Tuesday, November 11, 2008

"________ sprawl"

I thought it was "suburban sprawl."

I think that's what it's been called since the '60s. But more and more I'm seeing it called "urban sprawl." Wikipedia redirects searches for "suburban sprawl" to "urban sprawl."

Guess I like the term "suburban sprawl" for two reasons. I like the alliteration and I think suburbs are more sprawly than urban areas.

2 comments:

Daughter Number Three said...

Perhaps they are using "urban" the way the U.S. Census uses it. I remember learning in urban planning that "urban" means any place with at least 2,000 people, and so that's where the statistic comes from that says the U.S. crossed the line from a rural to an urban country back in 1920 -- more than half the people lived in towns of at least 2,000.

David Steinlicht said...

Maybe.

I think saying "Urban sprawl" is a way of letting the suburbs off the hook. "Hey, it's not the suburbs' problem, it's the city's problem."

Personally, I like to give the suburbs credit for sprawl.