| According to the Brookings Institution, Buffalo has the highest sprawl index of any major city in the country. The Brookings sprawl index is the ratio of new home builds to new household creation. The study notes that the Greater Buffalo Region builds four new houses for every new household started. Properties are being vacated in the old city limits and in the first ring suburbs. Thus, housing values are falling or static in many areas toward the center of the region. The only way to stabilize the housing values for the region is to have one centralized government in charge of all land use planning that is regional in scope. |
