Self-study
P1
Over the past 50 years, expansive, low-density .
Intro to Phenomenon ·
Rise of suburban sprawl
Problem ·
Suburban sprawl causes decline of civic life
New Urbanists view the phenomenon (suburban sprawl) as a problem.
Cause of Problem ·
Zoning laws create physical separation
New Urbanists claim that zoning laws that separate spaces by function (commercial, residential, school, etc.) also precludes communal spaces (like a town square). This is likened to a family that doesn't have a home.
P2
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Aspect of Problem ·
Economic separation
The housing subdivisions tend to be identical in price hence children growing up will be sheltered from exposure to economic diversity.
Aspect of Problem ·
Cars erode civility
Since roads connect the various subdivisions, people spend more time in cars which encourages antisocial behavior.
Solution ·
Mix housing and public space
New Urbanists believe that mix housing (different prices) and walkable public spaces will encourage civic interactions.
P3
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Opponents' Critique ·
Suburban sprawl is an expression of people's values
Opponents do not frame the phenomenon as a problem. Instead, they view it as a legitimate desire to have the kind of lifestyle that suburban sprawl makes possible (house, car, backyard, etc.).
New Urbanists' Rebuttal ·
Take a critical view of values and consider the conflict with other values
New Urbanists just want people to take a critical view of these values (individual mobility, consumption, etc.) and to consider that it may conflict with other values (civic engagement, community life, etc.).
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Problem-analysis
3.
The passage most strongly suggests ████ ███ ███ █████████ █████ █████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ███████████
a
The primary factor █████████ █ ██████████████ █████████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ███ █████ ██ ████████
We don’t have evidence New Urbanists think travel time is the “primary” factor in neighborhood civility.
b
Private citizens in ███████ ████ ██████ ███████████ ██ █████████ ███ █████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ████████ ███████ ██ ██████ ██████████
We don’t have evidence the New Urbanists believe private citizens have little opportunity to influence zoning policies.
c
People who live ██ ████████ █████████████ ███████ ████ ██████ ██████████ ███████ ██████ ██████████ ████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ █████████ ██ █████ ████████
We don’t have evidence the New Urbanists believe jobs that don’t require commuting to urban centers are easy to find.
d
The spatial configuration ██ ████████ █████████████ ████ ██████████ ███ ██ ██████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ █████ ███ ████ ██ █████
e
Although people have █ █████ ██ █████ ███ ███████ ████████ ██████ ██████ ███ ██████ ███ ████ ██ █████ █████████████ ███ █████████
Not supported, because New Urbanists don’t find any problem with the potential for values to affect neighborhood design. They have a problem with the specific values that create suburban sprawl, but they wouldn’t object to values more aligned with small urban neighborhoods.