Our Land

One of the most obvious impacts of sprawl is the loss of farmland and natural areas. A 2003 report by the Massachusetts Audubon Society stated that Massachusetts lost more than 202,000 acres, or nearly 40 acres a day, of forest, farmland and open space between 1985 and 1999. Of this, 90 percent was lost to residential development. The development of larger homes on larger lots is a significant part of the problem. Between 1970 and 2002, the square footage of the average single-family home increased by 44 percent and the average lot size increased 47 percent. In the corridor between Route 128 and Route 495, the average lot size for a new, single-family home is the size of a football field! (Moscovitch, 2005) So, with more and more destruction of habitat and farmland, we are also losing housing choices.

This loss of undeveloped land has significant repercussions for Massachusetts plant and animal species. The shrinking and fragmentation of habitats distances species further from food and water, reduces the population size of a species and alters the balance of the food chain (Sierra Club, 2005). Rapid development can also result in the introduction of new, invasive species, to a habitat which can harm the health of the entire ecosystem (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000). In addition to loss of species, the development of natural areas also threatens human enjoyment and recreation. Wetlands absorb water, easing the effects of flooding, replenishing soils and buffering against erosion, wind and waves. Wetlands also provide habitat for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians—some of which are important to fishing and other economies in the Commonwealth. Wetlands also remove chemical contaminants and control excess nutrients. The Massachusetts Audubon Society found that undeveloped land supplies the Commonwealth with over $6 billion in ecosystem services each year. To maintain this significant financial benefit, 85 percent of this land must remain undeveloped.

Protecting Massachusetts farmland and natural areas is crucial to maintain the beauty and quality of life that make it such a fulfilling place to live, but over 70 percent of Massachusetts’ wildlife habitat is not under any kind of permanent protection. We need to protect these precious and disappearing lands from sprawling development.

Our Water

The network of roads and the large swaths of impervious surfaces making up sprawling cities and towns threaten the health of natural waterways by generating stormwater runoff and pollution and drastically reducing groundwater recharge.

Stormwater runoff is rainwater or snowmelt which flows across paved surfaces and into sewers. As it flows, it collects impurities like automobile exhaust, industry pollution or litter that has settled onto pavement. In big storms, the volume and rate of water coming into natural and human-made water systems increase drastically because of the smoothness and impenetrability of paved surfaces. These are called “storm surges.” They are threatening because pipes that carry both human sewage and stormwater can overflow during storm surges and cause combined sewer overflows. Untreated stormwater and human sewage were causes of the 49 beach closings in Boston during the summers between 2000 and 2003.

Impervious surfaces also significantly limit the recharge of groundwater, which is where our drinking water comes from. Rain falling on paved surfaces is diverted to sewer systems and is therefore diverted away from recharging these wells and springs. Forests and undeveloped land, on the other hand, allow passage of water to recharge groundwater sources. This will become a growing concern given that less than three percent of the world’s water supply is fresh water (drinkable water) and two-thirds of that is in frozen in polar ice caps. We need to protect our aquifers, rivers and lakes, and our natural marine ecosystems along the coast.

Our Air

Air quality is dramatically affected by the automobiles required to get around a sprawling community. In fact, motor vehicles are one of the largest air polluters in the U.S. and significantly impact public health. Even though the amount of pollution generated by each car and truck has substantially decreased since the 1960s – 99 percent fewer hydrocarbons, 96 percent less carbon monoxide and 95 percent fewer nitrogen oxides – the increase in number of cars and trucks on the road has actually offset those decreased emissions. Between 1970 and 2000, the number of automobiles on the road in the U.S. increased by 60 percent and the number of trucks increased by 400 percent. In the U.S., 77 percent of the carbon monoxide, 56 percent of the nitrogen oxide, 47 percent of the volatile compounds, 30 percent of the carbon dioxide and about a third of the toxins come from automobiles. Given that sprawling development requires cars and trucks for transportation, our development patterns play a significant role in the amount of air pollution we must endure. We need to better protect the air we breathe.

Tools for protecting the environment

• Land protection funding
• Conservation Easements
• Transfer of Development Rights
• Agricultural Preservation
• Low Impact Development
• Open space residential design

Sources

Frumpkin, H., Frank, L., & Jackson, R. (2004). Urban Sprawl & Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

Massachusetts Audubon Society. (2003). Losing Ground: At What Cost? Retrieved Janurary 28, 2005 from http://www.massaudubon.org/news/index.php?id=19&type=news.

Moscovitch, Edward. Open Space, Housing Construction and Home Prices, September 2005. Save the Harbor/Save the Bay (2003). Why the Beaches Close...A Public Report of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Science Advisory Committee. Retrieved November 13, 2005 from http://www.savetheharbor.org/downloads/beachreport.pdf.

Sierra Club. (2005). Stop Sprawl. Retrieved February 3, 2005 from http://www.sierraclub.org/-sprawl/overview/.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2000). Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions between Land Use, Transportation and Environmental Quality. Retrieved February 13, 2005 from http://www.earthscape.org/r1/grm01/grm01.html.

Links on Smart Growth and the Environment

Conservation Law Foundation: http://www.clf.org/programs/index.asp?id=65

Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/index.htm

Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/

Smart Growth America: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/environment.html

Papers and Reports on Smart Growth and the Environment

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay (2003). Why the Beaches Close…A Public Report of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Science Advisory Committee. http://www.savetheharbor.org/downloads/beachreport.pdf.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2000). Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions between Land Use, Transportation and Environmental Quality. http://www.earthscape.org/r1/grm01/grm01.html.

Matthew Kahn. The Environmental Impact of Suburbanization. http://www.environmentalleague.org/Issues/Land/Kahn_2.pdf

Smart Growth America, NRDC and American Rivers. Paving Our Way to Water Shortages: How Sprawl Aggravates the Effects of Drought. http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/PavingOurWay.pdf

Funder’s Network for Smart Growth and Liveable Communities. Translation Paper #10: Biodiversity and Smart Growth. http://www.fundersnetwork.org/info-url_nocat2778/info-url_nocat_show.htm?doc_id=126645