Why moving Dixon Middle is anti-smart growth and pro-sprawl

We, the volunteers of No on Provo School Bond, firmly believe that Dixon Middle should be rebuilt on-site. We've mentioned before that moving it moves it farther away from our lowest-income citizens. What we want to explain today is how moving Dixon encourages sprawl and could worsen our air quality.

Sprawl development, Anywhere, USA. Notice the high-speed road feeing into disconnected local streets, exclusively residential use, and low densities.

What is sprawl? How does it affect quality of life?

Sprawl (or suburban development) is a form of development that became popular after the widespread acceptance of the automobile (mostly after World War II). It favors low population densities, high-speed arterial roads that feed into disconnected local streets, single-use zoning, and plenty of space to park cars. It separates people, commerce, and society farther apart. It increases travel time and keeps people away from their friends and families. Because it basically forces its residents to drive everywhere for their daily needs, sprawl is likely the main contributor to Utah's poor air quality.

The opposite of sprawl is Smart Growth (or urban development) which favors high population densities, mixed uses, and a tight grid of slow-speed, interconnected streets. In urban life, one's daily needs are met close to home and can be reached with a short walk, bike ride, or transit ride. Manhattan, NY is the US's best example of urbanism. Its residents walk or ride transit the most out of any city in the US; accordingly they also burn the least amount of fuel in the country and emit far less air pollution than we do in Utah (again, hence our poor air quality).

Downtown Provo and the neighborhoods surrounding it is an example of urban development. The streets are well-connected, there is a mix of housing, commercial, and public facilities. The densities are higher. Its walkability is supported by public transit. Notice how a family living near Dixon Middle relies on having their daily needs nearby. This is crucial for low-income residents that cannot afford a car.

Moving Dixon undermines smart growth and encourages sprawl

One of our favorite books that explains urban development is Smart Growth Manual by Andres Duany, Jeff Speck, and Mike Lydon. It quickly and simply defines the principles that make smart development. We were happy to find that several of its sections spoke against abandoning urban schools. We will share them with you below:

New "standards" for schools (such as acreage recommendations) threaten historic schools. They are a major factor in PCSD's poor decision to move Dixon Middle to the edge of current development.

Two things here: first, siting schools in the suburbs makes it difficult to walk because of the disconnected streets and high-speed arterial roads as well as the culture of driving; second, the school board made the poor decision to move Dixon also because they want the option to expand what will already be a 150,000+ square-foot 1,200 student mega school (a school architect from VCBO told us that Utah middle schools usually shoot for 800-1,000 students). Our kids deserve better than that.

We love the term "leapfrog" here because it is absolutely true. Build schools and developers will build around it. As West Provo develops, we continue to lose farmland and gain sprawl. Dixon Middle at Footprinter Park would replace valuable farmland that is quickly becoming scarce.

Conclusion

Moving Dixon Middle not only harms the low-income families who live near it and rely on it, but also everyone else in Utah Valley as it induces sprawl, increased automobile use, and poorer air quality. We deserve better. Dixon must be rebuilt on-site. VOTE NO.