28 / Suburban subcategories, rural & urban common ground, & conservative urbanists.

Using the word suburb to describe both small towns and endless sprawl seems like a mistake. Small towns — even when on the periphery of a larger city — sometimes do gentle density even better than cities do. Sprawl is the beast that we are up against.

We also touch on the misconception that cities and growth are bad for the environment, and why the rural v. urban debate is a false polarization. A common enemy is involved.

We round out this week’s good traffic by listening to republican governor of North Dakota (recently flirted with as a potential Trump VP pick) Doug Burgum’s recent comments on zoning and walkability at the National Governors Association winter meetings. Many other (perhaps unsuspecting) political figures have shared similar sentiments, as of late. The short of it: republicans and conservatives have plenty of reasons to support walkability and urbanism, too.

00:00 The subcategories of suburbs: small towns and sprawl.

09:30 The false tension between rural and city, and why we may be on the same page.

15:28 Walkability is bipartisan; republican leaders are in favor.

For context:

Doug Burgum on walkability (via National Governers Association).

How much does a mile of road cost? (via Strong Towns).

The cost of sprawl in U.S., summarized (via California YIMBY).

Kansas City’s outsized land area growth, as compared to population growth, in the mid-1900s (via Strong Towns).