Benefits of Compact, Mixed Use Development

This report from Smart Growth America looks at how sprawl threatens endangered species around metropolitan areas. They define sprawl as featuring low-density, large-scale use separation, lack of a thriving town center, and large block sizes with poor walkability. It finds that there are 2,506 “imperiled” species (as classified by NatureServe) in U.S. metropolitan areas and looks at how geographic expansion of development could further threaten these species. Expansion rates were estimates by taking population projections from Woods & Poole Economics and dividing it by the net density of “recent” development as taken from the USDA’s 1997 Natural Resources Inventory. When the authors examined data at the county level, they found that 287 imperiled species are found in the 37 counties projected to lose at least half of their green infrastructure by 2025.