Fresno in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Fresno in context

2.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
FresnoCalifornia (Region)United States (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Fresno plotted against California and United States. The SNDi of new construction in Fresno rose steadily, compared to California which peaked in 1976-1990 and United States which peaked in 1991-2005. Most recently, Fresno's incremental SNDi rose from 3.41 to 3.59 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Fresno ranked 8th out of 60 cities in California and 134th out of 333 in United States as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.59
Rank in United States
92nd of 333
Rank in California
12th of 60

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.92
Rank in United States
134th of 333
Rank in California
8th of 60

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

What about similarly populated cities?

22.533.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
22.533.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
FresnoKumamotoMeknes

In new street additions, Fresno built increasingly disconnected streets over time, while Kumamoto built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved and Meknes fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Fresno and Kumamoto both became progressively more disconnected, while Meknes grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved. Fresno and Kumamoto have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.