Residents in more sprawling cities were likely to have fewer economic opportunities, be less healthy and have shorter life spans compared to people in more compact areas, according to a report released Wednesday by Smart Growth America.

For example, the more compact a city, the greater the chances that a child born in poverty will become rich. Similarly, the report found a three-year difference in life expectancy between residents in the most sprawling parts of the country verses the most compact.
"How we develop has a huge connection to how healthy we are in our communities," said Ilana Preuss, Smart Growth's chief of staff. However, she stressed that just because sprawl is related to negative social conditions, it does not necessarily cause them.


To calculate sprawl, the organization, which promotes reinvestment in existing cities, looked at four things:
-- The density of houses and jobs
-- The mix of residential and commercial buildings [[the greater the mix, the better)
-- The concentration of residential and commercial developments in downtown or other "activity" areas, like a waterfront
-- The "accessibility" of streets, including the length of blocks [[the shorter the better, because it means more cross walks) and the number of four-way intersections [[the more the better because it means greater street connectivity)

http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/02/news...html?iid=s_mpm
Most compact cities:
1. New York, New York
2. San Francisco, California
3. Miami, Florida
4. Santa Ana, California
5. Detroit, Michigan

Most sprawling cities:
1. Atlanta, Georgia
2. Nashville, Tennessee
3. Riverside-San Bernadino, California
4. Warren, Michigan
5. Charlotte, North Carolina