Elusive Costs of Sprawl: 50 Years is Enough

The anti-sprawl movement claims that newer (more sprawling) communities have higher government costs than older (less sprawling) communities. However, an econometric analysis shows no practically significant difference in expenditures per capita between the two types of communities. Other factors explain the variation in municipal expenditures.

50 years of suburbanization would seem to be sufficient for the elusive costs of sprawl to reflect themselves in the actual data.