Merced in context: Street-network sprawl trends

Merced in context

33.64.24.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
33.64.24.8<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MercedCalifornia (Region)United States (Country)

The chart above shows SNDi trends for new street additions (left panel) and the entire network (right panel), with Merced plotted against California and United States. While California and United States both peaked in 1991-2005, Merced's new street additions peaked in 1991-2005. Most recently, Merced's incremental SNDi fell from 4.43 to 4.07 between 1991-2005 and 2006-2020. In terms of the aggregate network, Merced ranked 28th out of 60 cities in California and 206th out of 333 in United States as of 2020.

New Street Additions (2006–2020)

SNDi value
4.07
Rank in United States
153rd of 333
Rank in California
26th of 60

Entire Network (Aggregate)

SNDi value
3.54
Rank in United States
206th of 333
Rank in California
28th of 60

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

What about similarly populated cities?

33.544.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of street additions
33.544.5<19751976–19901991–20052006–2020SNDi of entire street network
MercedDien ChauTaean

In new street additions, Diễn Châu and Taean both fluctuated in street-construction patterns, while Merced built increasingly disconnected streets from 1975 through 1991-2005, then improved. For the full network, Merced and Taean both became progressively more disconnected, while Diễn Châu fluctuated in connectivity. Notably, Merced had a more connected network than Diễn Châu in 1975, but the two have since reversed their relative ranking.