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cnrre rates, poor quality of public educa- ing neighborhoods; by grid street patterns ized if the entire region is to prosper in a
<br /> tion, racial and social class polarization, that carry through-traffic;by difficult parking world economy.
<br /> lack of living space and,often,lack of prox- in retail areas; by aging populations; by There are some pragmatic reasons for
<br /> imity to jobs which have shifted to suburban developing social problems,such as crime; caring as well. It will be expensive for every
<br /> locations. • • and, by lack of open space in residential taxpayer to not care. Citizens trapped in
<br /> aIn Southeast Michigan,sprawl has been areas. abandoned cities require expensive social
<br /> ccelerated by physical,econoblic and so- In recent years, crime has often been support—in welfare programs, public
<br /> cial changes in the older urbanized areas. cited as the No. 1 reason for leaving older health care, prisons, specialized remedial
<br /> The attractiveness of older areas (as corn- communities for residential or business re- education for at-risk children. Recycling
<br /> pared to the urban fringe) is diminished by location. While the perception of crime older urbanized communities will provide
<br /> the age and style of the housing stock, rates may often exceed the reality,both the those citizens an opportunity to leave the
<br /> including house and lot sizes;by deteriorat- reality and the perception have become poverty cycle and become productive citi-
<br /> significant driving forces in stimulating out- zens in the regional economy.
<br /> DEFINITIONS ward movement from older urban commu-
<br /> nities.
<br /> Bl"ecause the term "urban sprawhas Many businesses have left those older It will be expensive for every
<br /> become a very general_description, areas to relocate where new residential taxpayer to not care.
<br /> more specific definitions are needed for development is occurring ("where the
<br /> descriptive terms used throughout these customers are'),which is often also where
<br /> Conclusions and the Recommendations their workforce has relocated. Some busi Continued ignoring of the disinvestment
<br /> which follow. nesses move outward to seek more spa—
<br /> cious sites than are available in older corn- while actively supporting evermore sprawl-
<br /> Urban sprawl: munities. As a result, both remaining and ing fringe development will diminish the
<br /> A generic term to describe what is potential residents of the older communities quality of life for every citizen of Southeast
<br /> really a two-part process—sprawling low face diminished job opportunities and in- Michigan.
<br /> density growth at the suburban fringe creased difficulty in reaching retail and
<br /> and the concurrent disinvestment and other service businesses. Environmental impacts of Sprawl
<br /> abandonment of older/urbanized corn- Neither the problems nor the solutions The environmental impacts of sprawl will
<br /> munities. are simple.There is a wide range of dynam- be felt in both the fringe areas, which will
<br /> ics at play in the growth and development undergo intense development within the
<br /> Suburban fringe: pattern called "urban sprawl." Private de- next 20 years,and in the older areas,which
<br /> Those areas which are at the outer velopment initiatives are both supported by, are presently urbanized. Some of the envi-
<br /> reaches of the urbanized areas of the and are victims of, local government's re- ronmental changes in the fringe area will
<br /> region, where growth that occurs uses sponsibilities as keepers of the common include:
<br /> largely sparsely populated or rural good. There is constant interplay among • loss of wildlife habitat;
<br /> io,:ogreen field" land previously undevel- such quality-of-life dynamics as the envi- • impacts on surface water including
<br /> ped and often agriculturally or environ- ronment, transportation, the consumer increased nonpoint source pollution,
<br /> mentally valuable. Such areas are gen- economy, the public's safety and health, and soil erosion and sedimentation;
<br /> erally found in the northern and western education, local home rule and area wide • increased air pollution;
<br /> portions of Oakland and Macomb coun- issues. • construction of sanitary and
<br /> ties, the western part of Wayne Countystormwater sewer lines and treat-
<br /> and in the urbanizing areas of the four Older Urban Communities ment facilities;
<br /> perimeter counties: Livingston, Monroe, and Sprawl • construction of wells, water treat-
<br /> St. Clair and Washtenaw. Growth outward to the suburban fringe ment plants and of supply lines;
<br /> is, in large part, abandonment of the • elimination of some wetlands and
<br /> Older/urbanized communities: region's concentrated core, those older stress on others;and,
<br /> Those communities in the region that urban communities that were the founda- • loss of open space.
<br /> are more than 100 years old and/or were tion of this region 50-100 years ago and In the urbanized area, the impacts will
<br /> largely developed by mid-century. Be- more.All too often,those who have moved include:
<br /> cause the population total is, and will outward take a "so what"approach to the • reduced ability to repair, maintain
<br /> remain,fairly static,most"growth-in this mounting problems generated by disinvest- and operate existing stormwater and
<br /> metropolitan area will mean a shifting of ment and abandonment. That attitude is sanitary infrastructure due to loss of
<br /> population, rather than new in-migration short-sighted, at best. tax base and user fees;
<br /> population. The older/urbanized corn- A metropolitan area that hopes to remain • increased stress on existing sewer
<br /> munities are generally the ones drained economically vital is a region that must be systems,including treatment plants,
<br /> by that intra-regional shifting. Many of seen by businesses and people as a good as extension of those systems is re-
<br /> the communities are in the concentrated place to live and do business because of its quired to serve new development;
<br /> core of the seven-county region:Detroit, quality of life.That image is severely corn- • increased stress on urban wetlands
<br /> Highland Park and Pontiac, as well as promised when the reality is a region where as older communities compete with
<br /> the older communities in Wayne, Oak- the center is slowly withering. A healthy developing suburbs for economic
<br /> land and Macomb counties. Other metropolitan region requires a healthy core. development;and,
<br /> older/urbanized communities are found Central cities (Detroit and the older, • reduced ability to improve "urban en-
<br /> inthe perimeter counties, where they county seat cities of the other counties) vironment'=i.e., removal of blight,
<br /> have traditionally functioned as the remain the governmental, financial and development and maintenance of
<br /> countyseat and/or the city focus of rural legal centers...contain much of the cultural parks, tree planting, and pollution
<br /> areas: Port Huron, Monroe, Ann Arbor, opportunities...provide most of the health clean-up—clue to reduced tax base.
<br /> Ypsilanti, Brighton, Howell and some care facilities. They are, in short, vital links
<br /> smaller cities in those counties ❑ in the region—links which must be revital-
<br /> 6 Planning& Zoning News©/November 1991
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