Worcester in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Worcester in context

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

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Worcester plotted against Massachusetts and United States. While Massachusetts and United States both peaked in 1991-2005, Worcester's new street additions peaked in 1991-2005. Most recently, Worcester's incremental SNDi fell from 4.96 to 4.15 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Worcester ranked 7th out of 10 cities in Massachusetts and 103rd out of 333 in United States as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.15
Rank in United States
172nd of 333
Rank in Massachusetts
5th of 10

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
2.68
Rank in United States
103rd of 333
Rank in Massachusetts
7th of 10

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
WorcesterHomesteadLianzhou

In new street additions, Worcester built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved, while Homestead built increasingly disconnected streets over time and Lianzhou fluctuated in its street-construction patterns. For the full network, Worcester and Homestead both became progressively more disconnected, while Lianzhou fluctuated in connectivity.