Goodbye Neighbor: A Historical Portrait of Sprawl in 51 US Cities
The average American of 1970 lived in a neighborhood over 30% more dense than the average American of 2013. What has been hailed as a process of 'urbanization' is actually the phenomena of suburbanization; we are increasingly distant from our neighbors. The following collection of gifs illustrates this historical phenomena in the nation's 51 largest metros from 1960 to 2013. Among them we see small towns become big cities (Las Vegas), large dense cities diffuse and evaporate (Detroit), and the onward march of suburban sprawl across the country.