Niagara Falls in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Niagara Falls in context

2.433.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.433.64.2<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Niagara FallsOntario (Region)Canada (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Niagara Falls plotted against Ontario and Canada. The SNDi of new construction in Niagara Falls peaked in 1991-2005, compared to Ontario which peaked in 1976-1990 and Canada which peaked in 1976-1990. Most recently, Niagara Falls's incremental SNDi fell from 4.35 to 4.09 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Niagara Falls ranked 14th out of 24 cities in Ontario and 31st out of 54 in Canada as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.09
Rank in Canada
44th of 54
Rank in Ontario
21st of 24

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.8
Rank in Canada
31st of 54
Rank in Ontario
14th of 24

Rankings go from most connected to most disconnected — rank 1 is the most connected.

What about similarly populated cities?

1.82.73.64.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.82.73.64.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
Niagara FallsDanliGabu

In new street additions, Niagara Falls built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Danlí built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then shifted to more disconnected patterns and Gabu built increasingly disconnected streets over time. For the full network, Niagara Falls and Gabu both became progressively more disconnected, while Danlí became more connected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then grew more sprawly from 1976-1990 onwards. Niagara Falls and Danlí have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.