LWVBN Home > Study and Advocacy > Sprawl Campaign

Education Campaign on Urban Sprawl

The League of Women Voters launched its Education Campaign on the costs of sprawl in early June 2000. Since then, the League has reached many hundreds of residents in Erie and Niagara Counties with its PowerPoint presentation on the economic, environmental, and social costs of urban sprawl, on remedies being used in other urban metropolitan regions around the country, and about options available to this region to reverse the trend. We have continuously updated the presentation over the years so that it includes current data and information. This campaign has won several awards.

At Taxpayers' Expense, Revised Edition

Many members in the audiences for the PowerPoint presentations in our Education Campaign on Sprawl raised questions about the impact of sprawling development on their property taxes. They asked for more data.

This interest led the League to do additional research into the costs of sprawl and to write a report on our findings. This 2004 report was titled "At Taxpayers' Expense: How Government Policies Encourage Sprawl in Erie and Niagara Counties." To reach local officials who participate in making land use decisions, League members distributed copies of the report to Erie and Niagara County town supervisors, mayors, town board members, village trustees, city. In late 2006 we brought the report up to date and published a revised edition. To learn more about this report and download a copy, click here.

Take the Sprawl Quiz...

Here's a quiz based on our Online Presentation. You may take the quiz before you view the presentation, just to see how much you know already. Or you may view the presentation and then test your learning with the quiz. We'll send you a window decal (a removable static cling decal -- no sticky residue) as a token of our appreciation for taking the quiz (details at the bottom of the quiz). Click here to start taking the quiz. Have fun!

Online Sprawl Presentation

We invite you to view our online sprawl presentation. Click here (or on the traffic picture at left) to start the slide show. It explores how sprawl affects communities, especially our communities in Erie and Niagara Counties; what other parts of the country are doing to curb the negative effects of sprawl; and what we can do to prevent further sprawl here. If, after seeing our online show, you would like to have a copy of our PowerPoint presentation and script, please contact the League office.

Flash Sprawl Presentation:

Robert Hochberg, a University at Buffalo student, created this dynamic presentation as a final project for his major in Communication Design. He used some material from the League's Education Campaign on Sprawl and researched some new material on his own. To learn more about sprawl in Erie and Niagara Counties in this exciting new format, click here.

Public Choices and the Dynamics of Sprawl -- Transcript and Questions for Discussion

In November of 2001, The League of Women Voters of Buffalo/Niagara and WNED-TV collaborated to present a televised panel discussion that brought together local, state, and national experts on sprawl to examine the many facets of this critical issue. For more information about this program and to download a transcript (with questions for discussion) based on it, click here.

Buffalo's Sprawl: Fiscal, Environmental, and Social Costs

In February of 2012, Partnership for the Public Good published a policy brief entitled "Buffalo’s Sprawl: Fiscal, Environmental, and Social Costs." This is an excellent update of information about sprawl in the Buffalo area with suggestions for steps that should be taken halt sprawl. To see this thought-provoking brief, click here.

To view a list of useful websites and books on sprawl, click here.

If you are interested in learning more about our sprawl activities or want to join us, please contact the league office by phone at 716-884-3550 or e-mail at lwvbn@lwvbn.org