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5 MYTH FACT Low-density development increases air and water pollution and destroys natural areas by paving and urbanizing greater swaths of land. Higher-density development is environmentally more destructive than lower-density development. L ow-density sprawl takes an enormous toll on our air, water, and land. The United States is now losing a staggering 2 million acres of land a year to haphazard, sprawling development.39 More than 50 percent of Americans live in places where the air is unhealthy to breathe,40 and childhood asthma and other respiratory diseases are on the rise.41 Almost half the damage to our streams, lakes, and rivers is the result of polluted runoff from paved surfaces.42 It is inefficient land use, not economic growth, that accounts for the rapid loss of open space and farms. Since 1994, housing lots larger than ten acres have account- ed for 55 percent of the land developed.43 This loss of land often causes unexpect- ed economic challenges for rural communities, where farmland, forests, ranchland, and open space tend to be the economic drivers that attract businesses, residents, and tourists. Low-density sprawl compromises the resources that are the core of the community’s economy and character. The majority of American homeowners think it is important to stop these trends. In fact, 76 percent of local ballot initiatives related to land conservation passed in November 2004, making $2.4 billion in fund- ing available for protection of parks and open space.44 But purchasing land is only part of the solution and not always an option for financially strapped governments. Higher-density development offers the best solution to managing growth and pro- tecting clean air and clean water. Placing new development into already urbanized areas that are equipped with all the basic infrastructure like utility lines, police and fire protection, schools, and shops eliminates the financial and environmental costs of stretching those services farther and farther out from the core community. Com- pact urban design reduces driving and smog and preserves the natural areas that are assets of the community: watersheds, wetlands, working farms, open space, and wildlife corridors. It further minimizes impervious surface area, which causes ero- sion and polluted stormwater runoff. Two studies completed for the state of New Jersey confirm that compact development can achieve a 30 percent reduction in runoff and an 83 percent reduction in water consumption compared with conven- tional suburban development.45 22 Higher-Density Development