Less than half of American families have children under 18 years old living at home. Moreover, as our population grows increasingly older, more people want smaller homes in communities close to friends, family, shopping, and health care. Reflecting this trend, more than half of the new homes built and sold in metropolitan areas like Baltimore are townhouses, condominiums and other types of housing in neighborhoods. Myth 2 Developers just build what the free market dictates There is no free market for housing. Since the late 1940s, federal and state governments have subsidized sprawl.
Tax incentives make it cheaper to build on farms and open spaces.
The government emphasis on highways instead of trains, light rail, sidewalks and bike paths has given developers unprecedented access to cheap land far from established town centers. Low-density zoning often required by local governments favors sprawl. Ironically, many people prefer the look of neighborhoods and communities common before World War II to those typical of today s sprawl. Myth 3 Cities and Towns are worse for the Bay than the suburbs Urban runoff pollutes the Bay. However, the insidious effects of sprawl are often worse.