Effects of Urban Sprawl
Increased Air Pollution - Urban sprawl increases car and truck traffic by creating longer and more frequent commutes, which leads to a major increase in air pollution and ground-level smog. Vehicles are the number one cause of air pollution in many urban areas with serious implications for public, wildlife and ecosystem health. And ecosystem health
Increased Water Pollution - Urban sprawl increases water pollution as rain water picks up gasoline, lawn chemicals, heavy metals, paints spills, motor oil, pet wastes, construction site erosion and other pollutants in runoff from lawns, driveways, roads and parking lots, which can eventually travel in large, concentrated amounts, polluting nearby water sources, such as a stream, river or lake. Furthermore, air pollution eventually falls out to become water pollution, such as nitrogen and other chemical contaminants, which harm both the air and the water. For example, in the Chesapeake Bay, up to one-third of the nitrogen that pollutes the Bay and its rivers comes from the air. Runoff pollution affects about 40% of the surveyed rivers, lakes, and estuaries in the U.S. and is now the nation's leading threat to water quality. Each year more than 100,000 acres of wetlands, which are nature's water filters, capable of removing up to 90% of the pollutants in water, are destroyed, in large part to urban sprawl. Consequently, wetland destruction by sprawling new developments leads directly to polluted water.
Increased Water Consumption - Urban sprawl can create water distribution issues and lead to water over-consumption as more water is consumed for lawn watering and other landscape activities, which can strain and deplete local water supply systems. include washing automobiles, maintaining swimming pools, and cleaning sidewalks
Degraded Human Health - Poor community design, such as poorly planned, low-density, auto-dependent development, makes it more difficult for people to get physical activity and maintain a healthy weight. There is a clear correlation between urban sprawl and the epidemic levels of obesity and increase of chronic diseases associated with physical inactivity. A Smart Growth America study compared the county sprawl index to the health characteristics of more than 200,000 individuals living in the 448 counties and found that people living in counties marked by sprawling development are likely to walk and bike less, weigh more, drive more, have a higher body mass index (BMI) and suffer more from hypertension (i.e. high blood pressure) than people who live in less sprawling counties. The odds of having hypertension, or high blood pressure, are six percent higher for every 50- point increase in the degree of sprawl and physical inactivity and being overweight are factors in over 200,000 premature deaths each year. The increase of air pollutants from urban sprawl, such as nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons, ozone and particulate matter, increases respiratory ailments like asthma and bronchitis and heightens the risk of life-threatening conditions like cancer. Furthermore, sprawling dark roadways and rooftops expands the heat island effect by effectively absorbing more heat from the sun and reradiating it as thermal infrared radiation, which increases day and night time temperatures and compromises human health and comfort. Higher air pollution levels and warmer days and nights contribute to general discomfort, respiratory difficulties, non-fatal heat strokes, heat cramps and exhaustion and heat related mortality. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that heat is usually more deadly in the U.S. and typically kills more people each year than hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and lightning put together
Wasted Tax Money and Crowded Schools - Instead of improving existing communities, U.S. tax money subsidizes new sprawling developments and communities, costing counties and cities millions of dollars for new schools, water and sewer lines and increased fire and police protection, which forces higher taxes on existing residents.