We knew haphazard growth was hard on mountain lions, kit foxes, and pygmy owls, but a new study shows it’s bad for humans, too. The top ten most-sprawling areas have an annual average of 15 fatal car accidents per 100,000 residents, almost twice the average in the ten least-sprawling
regions, according to the report Measuring Sprawl and Its Impact from Smart Growth America. Riverside, California, the champion of sprawl, had a fatal accident rate almost four times greater than more-compact New York City’s. Those in sprawling areas tended to drive more (a likely factor in the rate of fatal accidents), walk less, and inhale more pollution.
