Chapter 13 Learning Guide Urban Patterns Key Issue 4 Why Do Suburbs Face Distinctive Challenges? Pgs. 424 434 Urban Expansion 1. What is annexation? Process of legally adding land area to a city 2. What is required before an area can be annexed by a city? Majority of the residents in the affected area have to vote in favor of being annexed 3. In the past, why did peripheral areas desire annexation? Because the city offered better services such as water supply, sewage disposal, trash pickup, police & fire protection 4. What has changed? Resident prefer to organize their own services rather than pay city taxes for them 5. Define city: Urban settlement that has been legally incorporated into an independent, self-governing unit 6. What are the three (3) basic characteristics of a city? - Elected officials - Ability to raise taxes - Responsibility for providing essential services 7. Define urbanized area: The city and the surrounding built-up suburbs 8. What is the functional area of a city? Metropolitan Statistical Area
9. What does the MSA include? - Urbanized area with a population of at least 50,000 - The county in which the city is located - Adjacent counties with high population density & large percentage of resident working in the central city s county 10. Define council of government: Cooperative agency consisting of representatives from the various local governments in the region 11. What is a Megalopolis? Greek work meaning great city 12. What is the Megalopolis from Boston to D.C. called? Boswash or Boswash Corridor The Peripheral Model 13. List the elements of an urban area according to the peripheral model. Urban area with an inner city surrounded by residential & business area tied together by a ring road or beltway 14. Complete the table below regarding peripheral areas. Problems They Lack -Severe social, physical & economic inner-city problems Problems They Have - Sprawl & segregation 15. Define edge city: Nodes of business & consumer services that are on the edge of an urban area 16. Describe the density gradient of an urban area. Number of houses per unit of land diminishes as the distance from the center of the city increases
17. In what two (2) ways has the density gradient changed in recent years? - Fewer people living in the center creating a gap - Fewer differences in density within urban areas 18. Define sprawl: Progressive spread of development over the landscape 19. What is meant by the statement: the periphery of U.S. cities looks like Swiss cheese? Developers favor detached isolated sites so there are pockets of development next to gaps of open space 20. What has prevented the peripheries of European cities from looking like Swiss cheese? Cities are surrounded by greenbelts where new housing is built in old suburbs inside greenbelt or in new towns beyond the greenbelt 21. What is smart growth? Legislation and regulation to limit suburban sprawl and preserve farmland 22. Describe how smart growth laws have been designed in the following states? Maryland - Prohibits state from funding new highways & projects that would extend suburban sprawl & destroy farmland Oregon & Tennessee - Created growth boundaries for new development Suburban Segregation 23. In what two (2) ways are suburban areas segregated? - Social classes - Land uses
24. What is a zoning ordinance? Prevented the mixing of land uses within the same district 25. What is the strongest criticism of U.S. suburbs? Low-income folks & minorities are unable to live in suburbs due to cost & unfriendliness of residents Transportation & Suburbanization 26. Fill in the flow chart describing how developments in transportation affected the residential pattern of American cities. Pedestrian Phase Streetcar Phase Automobile Phase - People lived in crowded cities because they had to be in walking distance of employment & shops - People could move out to suburbs & commute to work in central city - Permitted larger scale development of suburbs at greater distances from the center & allowed for greater flexibility in choice of residence 27. Identify two (2) ways in which the U.S. Government has encouraged the use of motor vehicles by its citizens. - By paying for high-speed interstate highways - Keeping fuel costs in the U.S. below the costs in Europe 28. What is rush hour and how much of a city s traffic does it account for? - Peak hour with the heaviest traffic - 40% of all traffic 29. List four (4) ways in which public transportation is better than an automobile. - Moving large numbers of people - Cheaper - Less pollution
- More energy efficient 30. Briefly describe what has happened (or is happening) to each of the following modes of public transportation in U.S. cities. Trolleys Buses Rapid Transit (subway & fixed rail line) - 30,000 miles of track in early 1900 s to just a few hundred remaining - Declined from 11 billion riders in 1940 s to 6 billion in the 21 st century - New subway lines have been created to attract new passengers; modernization of subway lines; riders have increased by 1 billion in 10 years