City sprawl outline

Accessibility via road or another network may initially not be well developed connects these areas; however as the population grows, there is a demand for better accessibility. People living in sprawl areas drive to get from one place to the next due to the dispersion. Business and activity areas are decentralized. Such regions, unlike the cities, limit walking but encourage or necessitate personal transportation means. Thesis: In this chapter, Glaeser discusses the how and the why of the rise and spread of sprawl and its implications on urban areas. The old urban areas like New York now must contend with this allure, and it is up to the administration to ensure that they compete effectively. It would do so by reducing or abolishing policies that support moving to the suburbs.

Section 2: Sprawl Before Cars Point 1: There is as significant relationship between transportation and sprawl. Evidence: This section gives a detailed historical account of the development of transportation means and road networks concurrent with suburbs from the early animal-enabled modes to modern automobiles (Glaeser 168). He explains the advent of public transportation in cities like New York in the early 19th century and various landmark events that influenced the suburban pattern. In Barcelona during the 1800s, they brought down city walls enabling Engineer Ildefons Cerda to come up with the transport accommodating octagonal designs of the Eixample district and other architectural masterpieces like Casa Mila and Casa Amattler outside the city (Glaeser 172). More demand for transportation led to the internal combustion engine, motorcycles, cars, and present-day automobiles.

Consequently, there was a demand for better movement on roads which resulted in highways and road networks which governments would invest heavily in and endorse. The author divides the car era in America in three phases; the first was the Henry Ford assembly lines, then the highway system which caused phase three, mass suburbanization (Glaeser 173). The war era of the early to mid-nineteenth century slowed down these efforts which but they took off immediately after. Cars also need more space thus requiring more land (Glaeser 177). America sprawls rapidly because owning a car is cheaper here than it is in Europe. The relatively higher preference for the city there is not due to the culture because more car ownership in Europe also encourages sprawl, for example in Italy (Glaeser 178).

Cars also support suburbanization because they save time and advanced technologies are coming up with fuel-saving automobiles (Glaeser 179). For cities to compete with this automobile revolution that supports suburban living, they need to provide cheaper living options and designs that save time (Glaeser 179). Evidence: Old city advocates are avid critics of the Sunbelt areas, especially Texas but many city dwellers still move there. This section reveals what advantages Houston has over the Rustbelt to help comprehend these relocations despite disadvantages like the climate and other points the critics use. Among the reasons is the relatively higher earnings that here than in some cities, yet various municipalities have a better economy (Glaeser 183). While New York City, for various reasons, may favor populations in the extremes of wealth, the section gives reasons why Houston appeals to the average American family who are middle-income earners.

It is clear, from the figures that it is way more expensive to own a proper home with less impressive amenities in New York than it is to own one with even better facilities in Houston (Glaeser 184). Evidence: The rise of cities like California and New York was due to favorable climate and a healthy economy. That of Houston and other suburbs was among other reasons, their accommodating government. Government policy plays a significant role in the development and habitation of an area. The author evidences this fact through his own experience and reasons for moving to the suburbs. He cites ease of movement due to available road networks outside the city and low housing costs due to home ownership subsidies (Glaeser 194).