Honolulu among
least-sprawling
cities in nation

Those in the south and west
spread out the most, a study says

Centered cities

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

Honolulu is one of the least sprawling metropolitan areas in the country, a new survey says.

Urban spread means more driving, more pollution, more fatal accidents and more consumption of resources, says the study by nonprofit group Smart Growth America. The group advocates for protecting open space, revitalizing neighborhoods, increasing affordable housing and mass transportation.

Honolulu urban planners say many of the anti-sprawl recommendations in the report are already being followed on Oahu.

Despite what would appear to be spread limits imposed by mountains and ocean, "we do have some sprawl," said Francis Oda, Honolulu architect and chairman of Group 70 International.

Large areas of Central Oahu qualify for the definition of sprawl, Oda said.

"The city is very aware of it in terms of the development of its plans" and is making an effort to isolate growth "either here in the primary urban area or around Kapolei," he said. Oda said the plan for Kapolei as a second city is working, with more people living and working there so they don't have to drive into Honolulu every day. The West Oahu campus of the University of Hawaii will help that, he said.

Of course, Oda has a vested interest in that. He designed Kapolei for the city, but he said the plan is working and the university campus will provide the "critical mass" to drive it forward.

The best places to live are those with the least sprawl, said Smart Growth America, a Washington-based coalition of more than 80 national and local organizations.

Honolulu ranks fifth-best on that scale, out of 83 metropolitan areas studied from Census data and other sources.

The top four are New York City, Jersey City, N.J., Providence, R.I., and San Francisco. These are all places with strong metropolitan centers, the group said.

The most sprawling communities are headed by the Riverside-San Bernardino area of California, followed by Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point areas of North Carolina; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; and Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.

While he had not heard of Smart Growth America, Honolulu architect David Miller said "smart growth is a concept that I think has found a lot of prominence in America today, because there is all this sprawl."

Sprawl, which he said he wouldn't call "urban sprawl" because its nature is the opposite of urban, "is negatively impacting a lot of the quality of life, eating up a lot of our farm land, intruding into a lot of our wildlife and generally creating a kind of sameness in our environment."

There are steps to counter it, such as the redevelopment of downtown Honolulu to turn it into a desirable urban center and the creation of the Kapolei, said Miller, chief executive officer of Architects Hawaii Ltd.

Bringing people back into city centers creates an environment that is "more compact, more efficient," Miller said. "You don't have to drive so far, you don't need new roads. Also there are a lot of terrific things about these cities. The history and culture is lost" when people move out, Miller said.

He is trying to spread that message as the vice chairman of the communications group of the Hawaii chapter of the Urban Land Institute. Miller said the city has undertaken "smart growth" and so has the University of Hawaii, which is "looking at how it can enrich and create adjacent neighborhoods" around its facilities where both the university and the community benefit.

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Centered cities Metropolitan areas with the least amount of sprawl: 1. New York City 2. Jersey City, N.J. 3. Providence, R.I. 4. San Francisco 5. Honolulu Metropolitan areas with the most amount of sprawl: 1. Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. 2. Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point, N.C. 3. Raleigh-Durham, N.C. 4. Atlanta, Ga. 5. Greenville Spartansburg, S.C. Source: Smart Growth America Honolulu is one centered city In the Smart Growth America report, Honolulu got the highest points of all 83 communities for what the organization calls "centeredness." The organization said that means concentrations of either population or employment and "can also reflect a single dominant center or multiple subcenters." Honolulu had 167.3 "centeredness" points compared to 41.4 for the least centered, Riverside, Calif. At the other end of the scale, "sprawl" means the "absence of centers of any type," the organization said. Honolulu was 79th in that measure, with an overall sprawl score of 140.2, where higher points mean less sprawl. Riverside had a sprawl score of about one-tenth of Honolulu's, 14.2. The full Smart Growth America report can be viewed at www.smartgrowthamerica.org.