by Joan Huston

Created on: January 29, 2009   Last Updated: September 22, 2009

Sprawl is the haphazard growth of automobile dependent, low-density housing that occurs on the outskirts of cities and in rural areas and is fueled by real estate development and urban flight. In the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, the largest areas of urbanization have occurred in the Chesapeake Bay region. This sprawling development is due to the recent trend of turning forests and farmland into housing developments or commercial centers. According to the American Farmland Trust, 70 percent of America's prime farmland is in danger of being developed.

Population growth and urban flight are the largest causes of sprawl in the Mid-Atlantic region. Between 1950 and 1980, the population of the Chesapeake Bay region has increased by 50 percent while the land use for commercial and residential purposes has increased by 180 percent. Recently, in a six-month time period, about 5,000 people moved out of Baltimore City, approximately 3,000 new septic permits were issued, and roughly 10,000 acres of farmland and forests were lost to development. In the next 25 years, Maryland will use as much land for development as they have since the first settlement of the state.

Sprawl isn't only costly for the existence of our forests and farms; local and state governments must spend millions of dollars building new schools, roads, and water and sewer lines. The tree loss in the urban areas around Washington D.C. and Baltimore from 1973 to 1997 caused an extra 19 percent of runoff to occur from major storms. Replacing the lost storm water retention ability would cost $1.08 billion. The absent trees would have been able to take 9.3 million tons of pollutants out of the air at a value of $24 million. The environment suffers from the extra fossil fuels being consumed for longer commutes and worse traffic. In addition, there will be less trees and forests to help absorb the added carbon dioxide created from the higher amount of traveling cars.

Sprawl also helps to promote the loss of a sense of community. It becomes hard to visit each other's front porches or have close contact with neighbors when everyone lives on their own acre lot. This spreading out of neighborhoods and citizens increases dependence on automobiles and creates pockets of people who are totally removed from their communities and neighbors. These developments on the outskirts of towns and cities also work to dissolve the vibrancy and vitality of downtowns and traditional neighborhoods as new residents begin to rely on commercial centers centered around nation chain stores.

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