Columbia in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Columbia in context

2.73.64.55.46.3<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
2.73.64.55.46.3<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
ColumbiaMaryland (Region)United States (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Columbia plotted against Maryland and United States. The SNDi of new construction in Columbia peaked in 1976-1990, compared to Maryland which peaked in 1976-1990 and United States which peaked in 1991-2005. Most recently, Columbia's incremental SNDi fell from 5.14 to 4.21 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Columbia ranked 2nd out of 5 cities in Maryland as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.21
Rank in Maryland
1st of 5

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
4.91
Rank in Maryland
2nd of 5

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
ColumbiaMansfieldSibi

In new street additions, Columbia built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Mansfield built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved and Sibi fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Columbia grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Mansfield became progressively more disconnected and Sibi fluctuated in connectivity.