Options for Regional Decision Making in Metro Atlanta

Who loses if nothing is done? The city of Atlanta, with its central location, mature transit network, excess capacity in utilities, and reasonably aggressive public officials will probably thrive no matter what happens outside the I-285 perimeter. Communities outside the boundaries of the ten-county Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) area will enjoy the temporary fruits of being the next ring of new suburban development. Caught between the Atlanta magnet and the sprawling communities outside the ARC, ARC's suburban communities may bear the worst of the downside effects of the current regional decision-making structure. In the end, though, it is all of North Georgia that loses as congestion, pollution, rising taxes, and reduced quality of life diminish its attractiveness to economic development

Mitigating Peer-to-Peer Housing Impacts: Toward A Rational Nexus P2P Housing Impact Mitigation Strategy

Traveler lodging has been around since humans created tribes and certainly since they invented civilization. The internet and the rise of peer-to-peer, short-term housing has accelerated traveler and lodging opportunities. Today, Airbnb alone has nearly three million hosts offering more than seven million listings. This article explores the rise of “peer-to-peer,” or P2P housing, and offers economic, planning, and public policy perspectives

Periodic Atlas of the Metroscape: Lassoing Urban Sprawl

This issue\u27s atlas compares the metroscape with four other metropolitan areas (San Antonio, Columbus, Charlotte, and Orlando). Using 1990 and 2000 census block group data, density classifications were used to show patterns of urban (3 ,000+ persons/ sq.mi .), suburban (1 ,000 to 3,000 persons/sq.mi .), exurban (300 to 1,000 persons/sq .mi.) , and rural (/sq.mi.) growth. While the metroscape experienced significant population growth from 1990 to 2000, compared to the other four, it realized the smallest loss of rural lands and significantly less suburban and exurban style development as well. By comparison, Orlando - the other metro area in the sample using urban containment policies - realized significantly more outward development

Debunking the exurban myth: a comparison of suburban households

Journal ArticleAs American cities spill over their traditional boundaries into 'exurbia', the debate about whether this new growth is substantively different from what preceded is an important one. We disagree with the idea that the counterurbanization the United States is experiencing represents a dramatic break from previous growth patterns. Using parametric and nonparametric analysis, we examine whether or not the behavioral patterns and demographic characteristics of exurbanites differ from those of suburbanites. Is exurbanization really different from suburbanization and are exurbanites really different from suburbanites? Our research shows that the answer is no. Exurbia should not be defined separately from suburbia. Rather, the development on the metropolitan fringe is simply the latest incarnation of the continued suburbanization of American cities

Effectiveness of urban containment regimes in reducing exurban sprawl

Journal ArticleDuring the 1990s, the exurban landscape grew faster and added more people than urban, suburban, and rural landscapes. In many respects, exurbanization is the quintessential representation of urban sprawl and the problems it poses. More than 100 metropolitan areas across the US attempt to manage exurbanization through various forms of urban containment at regional or subregional scales. In this article, we assess the extent to which urban containment is effective in managing exurban sprawl in the 35 largest metropolitan areas in the US. Through simple cross-section analysis, we found that relative to metropolitan areas without urban containment, those pursuing "strong" containment efforts performed best in reducing exurbanization. Strong containment programs are those that direct urban development into areas defined by urban containment boundaries and restrict development outside the boundaries. Metropolitan areas with "natural" containment, i.e., where development is constrained because of oceans, mountains, public ownership, and water supply, did not perform as well but saw less exurbanization than noncontained metropolitan areas. Least effective relative to other forms of containment were metropolitan areas with weak containment efforts, principally because such approaches do not substantially restrict development outside containment boundaries. Strong urban containment appears to be effective in reigning in exurban sprawl but without apparently dampening population growth generally

Interstate 11: The Road to Prosperity in Nevada

Interstate 11 (I-11) offers Nevada a unique opportunity to advance the economic development prospects of one of the state’s most economically challenged areas: Elko and eastern Nevada. Although the state used a qualitative system to choose a western route for I-11, this process may not have considered fully the costs of extending I-11 to Canada in a cost-effective manner or in a manner consistent with I-11 purposes, especially avoiding congested areas. This briefing report reviews the history and purposes of I-11; summarizes the I-11 route options; considers how I-11 might extend to Canada in a way that is consistent with its purposes; and makes the case for the U.S. 93 option for I-11 on the eastern side of Nevada

Growth Strategies: The New Planning Game in Georgia

In 1989, Georgia adopted an innovative statewide land use planning program known as Growth Strategies. The author notes that North Carolina's Coastal Area Management Act served as one model for Georgia's program. This article describes the passage of this legislation and the application of Growth Strategies in Georgia

The Rise of Southern Nevada as a Cluster for Metropolitan Transit Technology Innovations

Southern Nevada is emerging as the nation’s leader in private sector-driven innovations in transportation technologies. From the humble beginnings of a monorail system serving a portion of major hotel and gaming venues along the Las Vegas Strip, now supplemented by an array of people movers, Southern Nevada continues to attract transit innovations in tunneling, Hyperloop, and driverless vehicle delivery technologies. The region may soon anchor a high-speed rail system connecting Southern Nevada to Los Angeles. The purpose of this briefing paper is to frame the nature of this emerging transportation cluster and the opportunities this creates for Southern Nevada to become the world’s center for innovative transportation technology research, development, and application