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http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2014/04...7BEF2F1A58CE2AF6E4AA4EEF2904116D41A1C734174C2
Traffic is shown on I-20/59 westbound at the 31st Street North exit in Birmingham, Ala., Wednesday, June 12, 2013. The Birmingham-Hoover metro area ranked last among Alabama metro areas in a Smart Growth America urban sprawl study.
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Another study underscores what drivers here already know: Birmingham is sprawled. In its "Measuring Sprawl 2014" report, Smart Growth America places the Birmingham-Hoover metro area's sprawl with the likes of Atlanta and Houston.
Among metro areas of more than 1 million, the report ranks Birmingham-Hoover as the seventh-most sprawled -- less so than Atlanta and Nashville but more than Houston. Smart Growth America is a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for development policies that fight urban sprawl. The group's rankings are based on the "Sprawl Index," a measure the group computed by looking at 221 metro areas and more than 990 counties across the U.S. to determine which are sprawled and which are more connected. Using data from 2010, researchers examined factors including concentrations of homes and jobs, mixed land use, strength of central business districts and each area's transportation network. The group maintains that people in areas with higher scores tend to live longer, safer and healthier lives, enjoy more economic mobility and pay lower combined costs for housing and transportation. On the overall list of 221 metro areas of all sizes -- ranked by how compact they are -- Birmingham's score ranked 192nd.
Other Alabama metro areas' rankings ran the entire range of the full list:
•Tuscaloosa: 34th
•Mobile: 127th
•Montgomery: 143rd
•Huntsville: 176th
Read rest of story and see photos
Traffic is shown on I-20/59 westbound at the 31st Street North exit in Birmingham, Ala., Wednesday, June 12, 2013. The Birmingham-Hoover metro area ranked last among Alabama metro areas in a Smart Growth America urban sprawl study.
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Another study underscores what drivers here already know: Birmingham is sprawled. In its "Measuring Sprawl 2014" report, Smart Growth America places the Birmingham-Hoover metro area's sprawl with the likes of Atlanta and Houston.
Among metro areas of more than 1 million, the report ranks Birmingham-Hoover as the seventh-most sprawled -- less so than Atlanta and Nashville but more than Houston. Smart Growth America is a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for development policies that fight urban sprawl. The group's rankings are based on the "Sprawl Index," a measure the group computed by looking at 221 metro areas and more than 990 counties across the U.S. to determine which are sprawled and which are more connected. Using data from 2010, researchers examined factors including concentrations of homes and jobs, mixed land use, strength of central business districts and each area's transportation network. The group maintains that people in areas with higher scores tend to live longer, safer and healthier lives, enjoy more economic mobility and pay lower combined costs for housing and transportation. On the overall list of 221 metro areas of all sizes -- ranked by how compact they are -- Birmingham's score ranked 192nd.
Other Alabama metro areas' rankings ran the entire range of the full list:
•Tuscaloosa: 34th
•Mobile: 127th
•Montgomery: 143rd
•Huntsville: 176th
Read rest of story and see photos
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