Students may already be familiar with old cities and new suburbs. This lesson asks them to consider their own perceptions of cities and suburbs and has them learn about sprawl and related issues. They will read an article excerpt about sprawl and visit a virtual suburb to compare and contrast sprawl with "New Urbanism." Students will conclude by analyzing the evidence for sprawl in an Atlanta suburb and making recommendations for how that town can minimize sprawl's impact.

Geography

Standard 2: "How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context"
Standard 12: "The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement"
Standard 18: "How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future"

Four to five hours

• Computer with Internet access
• Writing and drawing materials

Students will

• draw mental maps of a city and a suburb;
• read and discuss an article excerpt about sprawl;
• visit a virtual New Urbanist suburb, and list and discuss the differences between this and a sprawling suburb;
• analyze a map and text about a suburb that has experienced sprawl; and
• write reports to this suburb's City Council recommending how it can reduce the effects of sprawl and help prevent further sprawl.

Read these two scenarios to the class:

• Jennifer is running late for work. She grabs her briefcase and runs two blocks to the bus stop. Luckily, the bus arrives in one minute.
  
  As she sits on the bus, she looks out the window and notices that Vinnie's Pizza is going out of business and, one block later, that St. Joseph's Elementary School is having a carnival on Saturday. A block later she sees a "For rent" sign on a building and decides that maybe she should think about moving.
  
  She gets to work just on time for her big day-long meeting.
  
  At the end of the day, Jennifer walks eight blocks to meet a friend for dinner. The friend brags about her new car, and Jennifer says, "There's no way I would ever get a car. What a hassle!"
  
  
• Kyle is running late for work. He opens the garage door and speeds down the driveway. As he goes down his street, he has to slow down for children and speed bumps.
  
  Once he gets to the main boulevard, he hits two red lights. On the freeway, it's bumper-to-bumper. Never mind—he can get some work done on his cell phone and comb his hair in the process.
  
  He makes it to work just in time for his big meeting. His presentation goes so well that he gets to leave work early. The traffic isn't too bad yet, as it's only 2:00. He stops at the mall and then goes home to enjoy some peace, quiet, and fresh air.

Ask students to describe the type of setting where each person lives. They will likely notice that Jennifer lives in a city and Kyle lives in a suburb. What evidence do students notice in each scenario that is "typical" city or "typical" suburb?

Have students sketch two maps that illustrate their own perceptions of what cities and suburbs are like. Their maps (one of a city and one of a suburb) should show examples of transportation routes, housing, and businesses. Allow about fifteen minutes for this activity; these should be rough sketches rather than highly detailed drawings.

As students go through this mental mapping exercise, make sure they understand that they should draw the maps based on their own ideas and impressions of cities and suburbs. If they have little experience in one or both of these settings, that's okay. They will be learning more about typical urban and suburban locations later in the lesson.

Discuss students' mental maps as a class. Ask them to describe the types of transportation they have included and the other features they have added to show their impressions of a "typical" city and suburb.

Discuss the purposes of suburbs. Why do people live in the suburbs? What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in the suburbs versus in the city?

Explain that suburbs have been around for a long time. Some suburbs, particularly around Eastern and Midwestern cities in the United States, began as small villages that took several days to get to from the city. As transportation improved, these villages attracted more residents and became "bedroom communities" where people who worked in the city could live.

Explain that some suburbs are much newer than these older suburbs. Many new suburbs have been developed in the U.S. since World War II, and some very new suburbs did not exist at all—not even as small villages—until the past ten years or so. Can students think of examples of newer and older suburbs?

Have students read the excerpt from the National Geographic magazine article about urban sprawl. Discuss Tom Spellmire's concerns. Pose these questions to the class to help them focus on the issues raised in this excerpt:

• What does the author mean when he says that the new suburban homes "for half a century have signified fulfillment of the American dream?"
• What has happened to most of the land Spellmire used to farm?
• Why do real estate investors like to go to Warren County?
• Why do you think so many people have moved into the new houses in Warren County? What do they like about this area?

Write the word "sprawl" on the board. Explain that many people, including Tom Spellmire, are very concerned about the way the suburbs have been growing over the past few decades. Sprawling suburban areas differ from traditional cities in a number of important ways.

Present these definitions of sprawl versus traditional cities and villages, and discuss their meanings with the class. Have students noticed any evidence of sprawl in their own community or elsewhere? (The lists below are paraphrased from "Sprawl Defined").

Sprawl

• uses more land than necessary;
• has a lower population density than traditional cities and towns (e.g., fewer people in larger houses);
• creates a dependence on cars for almost everything;
• results in fragmented open spaces, wide gaps between development, and a scattered appearance;
• separates uses into distinct areas (so, you don't usually have a store or a movie theater within walking distance from your home);
• is characterized by repetitive one-story commercial buildings surrounded by acres of parking; and
• lacks public spaces and community centers.

Traditional urban centers and towns

• have higher population density than surrounding areas;
• offer mixed use buildings (businesses and homes on the same block or at least within walking distance of each other);
• are pedestrian-friendly;
• are served by public facilities, services, and spaces (e.g., public transportation or community centers);
• consist of many different types of housing and businesses;
• have centers for community activities; and
• are surrounded by open spaces, including productive farm and forest land.

Have students make charts with two columns. Ask them to label the first column "Sprawl" and the second column "Traditional."

Have students take a tour through the "New Suburb" to see examples of sprawl and what modern planners call "New Urbanism." Explain that New Urbanism is a movement to develop modern suburbs that resemble older city centers and towns.

As students go through the virtual neighborhood, ask them to fill in their charts with the differences between sprawl and traditional (New Urbanist) town design.

Discuss students' charts as a class. In particular, discuss these questions:

• How do street design and layout affect a town?
• How might sprawl affect the environment (e.g., animals, plants, and air and water quality)?
• How might sprawl affect people's interactions with their neighbors? (Hint: Think about how long it takes people to get to and from work and the consequences of having a big garage rather than a front porch.)
• What are some things that town planners can do to combat sprawl?
• What are some of the benefits of living in a sprawl area? (After all, your students might live in a sprawling suburb—what things do they appreciate about this place?).

Have students link to the first picture under "Zoom In" on the left side of the screen at the National Geographic magazine article about urban sprawl. This is a picture of a cul-de-sac in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Ask students to read the caption.

Have students use MapMachine to create a map of Alpharetta. They should enter "Alpharetta" in the Find a Place box. Then, have them select "Street Maps" on the left side of the page, and zoom in and out on the Atlanta metro area to find the location and the relative position of Alpharetta. They can choose other types of maps from the menu to learn more. [Note: To save time, you can create the map for them, print it out, and make copies for the class.]

Have students gather additional information on the town of Alpharetta's home page. In particular, they should look for the information about how quickly the town has grown and why so many people are moving to this town.

Ask students to look carefully at this map and other information and list the evidence they see that Alpharetta has indeed experienced sprawl. They should base their assessment of the map on the things they have learned about sprawl and, in particular, on the notes in their charts.

Ask students to imagine that they live in Alpharetta (perhaps they do!) and have been invited to a meeting of the town's City Council. The City Council has asked for their feedback on how they can reduce the effects of sprawl on their community and plan for the future so that sprawl doesn't become a bigger issue than it already is.

Have students write reports providing their recommendations to the City Council. Students' reports should contain at least four recommendations, based on things they have learned in this lesson.

[Note: Feel free to substitute another suburb of your choice for Alpharetta.]

Have students locate their state on the Sierra Club's Fall 2000 Sprawl Report. Be sure to point out that this page is sponsored by the Sierra Club, an environmental organization that is waging an anti-sprawl campaign.

Ask them to conduct further research on the "good" and "bad" developments mentioned for their state. Their research should focus on the evidence that sprawl is indeed a problem in this location and the potential consequences for that sprawl. Have students write brochures to educate other people in their state about the "good"and "bad" sprawl examples they have researched.

Congress for the New Urbanism
National Geographic Magazine: The American Dream—Urban Sprawl
National Geographic: Geography Action! 2003—Habitats
National Geographic: Virtual World—The New Suburb?
Sierra Club: Sprawl Campaign
Sprawl Guide
Sprawl Watch
Suburban Sprawl Slide Show
Vermont Forum on Sprawl