New visions for metropolitan America

For half a century America has had one dominant vision of how its metropolitan areas ought to grow and develop. This vision, best described as unlimited low-density sprawl, encompasses personal and social goals that most Americans cherish: a home in the suburbs, a car, good schools, and responsive local government. While Americans have been overwhelmingly successful in achieving these goals, that success has generated a host of growth-related problems, including intensive traffic congestion, air pollution, rising taxes for infrastructure, loss of open space, and the relegation of many poor households and minorities to destitute inner-city neighborhoods. With the long-run viability of American society in danger, America is in desperate need of a new vision for metropolitan growth. . In this book, Anthony Downs identifies growth-related problems and examines current efforts to control growth. He explains that individual suburban governments have reacted with policies intended to manage local growth; but those policies taken together have actually aggravated problems at the regional level. The most dangerous result of growth management policies is that they help perpetuate the concent