How do sprawl and inequality affect well-being in American cities?

This study investigates whether income inequality is related to sprawl and wellbeing in American cities. The results do not provide evidence to support the role of income inequality as a mediator of the link between sprawl and well-being. Instead, the results tell a more nuanced story. Specifically, they indicate that consistent with a priori expectations, lower levels of sprawl are, on average, associated with lower levels of income inequality. Additionally, lower levels of sprawl correspond to higher levels of financial well-being. Supplementary investigation into this finding reveals that this disguises a very different experience among Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with higher levels of financial wellbeing, in which lower sprawl corresponds more strongly to higher levels of financial well-being. While the evidence is not unimpeachable, these findings lend some support to conventional anti-sprawl urban planning wisdom for American cities.