ABSTRACT
For more than half a century, metropolitan areas across the country have grown and developed in a pattern of low-density sprawl, contributing to many of the country’s economic problems. The flaws in this country’s dominant vision—single-family house, the affinity for automobiles, work in low-rise buildings, and life in small communities free from signs of poverty—undermine our society and its future well-being. Downs argues that the pattern of land consumption created by this vision has led to absorption of too much open space, a lack of affordable housing, excessive automobile travel, and other problems. He asserts that the social inconsistencies manifested by this pattern threaten to weaken the economic and social functioning of many metropolitan areas and thus the country’s entire economy. Thus, Downs says, a change in our vision of how metropolitan areas ought to develop is necessary to break the cycle of social inconsistencies and environmental destruction.
