Growth and traffic congestion have caught up with crime as the most serious public problems in America, according to a national survey. In many urban areas, sprawl-related issues have leapt past crime, education and the economy as chief areas of concern. Traffic congestion in San Francisco, California, is making daily commutes longer and more intolerable. This presents opportunity and challenge to politicians seeking votes at a time when reduced crime rates have helped make people feel safer, and when peace and prosperity have pushed to the background concerns about jobs and national security. Vice President Al Gore has made a major issue of controlling sprawl, and elected officials around the country Republicans as well as Democrats have begun to address the problem.
Subdivisions are a symptom of urban sprawl.
But in urban and suburban areas across the country, the number of people who think sprawl is their community's worst problem jumps to 26 percent, higher than crime or any other issue. In some areas, that concern is far higher. In addition to the national survey, which was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, Pew specifically sought responses from people in Denver, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Tampa-St. Sprawl, not crime, topped the list of concerns for residents surveyed in Denver, Colorado. In Philadelphia, an older city with less recent growth, crime outpaces sprawl as the top concern.