If so, such preferences are adding to the region's problems, say critics of the segmented metropolis. Some blame zoning for dividing communities by income, with affluent people in one place, less wealthy residents in another. At the very least, the separation of jobs, homes and retail complicates the task of walking, biking or using transit, forcing people to drive for even a quart of milk. But with the conventional model, all the traffic is funneled to the surrounding arterials. As you get more traffic, these roadways get more strip development.
Local data confirm that Sacramento households are driving more with each year.
In 1997, for example, households in Sacramento were averaging 11 car trips every weekday, a 5 percent increase over 1990 levels. In Roseville, a typical household takes about 13 car trips a day, according to surveys by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Not only is the region adding more people, he said, but those people are driving more and adding to the total emissions that cause ozone smog. To be sure, subdivision design is just one reason for people's free-wheeling ways. In some households, people are now holding down two or three jobs, forcing them to drive more.