Springfield in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Springfield in context

23456<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
23456<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
SpringfieldMassachusetts (Region)United States (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Springfield plotted against Massachusetts and United States. The SNDi of new construction in Springfield peaked in 1976-1990, compared to Massachusetts which rose steadily and United States which peaked in 1991-2005. Most recently, Springfield's incremental SNDi fell from 3.94 to 2.19 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Springfield ranked 2nd out of 10 cities in Massachusetts as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
2.19
Rank in Massachusetts
1st of 10

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.3
Rank in Massachusetts
2nd of 10

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

What about similarly populated cities?

1.62.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
1.62.43.244.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
SpringfieldStonebridgeValle de La Pascua

In new street additions, Springfield and Stonebridge both built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Valle de La Pascua fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Springfield and Valle de La Pascua both became progressively more disconnected, while Stonebridge grew more disconnected from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved. Springfield and Stonebridge have been converging in their street-network character since 1975.