Government Final - Chapter 12 Metropolitics

What is car-dependent living?

A situation in which owning a car for transportation is a necessity; an outcome of low-density development.

What is an urban growth boundary? (UGB)

A border established around an urban area that is intended to control the density and type of development.

What is white flight?

A demographic trend in which the middle and upper classes leave central cities for predominantly white suburbs.

What is interjurisdictional agreement? (IJA)

A formal or informal agreement between two or more local governments to cooperate on a program or policy.

What is the tiebout model?

A model of local government based on market principles wherein a metro area is made up of a series of micropolitical jurisdictions that, on the basis of their services and costs, attract or repel certain citizens.

What is the public choice model?

A model of politics that views governments and public services in market terms; governments are seen as producers of public services, and citizens are seen as consumers.

What is a regional council?

A planning and advisory organization whose members include multiple local governments; often used to administer state and federal programs that target regions.

What is a metropolitan area?

A populous region typically comprising a city and surrounding communities that have a high degree of social and economic integration.

What is a metropolitan planning organization? (MPO)

A regional organization that decides how federal transportation funds are allocated within that regional area.

What is reform perspective?

An approach to filling gaps in service and reducing redundancies in local governments that calls for regional-level solutions.

What is a metropolitan statistical area? (MSA)

An area with a city of 50k or more people, together with adjacent urban communities that have strong ties to the central city.

`What is a megaregion?

An urban area made up of several large cities and their surrounding urban areas that creates an interlocking economic and social system.

What is leapfrog development?

Development practices in which new developments jump - or leapfrog over established developments, leaving undeveloped or underdeveloped land between developed areas.

What is low-density development?

Development practices that spread (rather than concentrate) populations across the land.

What is smart growth?

Environmentally friendly development practices, particularly those that emphasize more efficient infrastructure and less dependence on automobiles.

What are impact fees?

Fees that municipalities charge builders of new housing or commercial developments to help offset the costs of extending services.

What are exurbs?

Municipalities in rural areas that ring suburbs. The typically serve as bedroom communities for the prosperous, providing rural homes with easy access to urban areas.

What is an edgeless city?

Office and retail complexes without clear boundaries.

What approaches are used to create regional governance?

One approach, Reform perspective, an approach to filling gaps in service and reducing redundancies in local governments that calls for regional-level solutions. New government structures can be created to sit above existing political jurisdictions and be given the authority to oversee regional land-use planning.

What are zoning laws?

Regulations that control how land can be used.

What are the big challenges to "rural metropolitics" and how do they differ from the big challenges of metropolitics in more urban areas?

Rural flight? ......

What are the key characteristics of sprawl and how do they shape urban development patterns?

Single use zoning, low density development, leapfrog development, car dependent living, and fragmentation of land use powers.These control how land is developed by mandating how land is used and what can be developed on it, and whether developments grow out or up.

What are non-point sources of pollution?

Sources that are not easily identifiable. (Unlike factories and power plants)

What is the "missing level of government" and what difficulties does it make due to its absence?

The "hole" is located at the regional level. There is nothing in the U.S or state constitutions that addresses regional government. Political geography no longer lines up with economic and social geography.

What is annexation?

The legal incorporation of one jurisdiction or territory into another.

What is a city-county consolidation?

The merger of separate local governments in an effort to reduce bureaucratic redundancy and service inefficiencies.

What is rural flight?

The movement of youth and the middle class from rural areas to more urban areas.

What is gentrification?

The physical rehabilitation of urban areas, which attracts investment from developers and drives up property values.

What is sprawl?

The rapid growth of a metropolitan area, typically as a result of specific types of zoning and development.

What are the negative impacts of sprawl and metropolitan growth?

Traffic congestion, smog, concentration of poverty and crime in certain areas, segregation by race and class and inequality in public services, fiscal resources, and political power.