• What are some concerns people have about urban sprawl?
• Strain on infrastructure, traffic leads to pollution, overcrowding, increased property
taxes, loss of rural land, deforestation, loss of animal habitat.
• People want to keep housing affordable.
• How did Portland decide to address sprawl?
• Portland wanted to make better use of the land that they had. They set up urban
growth boundaries which created a legal boundary around the city to separate
urban from rural areas. Their plan included a well-planned public transportation
system, mixed use development, and a pedestrian-friendly downtown.
• How did Toronto decide to address sprawl?
• Toronto only allowed growth in 25% of the city. They also used infill- making
better use of what is already there.
• Where does cultural poverty tend to exist?
• Urban cores
• As cities grow, how do they pay for additional infrastructure?
• Increase in taxes
• Why do banks engage in redlining?
• They think it is too big of a risk for them to lend money to people buying homes in
certain areas that are run-down.
• Why are residential spaces limited in the central business district?
• Supply and demand. There’s limited amount of land in the CBD therefore it’s
going to be really expensive.
• Which practice makes low-income areas into middle to high class areas? What are some
concerns associated with this process?
• Gentrification
• Gentrification leads to displacement of lower income families. The cities are
revitalized, but not everyone can enjoy the new amenities.
• Gentrification has both pros and cons.
• PROS: walkable urbanism, brings new people to community, makes
neighborhoods residents can be proud of, families can sell their properties
for a higher cost (property values go up), rids areas of crime and drugs,
brings in new jobs, increased property taxes can be used for additional
• CONS: costs increase, taxes go up, displaces people, makes housing
unaffordable, small businesses sometimes replaced by chain stores, not
everyone can enjoy the new urban landscape, city governments tear down
public housing, feeds racial and social segregation
• How does industrialization affect urbanization???
• As countries become industrialized people move to the cities where the factories
are located and there’s less of a need for farmers. People will move to cities instead
of staying in rural areas.
• KNOW HOW TO DETERMINE MICROPOLITAN AND METROPOLITAN
STATISTICAL AREA
• Evolution of Cities: (see Vance Kite- Evolution of Cities) with the development of
agriculture cities began to emerge. As people began to have more specialized jobs,
develop more technology, permanent civilizations emerged. Feudal cities were located
behind walls which offered protection to residents. These cities were more densely
populated than modern cities because people needed to live close to resources. As people
created more technology people began to move from rural areas to cities were factories
were located. This is known as urbanization. Currently in the US more people are living
in the suburbs than anywhere else.
• Rural areas: Most rural areas in the US are located in the West. The same is true for
Texas.
• Infill- making better use of the developed areas. Ex: taking an abandoned building and
making lofts.
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