SPRAWL IN THE HEARTLAND

– A Case Study of the Kansas City Missouri/Kansas Metropolitan Component Economic Area

UBIQUITOUS NATURE

• Sprawl - technically defined as "low-density, automobile-dependent development beyond the edge of service and employment areas" - is ubiquitous and its effects are impacting the quality of life in every region of America, in our large cities and small towns. – Sierra Club

Imagery

Of

Sprawl

St Louis-MO-IL Consolidated Metropolitan Area v KCMO-KS

55 Miles

64 miles

THE BASIC AREA

• 29th Largest Urban Area - 25th Largest SMA• SMA Ranks 134th of 273 in Growth Rate• 80 Percent Of All Workers Drive Alone To Work• Total Land Area Spreads 10 x Fastest Than

Population• It Has The 5th Greatest Rate of U.S. Sprawl

Among Metropolitan Areas• 150 Sq. Miles of Undeveloped Land in KC Alone

LIMITS OF SPRAWL IN 1999

CURRENT POPULATION

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MA Rate of Growth 1990 – 2000 = 6.8 percent

CEA Rate 1990 – 2000 = 14.7 percent

MA Population Gain 1990 – 2000 = 198,000

URBAN CORE GROWTH

Pop = 441,259 @ 0.2 percent/year

Pop = 142654 @ -2.0 percent/year

Missouri PortionMissouri Portion

Kansas PortionKansas Portion

COMPONENT ECONOMIC AREA

• 2 States• 413 Local Municipal Government Units• 14 Counties• 218 Townships• 790+ Special Governmental Units• 73 School Districts• And, ranked first in miles of road/per capita for the largest 50

MA’s

URBAN FRINGE – BLDG PERMITS - 2005

Residential Building Permits – MA Core Area

2,300

Residential Building Permits – Fringe Area (10 Counties)

7,300

BASIC FACTS – MA & CEA

• Rate of spread 1985 – 1999– Metro Area = 56 %– CEA = 70 %– Population MA = 1.9 Million - rate = 6.8%– Population CEA = 2.274 Million - rate =

8.2%– CEA Area = 42 x 52 miles (2,184 sq. miles)

EXAMPLE PLATTE COUNTY

• 1950 - 14,973• 1960 - 23,350• 1970 - 32,081• 1980 - 46,341• 1990 - 57,867• 1999 - 70,068

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 19990

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80Thousands

THE FUEL - PEOPLE

“Where Do These People Come From”

- Planner, Platte Co. MO

Another State………………. 53 percent

Same State. ……………….. 40 percent

Outside USA………………. 7 percent

RATE OF MIGRATION

ELEMENTS OF SPRAWL

• Annexation• Airport• Interstate Highways• Rural Water/Sewer Districts• Schools• Edge City

Annexation

1964 KC Doubles Size

Annexes 122 sq. miles of new land; this includes the area around 16 free-standing suburbs and small towns

THE KCI AIRPORT

AIPORT DYNAMICS

• 20 Miles From Center City• 12,000 Acre Preservation Zone• Shifts Focus of Activity to the Northland• Boosts Growth Opportunity to the Fringe• Creates Large-Lot Zoning Schemes

INTERSTATE SYSTEM

• Interstate 435 Creates A Looped Link To Form the Anchor For Two Major Interstate Systems– I-70 and I-35 and Reliever Rd. on 10 and 50

INFRASTRUCTURE - WATER

• During The Late 1960s, To Induce Growth In The Northland, KC Applies 200 Million In EPA Funds To Bring Water Service From The Core Area

• Within 10 Years 18 Separate Rural Water District Are In Operation To Service Growth Attracted to the North and West

SPRAWL ENGINE - WATER

Rural water district #4 Increases its water service capacity by 800 percent to service fringe growth

INFRASTRUCTURE - SEWER

• By 1980 Aggressive Sewer Extensions From Growing Suburbs

• Absence Of Growth Management Plans Encourages Sewer Extensions Beyond The

I-435 Corridor• Remote Subdivisions Allowed with

Packaged Sewer Plants

THE PUSH - SCHOOLS

• The KC Southland Schools Have Been Under Fire For More Than 15 Years

• “More Young Couples Are Pushed Out of KC Each Year By The Threat of Children In School Than All The Other Factors Combined”– KC Missouri Planner

EDGECITIES – THE ANCHORS

• Heartland Sprawl Is Built Around Two Developing Edge Cities, And A Third In Process

• Both Edges Are the Fastest Growing Areas in The Central Midwest

• Johnson County - Cities Form The Quintessential “Urban Core Flight” Suburban Complex

EDGE CITIES – AGGRESIVE SPRAWL

PLANNER’S ASSESSMENT

• The Pull– Multi-State, Overlapping, Uncoordinated

Area– Schools– Shocking Misuse of Zoning and Subdivision

Powers in Regional Communities– Aggressive Annexation and Utility Extension– Airport

ASSESSMENT – THE PUSH

• Lack Of Variety of Housing Types, Packages, and Plans In The Old MA

• Rapidly Rising Land Costs In The MA• Schools• Paradoxically, Tighter – Restrictive Land

Use Schemes And Density Developments

THE COUNTRYSIDE - COLLISON

• One Planner – 515 Res. Building Permits• Five Acre Minimum Lots and Climbing• Growth Rates Create Many Problems For

the Farming Community – But It Does Not Kill Them – Platte County

• Keeping Up With Sprawl – You Cannot Kick Back For a Minute And Take A Breath

COUNTRYSIDE - ASSESSMENT

• No Chance To Be Proactive• Consultants Are Fine – But They Are Not In The

Trenches• Code Enforcement – What A Joke!• “Planning Life At The Fringe – You Go From

Floodplains to Hogs, From Conspicuous Consumption to Mobile Homes, And Then Return To Hear WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO PAVE MY ROAD?

PLANNER’S CONCLUSION

“Endless Interstates, Suburban Economic Opportunity, Cheap Land, Water, Sewer – These Are the Necessary Conditions For Sprawl. But They Are Not the Sufficient Conditions. To Complete The Picture You Must Have Attitude, Mistrust, Self-serving Gain, Cheap Money, And A Callous Disregard for the City That Made Sprawl Possible”

……………KC Planner of 30 Years………………..

ATTITUDE

Do You Favor Greenbelts Or Urban Growth Boundaries To Contain Sprawl?57% Favor…………..33% Oppose

Would You Use Public Money To Acquire Land To Keep It Open?

44% Favor…………..49% OpposeWhich is More Important –Do What You Want With Your Land – 69%Let Government Regulate Land Use – 25%

Time/CNN Poll – January 20/21, 1999

THE COST OF SPRAWL

• The haphazard and arbitrary scattering of structures across the landscape devastates rural areas in many ways: it homogenizes the countryside once dotted by forests, fields, farmland, and rivers, lakes and ponds; it destroys the agricultural heritage of this country; it upsets small-town life; and it changes the economic and cultural character of these areas.

• Between 1970 and 1990, almost 20 million acres of rural land were developed nationwide. A total of 400,000 acres a year are chewed up to build residential and commercial centers……………….Sierra Club

Miles Away From the Nearest Services So The Kids Can Be Safe

The Dairy Farm

Valley Farms

Subdivision near Valley Forge PA

Things Wild & Things Gone Wild