US Urban and Suburban Growth

• Urban transportation changes in the 19th and 20th centuries in the US led to outward city growth.
• Trolley networks enabled workers to live further from work, creating "streetcar suburbs".
• Commuter rail lines expanded city access, leading to "railroad suburbs."
• Highway development further connected cities to outlying areas, increasing suburban growth.
• Suburbanization expands a metropolitan area's land area, not necessarily the central city's population.
• Suburbanization increases the amount of land per person as cities expand outwards.
• Inexpensive land around cities allowed developers to build neighborhoods of single-family homes.
• "Tract housing," similar homes built quickly, became common in suburbs.
• Upper and middle-class families were attracted to suburbs due to low crime, good schools, and larger properties.
• Urban sprawl involves unplanned and uncontrolled urban expansion over large land areas.
• Central cities are typically compact, densely settled, and well-planned, while sprawl is chaotic urban growth.
• Infrastructure may not keep up with land development at the edges of urban areas.
• Urban sprawl is common in US metro areas, notably Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Dallas.
• Suburbanization began in the 19th century, but urban sprawl became an issue after World War II.
• Increased car affordability and the postwar baby boom drove demand for single-family homes and yards.
• City expansion has led to new land-use forms.

Edge Cities

• Edge cities are communities on the outskirts of larger cities.
• Edge cities are commercial hubs with offices, retail, and other urban amenities.
• Residential housing has been added to edge cities over time.
• Edge cities are destinations for work, shopping, entertainment, and housing.
• Tysons Corner, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., is an example of an edge city.
• Tysons Corner features over 25 million square feet of office space and a large retail mall.

Boomburbs

• Boomburbs are rapidly growing suburbs that become large cities with over 100,000 residents.
• Boomburb populations can exceed nearby big cities.
• Boomburbs consist of merged planned communities, unlike the office and retail focus of edge cities.
• Anaheim, California; Mesa, Arizona; and Plano, Texas, are boomburbs.

Exurbs

• Exurbs are fast-growing communities outside or on the edge of metropolitan areas.
• Exurbs are closely connected to the central city and suburbs.
• Exurbs are typically low-density residential areas, including wealthy estates or small rural towns.
• Suburbanization is criticized for creating communities lacking identity or a sense of place.
• Car dependence in suburbs leads to traffic, pollution, and environmental issues.
• Urban decline can occur as people who remain in the city are those too poor to move out.
• Those left behind in inner cities leads to a lower tax base, contributing to economic decline.

Reducing Sprawl

• Urban planners address sprawl through revitalization and redevelopment.
• Revitalization gives new life to communities through building renovation and landscaping.
• Redevelopment converts existing properties to more desirable uses.
• Redevelopment combats sprawl by creating mixed-use neighborhoods with access to public transportation, retail, and entertainment.
• Infill involves developing vacant land within built areas to counter sprawl.
• Infill uses existing transportation and public infrastructure.