California cities not as sprawling as you think

By James Poulos | Cal Watchdog

A new national study is making waves for the way it ranks California cities. No matter how pleasant the weather, residents and visitors alike have complained for decades about sprawl. Highways jam with cars. Convenience stores and strip malls occupy block after block. It’s hard to walk to see your friends. It’s impossible to walk to work.

Are those judgments in for a change? According to Smart Growth America, California metro areas aren’t as afflicted by sprawl as many might think. Their just-issued report, “Measuring Sprawl 2014,” has urban analysts talking. Not only do the San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz metro areas rank among the report’s top 10 “most compact.” The Santa Ana/Anaheim/Irvine area, often associated with grueling traffic, rounded out the top 10.

at Cal Watchdog.