the American wide-mouthed garage-house. Judging from the windows and barely-visible front doors, people are allowed to live here too.Photo courtesy of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company.
3. Income Segregation(03 of10)
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“Turn right if you’ve made it.” Never has our national geography been so precisely organized by income.Photo courtesy of Howie Frumkin.
4. Use Segregation(04 of10)
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When nearby is still far away: thanks to code requirements for walls and ditches, even adjacent shopping is not reachable on foot.Photo courtesy of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company.
5. Anti-Pedestrian Devices(05 of10)
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When sidewalks become decoration: as fewer Americans have reason to walk, fewer public works departments consider pedestrian needs.Photo courtesy of Howie Frumkin.
6. Driver Frustration(06 of10)
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There is an explanation for this sign (near Orlando), but it’s just not worth getting into. We all know the feeling.Photo courtesy of Walter Kulash.
7. Big-Box Schools(07 of10)
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Schools, sports facilities, and other public institutions, ever larger, become ever farther apart, and can be reached only by car. Fewer than 15% of American children walk or bike to school, down from over 50% in the 1970s.Photo courtesy of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company.
8. Asphaltification(08 of10)
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The road so wide you can see the curvature of the earth: as traffic pressures increase, so do engineering standards. Narrow neighborhood streets common at mid-century are now illegal in most jurisdictions.Photo courtesy of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company.
9. Car-nage(09 of10)
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Are suburbs safer? In one three-city study, suburban residents were 18% more likely to be killed or injured by traffic accidents or crime. If the entire U.S. shared New York’s traffic death rate, we would save more than 25,000 lives per year.Photo courtesy of Howie Frumkin.
10. Big Footprint(10 of10)
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The real cause of climate change: go ahead and switch your light bulbs, but most of us contribute most of our carbon by driving, and suburbanites drive twice as much. Every American city has a map like this one.Copyright 2010, Center for Neighborhood Technology with www.cnt.org andHtaindex.org.

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