SPRAWL IN THE HEARTLAND

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SPRAWL IN THE HEARTLAND

• A Case Study of the Kansas City Missouri/Kansas
  Metropolitan Component Economic Area

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UBIQUITOUS NATURE

• Sprawl - technically defined as "low-density,
  automobile-dependent development beyond the edge
  of service and employment areas" - is ubiquitous
  and its effects are impacting the quality of life
  in every region of America, in our large cities
  and small towns.
• Sierra Club

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Imagery Of Sprawl
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(No Transcript)
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THE BASIC AREA

• 29th Largest Urban Area - 25th Largest SMA
• MA Ranks 134th of 273 in Growth Rate
• 80 Percent Of All Workers Drive Alone To Work
• Total Land Area Spreads 10 x Fastest Than
  Population
• It Has The 5th Greatest Rate of U.S. Sprawl Among
  Metropolitan Areas
• 150 Sq. Miles of Undeveloped Land in KC Alone

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LIMITS OF SPRAWL IN 1999
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CURRENT POPULATION
MA Rate of Growth 1990 2000 6.8 percent CEA
Rate 1990 2000 14.7 percent MA Population
Gain 1990 2000 198,000
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URBAN CORE GROWTH
Missouri Portion
Pop 441,259 _at_ 0.2 percent/year
Pop 142654 _at_ -2.0 percent/year
Kansas Portion
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COMPONENT ECONOMIC AREA

• 2 States
• 413 Local Municipal Government Units
• 14 Counties
• 218 Townships
• 790 Special Governmental Units
• 103 School Districts
• And, ranked first in miles of road/per capita for
  the largest 50 MAs

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URBAN FRINGE BLDG PERMITS - 1997
Residential Building Permits MA Core
Area 2,300 Residential Building Permits Fringe
Area (10 Counties) 7,300
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BASIC FACTS MA CEA

• Rate of spread 1985 1999
• Metro Area 56
• CEA 70
• Population MA 1.9 Million - rate 6.8
• Population CEA 2.274 Million - rate 8.2
• CEA Area 42 x 52 miles (2,184 sq. miles)

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EXAMPLE PLATTE COUNTY

• 1950 - 14,973
• 1960 - 23,350
• 1970 - 32,081
• 1980 - 46,341
• 1990 - 57,867
• 1999 - 70,068

Thousands
80
60
40
20
0
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
1999
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THE FUEL - PEOPLE
Where Do These People Come From - Planner,
Platte Co. MO
Another State. 53 percent Same State.
.. 40 percent Outside USA. 7
percent
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RATE OF MIGRATION
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ELEMENTS OF SPRAWL

• Annexation
• Airport
• Interstate Highways
• Rural Water/Sewer Districts
• Schools
• Edge City

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Annexation
1964 KC Doubles Size Annexes 122 sq. miles of new
land this includes the area around 16
free-standing suburbs and small towns
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THE KCI AIRPORT
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AIPORT DYNAMICS

• 20 Miles From Center City
• 12,000 Acre Preservation Zone
• Shifts Focus of Activity to the Northland
• Boosts Growth Opportunity to the Fringe
• Creates Large-Lot Zoning Schemes

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INTERSTATE SYSTEM

• Interstate 435 Creates A Looped Link To Form the
  Anchor For Two Major Interstate Systems
• I-70 and I-35 and Reliever Rd. on 10 and 50

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INFRASTRUCTURE - WATER

• During The Late 1960s, To Induce Growth In The
  Northland, KC Applies 200 Million In EPA Funds To
  Bring Water Service From The Core Area
• Within 10 Years 18 Separate Rural Water District
  Are In Operation To Service Growth Attracted to
  the North and West

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SPRAWL ENGINE - WATER
Rural water district 4 Increases its water
service capacity by 800 percent to service fringe
growth
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INFRASTRUCTURE - SEWER

• By 1980 Aggressive Sewer Extensions From Growing
  Suburbs
• Absence Of Growth Management Plans Encourages
  Sewer Extensions Beyond The
• I-435 Corridor
• Remote Subdivisions Allowed with Packaged Sewer
  Plants

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THE PUSH - SCHOOLS

• The KC Southland Schools Have Been Under Fire For
  More Than 15 Years
• More Young Couples Are Pushed Out of KC Each
  Year By The Threat of Children In School Than All
  The Other Factors Combined
• KC Missouri Planner

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EDGECITIES THE ANCHORS

• Heartland Sprawl Is Built Around Two Developing
  Edge Cities, And A Third In Process
• Both Edges Are the Fastest Growing Areas in The
  Central Midwest
• Johnson County - Cities Form The Quintessential
  Urban Core Flight Suburban Complex

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EDGE CITIES AGGRESIVE SPRAWL
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PLANNERS ASSESSMENT

• The Pull
• Multi-State, Overlapping, Uncoordinated Area
• Schools
• Shocking Misuse of Zoning and Subdivision Powers
  in Regional Communities
• Aggressive Annexation and Utility Extension
• Airport

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ASSESSMENT THE PUSH

• Lack Of Variety of Housing Types, Packages, and
  Plans In The Old MA
• Rapidly Rising Land Costs In The MA
• Schools
• Paradoxically, Tighter Restrictive Land Use
  Schemes And Density Developments

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THE COUNTRYSIDE - COLLISON

• One Planner 515 Res. Building Permits
• Five Acre Minimum Lots and Climbing
• Growth Rates Create Many Problems For the Farming
  Community But It Does Not Kill Them Platte
  County
• Keeping Up With Sprawl You Cannot Kick Back For
  a Minute And Take A Breath

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COUNTRYSIDE - ASSESSMENT

• No Chance To Be Proactive
• Consultants Are Fine But They Are Not In The
  Trenches
• Code Enforcement What A Joke!
• Planning Life At The Fringe You Go From
  Floodplains to Hogs, From Conspicuous Consumption
  to Mobile Homes, And Then Return To Hear WHEN ARE
  YOU GOING TO PAVE MY ROAD?

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PLANNERS CONCLUSION

• Endless Interstates, Suburban Economic
  Opportunity, Cheap Land, Water, Sewer These Are
  the Necessary Conditions For Sprawl. But They Are
  Not the Sufficient Conditions. To Complete The
  Picture You Must Have Attitude, Mistrust,
  Self-serving Gain, Cheap Money, And A Callous
  Disregard for the City That Made Sprawl Possible
• KC Planner of 30 Years..

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ATTITUDE

• Do You Favor Greenbelts Or Urban Growth
  Boundaries To Contain Sprawl?
• 57 Favor..33 Oppose
• Would You Use Public Money To Acquire Land To
  Keep It Open?
• 44 Favor..49 Oppose
• Which is More Important
• Do What You Want With Your Land 69
• Let Government Regulate Land Use 25
• Time/CNN Poll January 20/21, 1999

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THE COST OF SPRAWL

• The haphazard and arbitrary scattering of
  structures across the landscape devastates rural
  areas in many ways it homogenizes the
  countryside once dotted by forests, fields,
  farmland, and rivers, lakes and ponds it
  destroys the agricultural heritage of this
  country it upsets small-town life and it
  changes the economic and cultural character of
  these areas.
• Between 1970 and 1990, almost 20 million acres of
  rural land were developed nationwide. A total of
  400,000 acres a year are chewed up to build
  residential and commercial centers.Sierra
  Club