Urban Sprawl Kills

This is a creative and interesting video. But, the goal it advocates -- a population of a million on 40 square miles -- is unrealistic for most of the USA. The figure of 1 million people on 400 square miles cited at the beginning of the video works out to 2,500 persons per square mile, a little less than the 2010 average density of 41 major metropolitan areas in the USA. Reducing this million person metropolitan footprint to 40 square miles would require a dramatic increase in average density--to 25,000 per square mile. As of 2000, only about four percent of the USA lived in zip codes with a density of 25,000 per square mile or greater and 88 percent of those folks were in New York City. So, achieving the suggested 1 million people on 40 square miles is unlikely in much of the USA. Setting a more achievable target of, say, an average of 10,000 people per square mile would provide great environmental benefits and likely generate more support.