Indianapolis in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Indianapolis in context

2.73.64.55.4<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.73.64.55.4<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
IndianapolisIndiana (Region)United States (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Indianapolis plotted against Indiana and United States. All three follow the same trend in new construction, suggesting a shared regional pattern of development. Most recently, Indianapolis's incremental SNDi fell from 5.29 to 4.73 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Indianapolis ranked 6th out of 7 cities in Indiana and 130th out of 333 in United States as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.73
Rank in United States
232nd of 333
Rank in Indiana
7th of 7

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.87
Rank in United States
130th of 333
Rank in Indiana
6th of 7

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

What about similarly populated cities?

2345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2345<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
IndianapolisKofuTong'an

In new street additions, Indianapolis and Tong'an both built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Kofu built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved. For the full network, Indianapolis and Kofu both became progressively more disconnected, while Tong'an grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. Indianapolis and Kofu have been growing further apart in their street-network character since 1975.