Because the land in these small towns was cheap, these new residents were able to afford to build a house on a much larger parcel of land than was possible in the city. Thus, the suburban communities were far less dense than their urban counterparts. Shortly thereafter, businesses wishing to avoid the high rent of downtown office buildings moved to less dense office parks outside the city. Eventually the demand for suburban land drove up its price. Enterprising land developers then began to buy cheaper land even farther from the city and the same process began again.
Suburban sprawl has negative effects on suburbs, cities, the economy and the environment.
Furthermore, time spent commuting to work, driving children to activities, and caring for large properties often robs many suburbanites of leisure time. Cities Suburban sprawl has also had negative effects on city dwellers. Schools and city services suffer. Buildings remain vacant and decay. The flight of businesses to the suburbs take their jobs out of reach of the poor who often cannot afford a car needed to commute to the new location.