You know that leapfrog pod of snoutnoses out in the rhubarb by the edge node? Well, neither does anyone else. But these handy and amusing terms are among the three dozen or so compiled a few years ago by Yale University architecture professor Dolores Hayden in her eternally useful Field Guide To Sprawl. It’s a fun resource (”Look, Ma, a LULU!”) for identifying all the various types of sprawl-specific structures that now dominate the built landscape.
We spoke with Hayden the other day and inquired on the state of sprawl in America, now that Obama has officially declared it’s “over.” Hayden is dubious about that pronouncement. “I don’t think most people understand how many taxpayer dollars have gone into this style of development,” she says. “Even Obama probably doesn’t. Turning this around is complicated. We have so many programs that would have to have to be changed. Think about the fact that all 50 states are behaving differently in terms of priorities. We still don’t have a national land use policy.”
Even if we get that sorted out, sprawl’s legacy will be with us for a long time. Employing the lingo of her book, Hayden says, “It will take a while to get rid of all the ’starter castles’ and ‘privatopias.”‘
Click through for eight of our favorite terms from A Field Guide to Sprawl with illustrative aerial photos by Jim Wark.
