America's Sprawling Cities

As American cities continue to grow in population, they are growing in physical size too. There is an interesting piece in The Atlantic Cities that delves into current census data and looks at the trends of growing urban populations (more than 80% of Americans now live in urban areas) and cities, both large and small, gobbling up more land.

These growing urban areas aren't just cities extending their borders, according to Hawley, but rather clusters of urban development on the fringes of cities that are growing towards each other. As two areas spread out and get closer together, the space in between "gets sort of swallowed as growth between the two areas happens," Hawley says.

Here's a graph which shows "How U.S. urban land area has grown since 1990 in the 10 biggest gainers of 2010"


These are clearly metro areas that have grown dramatically, but it is not just large metros that are growing. The cities with the largest percentage increases tended to be the smaller to mid-sized cities.
These trends are a reflection of our changing cities, development patterns and home buying behaviors. Understanding them is a key to understanding where future opportunities may lie.

in Luxury Trends, Research & Statistics | Permalink

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