Cool aerial pic(s) of sprawl and whatnot

[JunktionFET]

I was browsing around on this site and found the aerials really fascinating.

Take this one for instance:

Just look at the sprawl covering the countryside, and how the neighborhoods look like bacteria growing in a petrie dish. Though I admit the foreground neighborhoods themselves look like they sport a relatively high density (term used loosely), it is still amazing to look at the sheer land area that "Charlotte" covers... And to think it covers quite a bit of ground to the north and east, which aren't even shown in this aerial.

Another pic, taken from like 2 or 3 miles farther south:

And here is a nice aerial of the South Park district:

South Park Towers can be seen to the left of center. After viewing South Park as a distant blob in the first two pics, and now zooming in on the area and the surrounding detail, it gives the impression that Charlotte is a land monster that seemingly goes on and on and on... I'm not sure if that's impressive or irresponsible

[Raleigh-NC]

First of all... nice pics! They show the huge piece of land Charlotte occupies, a pattern of development that soon will reach an end... I hope. The plague of sprawl is well documented and much debated about, but the worst fear is the environmental cost of the sprawl. Charlotte, and every developing city, has been victimized by developers who care for maximizing their profits, no matter what the long-term cost will be. South Park, while it displays some sprawling patterns (judging from the aerial picture), it also shows denser residential areas and a sufficient amount of green. In my next trip to Charlotte I will definitely take a more extensive tour of these areas and see how they look from the street level.

[49er]

Charlotte planners should take aerials like these and start carving connections between the subdivisions. Oh how that would piss off every suburban hood out there

[utcltjay]

Well, yes, Charlotte is on it's sprawl mode, but honestly, I look at this picture and think, for all it is in size, most of that is pretty well utilized land. You can't expect everyone to want to live in high density, multi unit buildings and townhomes. If you want to see disgusting sprawl, look at Sprawlanta, and even Dallas. When I lived there, I was 40 minutes (no traffic) from downtown Dallas, and it was nothing but single family homes all the way up to almost downtown.

I don't ever want to see Charlotte become that. But if the majority of the larger neighborhoods in clt stay within Mecklenberg county, and inside this outer loop-de-do, I think we will be ok. I know there are many higher density projects in plan and breaking ground that will offer everyone who is willing to live in such units a fighting chance.

[DallasTexan]

Well, Jay, Dallas has changed since the 70s!

J/K

[monsoon]