Columbus in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Columbus in context

3.244.85.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
3.244.85.6<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
ColumbusOhio (Region)United States (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Columbus plotted against Ohio and United States. The SNDi of new construction in Columbus peaked in 1976-1990, compared to Ohio which rose steadily and United States which peaked in 1991-2005. Most recently, Columbus's incremental SNDi fell from 4.77 to 4.64 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Columbus ranked 8th out of 11 cities in Ohio and 204th out of 333 in United States as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.64
Rank in United States
224th of 333
Rank in Ohio
8th of 11

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.54
Rank in United States
204th of 333
Rank in Ohio
8th of 11

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

What about similarly populated cities?

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
ColumbusAbbottabadJhusi

In new street additions, Columbus built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1976-1990, then improved, while Abbottabad built increasingly disconnected streets over time and Jhusi built increasingly connected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then shifted to more disconnected patterns. For the full network, Columbus and Abbottabad both became progressively more disconnected, while Jhusi became more connected from 1975 through 1991-2005, then grew more sprawly from 1991-2005 onwards. Notably, Columbus had a more sprawly network than Abbottabad in 1975 but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.