environmental paper

Fitzmorris 9 change that will result in a step in the right direction. With the establishment and growth of the light rail through the metro area, there are many great development opportunities, which will be explored as a solution.

But the question remains: who is to blame for the continuing sprawl, and all of the problems that were created by the sprawl? One could certainly argue that it is the automobile and the population that is overrunning the nation’s cities with it. This could be seen as true. The city was forced to expand with the booming population. But the problem is more than just that.

The sprawl began with the lack of restrictions for development. For this reason, it is most realistically the developers that are to blame for the poor planning in a city that should have been prepared to expand. As the city extended into rural areas, the land was developed poorly, into a low-density pattern, which is relatively wasted space. Because of this rapid expanse, the Denver metropolitan area contains many different types of land use. This has caused many different problems. These different uses include: “housing, retail stores, offices, industry, recreational facilities, and public spaces, are kept separate from each other” (Frumkin, 2009, p. 141).

Developers did not communicate when planning some areas. New zoning laws had to be created or reinforced. The biggest issue was the end result. Because of this separation of the land uses, “regional planning and coordination are relatively weak” (Frumkin, 2009, p. 141). In other words, the end result is a weak city system, caused by developers. And unfortunately, it is the planning that was skipped that could protect the integrity of an area. “Good planning protects the quality of our life and enhances our sense of community” (Diamond and Noonan, 1996, p. 137).

With good planning, there could have been the best of both worlds, development and a strong system that supported remaining environmentally minded and diverse.