MT ISTEA2 Campaign Sprawl Page

Does Montana's suburban development pay it's way?

by John Williams

From everything we've seen, the answer is a definite "no!" Studies from here and elsewhere around the country suggest that property taxes paid by residents of new suburbs don't cover the actual costs of the services they receive.

A study of Gallatin County (1), for example, suggested that farmland produced $1.00 in tax revenue for every 25 cents worth of services consumed. However, for every $1.00 of revenue collected from suburbanites, local government spent $1.45 to provide services.

Why should this be so? The primary reason goes to the heart of Montana's growing...

Developers, attracted by low cost land at (or beyond) the outskirts of town build their new homes far from available services. To serve these homes with roads, schools, and (possibly) sewer lines, is very expensive for at least two reasons. First, it's often costly to reach these subdivisions with the services. For example, the development may be along a narrow country road which, because of the increased traffic, must be widened and re-paved (or paved in the first place!). And, since "impact fees" are rare in Montana, the costs are typically borne by all.

Consider the situation in Missoula. Development in the Miller Creek area has overwhelmed Upper Miller Creek Road. With a new development in the offing, there is talk about building an expensive bypass and new bridge to serve the residents and relieve traffic congestion. The developers have offered to pay a relatively small amount towards the project but it's clear this will need major funding from outside.

Second, in keeping with the Sprawl Pattern of development, the homes are generally sprinkled across the landscape on large lots. As a result, it's expensive on a per/household basis to bring the services from one home to the next. An interesting study from Tallahassee, Florida, showed that it cost less than 1/2 as much to run sewer to a new home in town as it did to run sewer to a new home out in the suburbs. Interestingly enough, the City charged a flat rate for hook-ups, giving suburban developers a substantial subsidy at the expense of those doing in-fill development.

In town, services like roads and electricity are shared among many homes, reducing per unit costs. Homes close together in town

In the suburbs and "exurbs," services are spread among far fewer homes and are often paid for by others.
Homes far apart in the country

Interesting Aside...

Originally, the Federally-funded rural electrification program was an attempt to bring power to isolated farms and ranches. More recently, however, it has shifted much of its emphasis to providing cheap subsidized power to new subdivisions.

Consider what is happening in the Bitterroot Valley. Homes are springing up all over but only a small percentage are being built IN the towns of Stevensville, Victor, Hamilton, or Florence. Rather, the new homes are typically built on parcels of land sliced off from ranch and farm lands. Because these new homes are so far from existing services --- like stores, schools, and offices --- their owners drive just about everywhere for just about everything. Why is this the case? Consider:

In town, with its convenient services, most trips are short and many can be done on foot. Towns foster short trips

When homes are spread all over the countryside, all trips are long and traffic grows far faster than population.
Exurbs foster long trips

With such "regional lifestyles," people who live near Corvallis, for example, may shop in Missoula, work in Frenchtown, and dine in Hamilton. The impacts of such lifestyles can be seen in the push for a 4- and 5-lane Highway 93 through the Bitterroot Valley and the Flathead Reservation. Many of those who've written to the Missoulian in support of the 4- and 5-lane highway, for example, start their letters with "I drive 93 to Missoula every day and..."

The impacts can also be seen in small things like the recently adopted telephone rates that make calls between Stevensville and Missoula cheaper by increasing everyone's basic service rates. They can be seen in the ever-larger school bus line item in school district budgets. And they can be seen in the air pollution which, despite improvements in auto emission controls, is expected to grow worse due to increased rates of driving.

Interesting Aside...

The average U.S. houshold took 2700 trips per year and travelled more than 24,000 miles in 1990. The vast majority of these trips involved one person travelling alone in a car. (1990 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey).

A person who lives near Stevensville and works in Missoula would drive some 15,000 miles per year just going to and from work. One hundred such people would drive 1,500,000 miles per year on those commute trips alone. This, by the way, is the approximate number of employees of one Missoula hospital who live in the Stevensville area.

By contrast, the author lives on Missoula's Northside and works Downtown. His commute is 625 miles per year and many of the trips are on foot. One hundred people living on the Northside and working Downtown would commute 62,500 miles per year. That's about 4 percent of the commute mileage that the 100 people from Stevensville would drive. And much of that 4 percent could be done on foot or on bike.

An unfortunate "side effect" of the Sprawl Pattern of development can be seen in its impacts on existing towns and cities and their residents. These impacts show themselves in many ways. Here are a few:

There is little incentive for suburbanites and exurbanites to shop downtown. Since downtown is often densely developed, it's harder to get into and out of with a car. Because suburbanites already spend lots of time in their cars, the hassles of looking for parking spaces downtown often seem too much to bear. Therefore, auto-oriented commercial areas tend to attract these shoppers. As people move to the heavily-subsidized suburbs and exurbs to enjoy "country living," downtown starts to die to be replaced by miles of featureless "strip malls."

To reach large numbers of potential customers, chain stores locate in strip malls and near highway interchanges. For stores like Wal-Mart and Eagle Hardware, their massive "buying power" means they can often sell goods for less than small downtown stores can buy them wholesale. But to do so, they must attract lots of customers from a wide geographic area and that means locating along a highway. When these "big box" stores go in, small downtown businesses often can't compete and tend to disappear.

To survive, many downtowns replace their vacant drug stores, hardware stores, post offices, and food stores with boutiques, espresso bars, knick-knack emporiums, and antique "shoppes." While nice in their own way, these specialty stores seldom provide the goods nearby residents need. They may, however, attract tourist trade.

As basic services disappear from downtown, those who live nearby must travel farther to do their day-to-day business. In the hearts of many of our communities, it's nearly impossible to buy a light bulb or a pound of hamburger. People who used to walk to the IGA or Western Hardware must now drive to Safeway or Ace. As a result, sprawl makes their lives more expensive. If they can't afford a car, sprawl makes their lives harder as well.

Because strip malls are generally served only by highways or major arterial streets, they often lack safe sidewalks or pedestrian access. Highway departments tend to ignore pedestrian needs when they build a new road. And developers seldom think about how a pedestrian would reach their store from a street-side sidewalk. As a result, non-drivers who can no longer walk to a now-closed but nearby grocery must make long and often dangerous trips to the strip mall.

Traffic impacts caused by the driving habits of suburbanites and exurbanites are often borne by those living in town. In many communities, neighborhoods have been bulldozed to make way for new highway interchanges. Streets have been widened from 2 to 5 or 7 lanes to take the increasing traffic from the outskirts and beyond. These changes seldom benefit nearby residents. For example, much of Missoula's Northside and Lower Rattlesnake neighborhoods were removed to make way for Interstate 90. And congestion caused by suburban and exurban commute traffic using the Orange Street and Van Buren Street exits further harms the neighborhoods.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Montana's leaders must deal with the growing problem of costly and destructive sprawl (2), especially in places like Bozeman, Missoula, the Flathead, and the Bitterroot Valley where the impacts of growth are particularly acute. At the very least, they must figure out how to make development pay the true costs of its services. Even better would be some serious efforts to encourage smart growth within communities so that we don't lose what remains of our cities, towns, and countryside.

If our leaders shirk this duty, they will go down as the generation who gave it all away.

References:

1. Cost of County and Education Services in Gallatin County, Montana; Mark Haggerty; Local Government Center, Montana State University; Jan. 1996.

2. Big Sky or Big Sprawl: What Transportation and Land Use Decisions Cost Montana Communities; Alternative Energy Resource Organization; Oct. 1996. This report was produced by the AERO Smart Growth and Transportation Project.

What to do...

Get involved and find out what's going on! A number of Montana groups are currently working on the issues of sprawl, growth, and land use. Here are two:

The Alternative Energy Resource Organization (AERO) sponsors the Smart Growth and Transportation Project. Contact them at 25 S. Ewing, Suite 214, Helena MT 59601 (406) 443-7272 or send email to: aero@desktop.org

Also very active is the Greater Yellowstone Coalition of Bozeman, who sponsored a Growth Management meeting and presentation by Robert Liberty of 1000 Friends of Oregon in May '97. They can be reached at P.O. Box 1874, Bozeman, MT. 59715; (406) 586 1593 email: gyc@gyc.desktop.org

There is little incentive for suburbanites and exurbanites to shop downtown.	Since downtown is often densely developed, it's harder to get into and out of with a car. Because suburbanites already spend lots of time in their cars, the hassles of looking for parking spaces downtown often seem too much to bear. Therefore, auto-oriented commercial areas tend to attract these shoppers. As people move to the heavily-subsidized suburbs and exurbs to enjoy "country living," downtown starts to die to be replaced by miles of featureless "strip malls."
To reach large numbers of potential customers, chain stores locate in strip malls and near highway interchanges.	For stores like Wal-Mart and Eagle Hardware, their massive "buying power" means they can often sell goods for less than small downtown stores can buy them wholesale. But to do so, they must attract lots of customers from a wide geographic area and that means locating along a highway. When these "big box" stores go in, small downtown businesses often can't compete and tend to disappear.
To survive, many downtowns replace their vacant drug stores, hardware stores, post offices, and food stores with boutiques, espresso bars, knick-knack emporiums, and antique "shoppes."	While nice in their own way, these specialty stores seldom provide the goods nearby residents need. They may, however, attract tourist trade.
As basic services disappear from downtown, those who live nearby must travel farther to do their day-to-day business.	In the hearts of many of our communities, it's nearly impossible to buy a light bulb or a pound of hamburger. People who used to walk to the IGA or Western Hardware must now drive to Safeway or Ace. As a result, sprawl makes their lives more expensive. If they can't afford a car, sprawl makes their lives harder as well.
Because strip malls are generally served only by highways or major arterial streets, they often lack safe sidewalks or pedestrian access.	Highway departments tend to ignore pedestrian needs when they build a new road. And developers seldom think about how a pedestrian would reach their store from a street-side sidewalk. As a result, non-drivers who can no longer walk to a now-closed but nearby grocery must make long and often dangerous trips to the strip mall.
Traffic impacts caused by the driving habits of suburbanites and exurbanites are often borne by those living in town.	In many communities, neighborhoods have been bulldozed to make way for new highway interchanges. Streets have been widened from 2 to 5 or 7 lanes to take the increasing traffic from the outskirts and beyond. These changes seldom benefit nearby residents. For example, much of Missoula's Northside and Lower Rattlesnake neighborhoods were removed to make way for Interstate 90. And congestion caused by suburban and exurban commute traffic using the Orange Street and Van Buren Street exits further harms the neighborhoods.