Urban Sprawl
Large strip malls where farm fields once lay, clogged highways with expansive housing tracts alongside are all signs of the development phenomenon known as “urban sprawl.” The term urban sprawl, coined in 1958, denotes the spreading of urban developments, such as houses and shopping centers, on undeveloped land near a city.
Sprawl-style development is one of the gravest threats to the water supply and to upstate communities, especially in development-heavy areas EOH. Among other things, sprawl causes the destruction of large tracts of irreplaceable areas of farmland and forests and creates impervious surfaces leading to the toxic runoff of pollutants into waterbodies.
New growth and development bring auto dependence, which brings traffic congestion that leads to poor air and water quality. These pollution impacts may not be readily lessened by available best management practices. Following the present course, city and state officials are risking critical and irreplaceable resources in the watershed.
Characteristics of sprawl:
Large-lot developments
Low average densities, compared to town centers
Development requiring an automobile
Fragmented open space, with a scattered appearance and wide gaps between development
Separation of uses into distinct areas
Extension of public services to areas before they are filled in by development
Lack of economic and social diversity in residential areas
Lack of public spaces and community centers
Repetitive, "big box" buildings without distinctive character
Large paved areas: wide roads, more roads, large parking areas
Land Acquisition
Impervious Surfaces
Protection by Conservation Easement
MAPS:
Kensico Reservoir
Cannonsville Basin East
Cannonsville Basin West
Croton Basin
Ashokan Reservoir
Neversink/Rondout Basins
Scoharie Basin
Pepacton Basin
West Branch/Boyds Corner Basins
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