OAKLAND, Calif. March 5, 2024— Sprawl development built far from city centers carries direct and indirect costs that pull resources away from existing neighborhoods, harming communities and natural habitats, according to a new report published by the Center for Biological Diversity.

The True Cost of Sprawl analyzed the environmental harms — including pollution, wildfire risks and public health threats — that come with poor land-use decisions. It found that suburban and exurban housing developments increase per capita infrastructure costs by 50%, pulling public funds from schools, parks, public transportation and other needs in existing communities for things like new roads and sewer systems.

“Fueling more sprawl is lucrative for developers, but it levies a hefty price tag for the rest of us,” said Elizabeth Reid-Wainscoat, a campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The disturbing trend of policymakers approving more exurban projects that exacerbate the climate emergency can be reversed with a few bold policy changes. Failing to address the true costs of sprawl will mean more land-use mistakes that lock us into a future of more smog, congestion and wildfire risk.”

Despite the harmful consequences, elected officials across California keep approving low-density housing far from existing communities as new sprawl developments are proposed.

In Solano County, a proposal to build a new city called California Forever would pave over wildlife habitat, threaten local water supply and increase air pollution in the region with tens of thousands of new commuters. The sprawling Centennial project, which was approved by Los Angeles County but rejected in court, would increase wildfire risk, destroy native grasslands and significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions. These developments would contribute to the extinction crisis by paving over natural areas while providing little affordable housing.

The report makes the following recommendations to policy makers:

  • Protect and restore open space while directing development to urban infill areas.
  • Permanently protect current affordable housing and set legally binding anti-displacement policies.
  • Build development in areas free from toxic pollutants and away from flood and wildfire zones.
  • Invest in public transit and affordable housing with climate-resilient features such as rooftop solar and drought-tolerant landscaping in the urban core.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.