Cities that aren't surrounded by tons of suburban sprawl (2013, neighborhoods)

[JayJayCB]

I'm talking about cities where you can drive out of downtown and be in rural areas within 20-30 miles or so. Only cities with more than 100,000 residents, though. Does this exist?

[Maintainschaos]

Madison, Wisconsin. I mean, don't get me wrong--it has plenty of sprawl, but you are basically in corn fields and rural farms within 20 minutes of driving.

[Mutiny77]

I think Lexington, KY may qualify to an extent.

[Maintainschaos]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

I think Lexington, KY may qualify to an extent.

Yeah, I imagine these mid-sized cities (200K-750K?) would all probably qualify, but they all still have suburban sprawl.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Maintainschaos

Yeah, I imagine these mid-sized cities (200K-750K?) would all probably qualify, but they all still have suburban sprawl.

Well I mentioned Lexington specifically because it enacted the nation's first urban growth boundary.

[JayJayCB]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

I think Lexington, KY may qualify to an extent.

I was thinking Columbia, SC.

[munchitup]

Fresno, Bakersfield, Stockton - all of the big Central Valley cities are like this. However, this caveat is that they consist almost exclusively of suburban sprawl. It's just very tightly packed.

I mean, even in some directions from Downtown LA you can be in the middle of the forest and be 20-30 miles from downtown. The peak of Mount Wilson is 15 miles from the middle of DTLA. However, you would be laughed out of the room if you said LA wasn't surrounded by suburban sprawl.

[mjlo]

Grand Rapids

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by JayJayCB

I was thinking Columbia, SC.

To the south and the east, yeah Columbia would probably qualify due to geography (floodplain/low-lying areas to the south) and land use (Ft. Jackson to the east).

[eschaton]

Not quite true cities, but the boroughs of the "coal region" in Pennsylvania have no suburban sprawl at all. They're built out as dense urban neighborhoods, but the economy peaked over 100 years ago, so there was essentially no demand for suburbs. It goes straight from rowhome to wilderness.