Visualizing Density Investigating the density challenge facing the United States
A Bird's Eye View
1. The Density Problem
Sprawl is bad. Density is good. Americans need to stop spreading out and live closer together. Well… that's the theory, anyway. But, as anyone who has tried to build compact development recently will tell you, if there's one thing Americans hate more than sprawl, it's density. This is evident in the public planning process as regulations are written and projects are reviewed. Across the country, efforts to increase density have met with stiff resistance. One reason people reject density is that they don't know much about it-what it looks like, how to build it, or whether it's something they can call home. We have very rational ways of measuring density, but our perception of it is anything but rational.
This type of low-density detached housing faces fewer obstacles than its denser urban counterpart.
Public aversion to density often makes developing compact housing a difficult process.