Sprawl madness

These two suburban houses near Orlando, Florida, are about 60 feet apart, but to borrow a cup of sugar without trespassing requires a 7.1-mile trip by car—or a two-and-a-half-hour trek on foot (five hours round trip). A similar image was originally published on Streetsblog, illustrating the absurdity of community design using the drive-only suburban model. Historic cities and towns are well-connected and easily accessible using many travel options. Those connections were steadily severed by planners, developers, and engineers in the last half of the 20th Century to reach the "sprawl madness" model illustrated here. This area, mostly built out, has a Walk Score of 12 and average block size of 69 acres. Social connections, sustainability, and accessibility are harder in such a place. Getting back to a connected network in the suburbs may require decades of reverse engineering.