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History of Land Use
Since our nation was founded,
there have been major changes in land use patterns, mainly marked by a
shift from a nation of wilderness and farmland, to a country dominated
by cities, towns, and industry. The newest pattern of development has
emerged outside our cities over the past 20 years--sprawl. Sprawl,
or auto-oriented, spread out development, increasingly dominates suburban
communities and has become characteristic of land use patterns throughout
our country.
Mixed land use is now recognized as a vital part to solving the transportation, fiscal, ecological and social problems sprawl has created. Local and federal government bodies must create policies that support mixed land use projects.
History of Land Use In D.C.
Region
As the car became the primary mode of transportation in America, road
projects throughout Virginia and Maryland were built to support them.
Over the past fourty years, miles of farmland and open
space have been transformed into highways, cities, and suburbs, and
we are continuing to grow at a dramatic rate.
According to the Chesapeake
Bay Foundation, more than 90,000 acres (nearly 150 square miles) of open
land are consumed annually by growth in the Bay states. Maryland alone
is losing nearly 30,000 acres of land each year to sprawl and could lose
700,000 acres (an area 10 times the size of the City of Baltimore) of
valuable agricultural and forest land in the next 25 years. The pace of
land consumption far exceeds the rate of population growth; each person
uses four to five times more land per person than just 40 years ago.
The concerns of poorly planned growth
need to be considered as decisions are made on regional land use. By creating
communities where residential and commercial spaces are mixed, land can be used
in a more efficient way. Mixed use development benefits both our natural and social
environment, and creates stronger, healthier communities.
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