Clearly, the cost of delivering these vital safety services is directly affected by sprawl. Another clear example of how scattered, low-density residential development is costing taxpayers financially and socially is the current trend in education. We have already seen that Southeastern Wisconsin's population has only increased by a few percent since 1970. The same is true for population of elementary and secondary school students. Some of this money went for renovations or consolidations of older schools but the vast majority went to build new capacity in rapidly growing towns and suburbs.
New capacity is redundant.
Spending on construction was simply to serve the students whose families had moved out of urban areas. Preexisting schools in developed communities go underutilized while huge amounts of money are invested in development of additional facilities. Families moving into the areas where these new schools are built tend to be middle and upper-middle class. This leaves older urban areas with more families that are transit-dependent, disabled, and living on low incomes. The balance is financed through property taxes.