Urban Sprawl is a term used to describe the wasteful and unplanned expansion of a community. Master planning and much more careful and selective use of space has cut down significantly on urban sprawl.

As more and more people view their homes as investments, protecting the value of one’s home has become more important than ever. Urban sprawl can often be detrimental to property values, but zoning and planning committees have become far less haphazard nowadays in what they allow.

Los Angeles has widely been considered the starter of Urban Sprawl, however it is not included in the below survey.

Sierra Club's Urban Sprawls Stats:

Cities of at least 1 million people with the worst urban sprawl, #1 being the worst:

1. Atlanta

2. St. Louis

3. Washington D.C.

4. Cincinnati

5. Kansas City

6. Denver

7. Seattle

8. Minneapolis - St. Paul

9. Ft. Lauderdale

10. Chicago

11. Detroit

12. Baltimore

13. Cleveland

14. Tampa

15. Dallas

16. Hampton Roads

17. Pittsburgh

18. Miami

19. San Antonio

20. Riverside

Cities of 500,000 to 1 million people:

1. Orlando

2. Austin TX

3. Las Vegas

4. West Palm Beach, FL

5. Akron, OH

Cities of 200,000 to 500,000:

1. McAllen, TX

2. Raleigh

3. Pensacola, FL

4. Daytona Beach, FL

5. Little Rock; AS

*The Sierra Club did not include Los Angeles in its ranking, although it said the city is acknowledged to be “the granddaddy of sprawl “.