Suburban sprawl is spreading across Canada as cities expand outwards to accommodate the growing demand for lower cost houses. But it’s time to look behind the low price tag, and examine the true costs of suburban sprawl. Suburban development imposes an economic and environmental burden on all Canadians regardless of where they live –and we need to recognize the hidden costs and look for alternatives.

The full costs and trade-offs are not always obvious, but they are real. Suburban Sprawl: Exposing Hidden Costs, Identifying Innovations, a project by the Smart Prosperity Institute, explores that while many of the costs of suburban sprawl are hidden, they are nevertheless “real and substantial.”