Urban sprawl, health problems linked

Launce Rake and Mary Manning

Friday, Aug. 29, 2003 | 11:16 a.m.

A national study is urging cities, states and the federal government to fund more paths for bicyclists and pedestrians -- but also finds that Las Vegas does not have as big a problem as other areas.

The study done jointly by Smart Growth America and the Surface Transportation Policy Project, organizations that both receive funding from environmental groups, found a strong correlation between urban sprawl and health problems, including obesity and heart disease.

The results that show Las Vegans are less likely to have sprawl-related health problems than residents of other cities surprised some local planners and activists, who noted that last year Las Vegas ranked seventh worst in the nation among cities for pedestrian fatalities.

"I don't think Las Vegas is anything like the study," Maggie Saunders, bicycle safety coordinator for the Transportation Research Center, said. "We're on the verge of hostile."

Clark County has recorded 32 pedestrian deaths so far this year, Saunders said. There were 31 auto-pedestrian fatalities for all of last year.

As far as taking a hike or a bike for daily activities such as going to work, shopping or school, Las Vegas is difficult to get around, she said.

"It's a very unfriendly place for walking or bicycling," Saunders said.

An earlier report by the Surface Transportation Policy Project supported her observation. Among 83 urban areas, Las Vegas ranked in the bottom third for the ease of walking to work.

Jane Feldman, an activist for the local arm of the Sierra Club, said she believes sprawl and the related health effects are a local problem.

"We have sprawl in lots of different ways here and there's a lot of different ways to look at it," Feldman said.

Feldman said Las Vegas continues to be a town where people depend on the automobile for almost every driving task.

"It's extremely dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists," she said.

Traffic and pollution both are problems, said Gail Lucas, a computer administrator at the Desert Research Institute who rides a motorized bicycle to and from work. She said she does anything to avoid traveling Flamingo Road, Swenson Street or Maryland Parkway.

"Sometimes I have trouble breathing," Lucas said. "It seems like we are heading in the wrong direction with more and more SUVs and Hummers. Those are disgusting."

Lucas, a member of the Regional Transportation Commission's Citizen Advisory Board, said that another scientist at DRI, Michael Young, suggested that local planners buffer bicyclists and pedestrians from motorized traffic, but the idea went nowhere.

She praised the concept of "park 'n' ride" areas that would allow motorists or bicyclists could to park and connect with public transportation.

David Goldberg, communications director with Smart Growth America, said the study is meant as a general guide and may not truly reflect the situation in Southern Nevada. He said the study, "Relationship between Urban Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity and Morbidity," used urban housing density as a primary determiner of the degree of sprawl.

Las Vegas has relatively high densities of housing, a measure that pleases "smart growth" advocates. But Goldberg said the study did not take into account two other criteria smart growth advocates look for: a varied mix of uses in neighborhoods, so people can walk or bicycle to work, and how easy it is to use the streets to get to work, shopping or other everyday tasks.

"In terms of a neighborhood design that makes it possible to accomplish daily tasks by walking, Las Vegas ranks very poorly," Goldberg said. "It's not the kind of place where many people do much without a car. You don't necessarily feel safe sending your adolescents out to get a haircut."

Michael Colety couldn't agree more on that point.

Colety, a master planner for Kimley-Horn and Associates and an avid bicyclist, said that Las Vegas sprawl is not as bad as it could be.

However, if communities develop near Jean south of Las Vegas or at the Clark County-Lincoln County border, sprawl would become worse because of the disconnect from the core Las Vegas Valley community.

Colety wrote the Regional Transportation Commission's Alternative Transportation Mode Study and lives in Las Vegas.

One advantage the Las Vegas Valley has is that sprawl is limited because federal lands surround the valley, he said.

"The answer to sprawl here is to follow Mayor Oscar Goodman's vision of growing vertically," Colety said. Developing denser housing and commercial properties closer to casinos where low-income people work is especially important, he said.

Another problem in Las Vegas is a grid design that leads to gridlock, he said.

Buyers who purchase a home on a cul-de-sac fail to see the negative impacts, Colety said. The walled communities in Las Vegas force someone who might be able to walk or bike three blocks to get into a car and drive for miles, tripling the trip distance, he said.

"Density in and of itself doesn't solve a lot of problems," Goldberg said. "If it's in the wrong place it can create problems."