Costly Sprawl

Widespread, poorly planned growth consumes more than just land: it also wastes money.

Subdivisions typically cost communities more than they pay in taxes. Public expenditures on new infrastructures to support new commercial developments are rarely recouped. Large chain stores consume locally-owned businesses. Traffic, environmental and quality of life issues can also have an economic impact on a town. Sprawl also affects everyone personally by changing our way of life, in ways that can’t be measured in dollars. It is appropriate to view sprawl in terms of both economic and quality of life costs.

This doesn’t make development bad. The question, any planner will tell you, is not whether to grow: it’s HOW to grow. The right developments in suitable places, and preservation in others, combined with the numerous tried-and-true tools of smart growth, can make a community a better place to live.

Issue: Character

Aesthetically and historically, Canton has a lot to offer. It has open space, woods, charming historical buildings and unique geographical features that endear it to residents and those who drive through. Those qualities won’t preserve themselves.

• "The first and most important step is to recognize that communities can prevent the sprawl and commercial glut associated with superstores," says a report on The Planners Web, a website by and for town planners. "This type of development is not inevitable. Moreover, it interferes with important public goals, such as conserving limited resources and protecting community assets … It also sets the stage for wasteful, duplicative public expenditures. This then makes it harder to pay for important human resources."
• Canton is a town heavy on historical charm, and that history isn’t just limited to the Collins Axe Factory or to Canton Center. Historically significant buildings are spread throughout town. The same goes for its natural features, including the Farmington River and the many hills and valleys.
• Once retail sprawl begins, it’s hard to stop its spread. When one large store is built, neighboring properties become increasingly attractive to other large stores. "The big-box store generates a lot of traffic, so other businesses want to locate close by so they can capture some of that traffic," said Fred Carstensen, Economics Department Head at University of Connecticut’s Center for Economic Analysis.
• Housing can be designed in compact ways that provide privacy and also preserve greater amounts of land. New subdivisions don’t have to be all alike or as land-consuming.

Issue: Traffic

• It is impossible to drive our way out of sprawl-induced gridlock. According to the Sierra Club’s Sprawl Report 2000, widened, new or redesigned roads "act like magnets for traffic, encouraging people to drive more miles. Recent research has shown that up to one-half of the additional lanes or roads built are filled by this new traffic. This means that highways designed to meet an area’s needs for a decade or more become full of traffic in a fraction of that time."
• Heavy traffic on main roads, combined with added traffic driving toward new developments, encourages drivers to cut through local streets. Streets in once-tranquil neighborhoods become busy through-fares, and homes on those streets become significantly less valuable.

Issue: The Environment

Development should be done with minimal environmental impact, including noise and light pollution, affect on streams and wetlands, and — a point sometimes overlooked — amount of paved surface. The bigger a commercial development and the more cars it attracts, the more extensive these impacts. In addition to buildings’ footprints, the size of parking lots also must be considered, as both are impervious to water.

A University of Connecticut satellite-mapping project now underway is showing photographic proof that Connecticut is in the process of paving itself to its own environmental destruction. UConn will soon be sharing this technology with town officials who are growing increasingly concerned with making better development decisions.

Issue: Individuality

There is no other place like Canton. Development is necessary and frequently good, but it should not come at the expense of Canton’s character or pocketbook.

When sprawl overtakes more and more of the country, the towns that have retained their individuality will be the winners.