Study just released by Smart Growth America shows 73% of the Metropolitan Statistical Areas of the U.S. have less sprawl than Oklahoma City.

http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/do...prawl-2014.pdf














Measuring “sprawl”
This study analyzed development in 193 census-defined Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)—or metro areas—as well as 28 census-defined Metropolitan Divisions, which comprise MSAs, in the largest 11 MSAs. All of the analyzed areas had at least 200,000 people in 2010. MSAs with populations less than 200,000 people were not included in the study. This study also analyzed development in 994 metropolitan counties.


The four factors
Development in both MSAs and metropolitan counties was evaluated using four main factors: 1) development density; 2) land use mix; 3) activity centering; and 4) street accessibility. These factors are briefly explained below.2


Development density
Development density is measured by combining six major factors: 1) total density of the urban and suburban census tracts; 2) percent of the population living in low-density suburban areas; 3) percent of the population living in medium- to high-density areas; 4) urban density within total built-upon land; 5) the relative concentration of density around the center of the MSA; and 6) employment density.

Land use mix
Land use mix is also measured through a combination of factors: the balance of jobs to total population and mix of job types within one mile of census block groups, plus the WalkScore of the center of each census tract.

Activity centering
The proportion of people and businesses located near each other is also a key variable to define an area. Activity centering is measured by looking at the range of population and employment size in different block groups. MSAs with greater variation (i.e., a wider difference between blocks with a high population and a low one) have greater centering. This factor also includes a measure of how quickly population density declines from the center of the MSA, and the proportion of jobs and people within the MSA’s central business district and other employment centers.

Street accessibility
Street accessibility is measured by combining a number of factors regarding the MSA’s street network. The factors are average length of street block; average block size; percent of blocks that are urban in size; density of street intersections; and percent of four-way or more intersections, which serves as a measure of street connectivity.

Scoring
Researchers used these factors to evaluate development in all 221 MSAs and 994 counties. These four factors are combined in equal weight and controlled for population to calculate each area’s Sprawl Index score. The average index is 100, meaning areas with scores higher than 100 tend to be more compact and connected and areas with scores lower than 100 are more sprawling.