Wheaton in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Wheaton 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
WheatonIllinois (Region)United States (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Wheaton plotted against Illinois and United States. The SNDi of new construction in Wheaton rose steadily, compared to Illinois which peaked in 1991-2005 and United States which peaked in 1991-2005. Most recently, Wheaton's incremental SNDi rose from 3.84 to 3.95 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Wheaton ranked 9th out of 12 cities in Illinois and 177th out of 333 in United States as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
3.95
Rank in United States
140th of 333
Rank in Illinois
8th of 12

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.3
Rank in United States
177th of 333
Rank in Illinois
9th of 12

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2.433.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.433.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
WheatonBeni MazarOral

In new street additions, Wheaton built increasingly disconnected streets over time, while Beni Mazar built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved and Oral fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Wheaton became progressively more disconnected, while Beni Mazar grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved and Oral fluctuated in connectivity. Wheaton and Beni Mazar have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.