According to one portrait of 2020, the Washington area eventually will stretch 80 miles north to south and 70 miles east to west. Now that's sprawl. Think of all the 7-Elevens. But for all the yapping about it, sprawl is pretty green. New suburbs are full of lawns, gardens and parks, and eventually they grow trees to replace those murdered to make way for growth.
Suburbs are quiet.
Commuting takes longer, which consumes time, money and air quality. There's less open land to absorb runoff, so oil, gas and chemicals wash off parking lots and driveways and into rivers and the bay. The close-in acres already have been tampered with. There's nothing to lose. So, stick more offices on them.