Noticias sobre suburbanización Clara Irazabal **  Polls: Sprawl A Top Concern A new series of polls reveals Americans' top concerns are directed close to home, with frustrations over sprawl and growth now edging out more traditional issues, such as crime. "Sprawl is now a bread-and-butter community issue, like crime," said Jan Schaffer, executive director of the Pew Center for Civic Journalism, which released the surveys. The findings are based on a national survey of 1,000 people and four regional surveys of 500 people each in Denver, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Tampa. In the four cities surveyed, a set of issues including sprawl, unfettered growth and traffic congestion surfaced as an overwhelming concern, outstripping or joining traditional issues such as crime, the economy and education. In Denver, 60 percent cited sprawl as a top concern in an open ended question, as did 47 percent in San Francisco and 33 percent in Tampa. http://www.pewcenter.org/doingcj/spotlight/index.php3 **  NASA: Sprawl Deforests, Increases Traffic, Decreases Food Production New images from Earth-observing satellites are documenting the effects of urban sprawl on the landscape, hinting at adverse long-term consequences related to the rapid growth of cities. NASA released satellite image sequences of Atlanta, GA; Washington, DC; Portland, OR; and Shenzhen, China. The pictures show suburban Atlanta and Washington undergoing rapid deforestation as trees are cut down and roads, businesses, and houses are built.  In contrast, Portland remained relatively free of the deforestation associated with sprawl. Researchers found urbanization has lead to increased traffic jams and air pollution in many cities. Atlanta experienced 68 "smog-alert" days in 1999 -- days in which the area exceeded federal guidelines for ground level ozone. Portland only had one such day in 1998, and none in 1999. Researchers also concluded urban sprawl limits the ability of the land to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and convert it to biomass. "Food production can be fundamentally linked to primary production or photosynthesis.  If the capacity of the landscape to carry out photosynthesis is substantially reduced, then the ability of the planet to support human life must also be diminished," researchers said. News stories: http://enn.com/news/enn-stories/2000/02/02282000/sprawl_10459.asp http://www.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/02/21/sprawl.space.01/index.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/372774.asp http://www.msnbc.com/news/375561.asp#BODY All the great data (including videos of sprawl happening in DC): http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/imagewall/AAAS/ **  Report:  Sprawl Bad for Business Business leaders in the United States are becoming active in efforts to curb urban sprawl, according to a 1999 study by the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals (NALGEP). Listing many ways sprawl undermines business profitability and competitiveness, the study identifies a shift in the business community's attitude away from resisting growth control toward supporting efforts that regulate economic expansion.  "Portland's quality of life is one of our greatest economic assets," said Clayton Herig, a Portland real estate executive. "Should the city's quality of life begin to diminish, the city can expect economic opportunities to disappear." http://www.nalgep.org/sg.html **  Reflections on Regionalism Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institute just published a collection of essays titled "Reflections on Regionalism."  Beginning Feb 28th, a new essay from the book will be featured on the Brookings' website every two weeks.  This week, the forward by Al Gore and an essay on metropolitan land use reform by Henry Richmond are available. http://www.brook.edu/es/urban/reflections.htm **  Regionalism, Live Web Chat A Live Internet Chat with Bruce Katz, Director Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, The Brookings Institution Friday, March 3, 2000, 10 am - 11 am (PST) What are the full range of forces that shape metropolitan growth?  To what extent does the current regional agenda address the major factors driving current growth patterns?  What other issues do metropolitan areas (and the federal and state governments) need to address to grow smarter? What are the prospects for regional thinking and action going forward? Bruce Katz answers such questions and yours in what should be an informative and lively hour of questions and answers. More info: http://www.brookings.edu/comm/chat/katz000303.htm

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