“In the 1954 Internal Revenue Code, a Republican Congress changed forty-year, straight-line depreciation for buildings to permit 'accelerated depreciation' of greenfield income-producing property in seven years. By enabling owners to depreciate or write off the value of a building in such a short time, the law created a gigantic hidden subsidy for the developers of cheap new commercial buildings located on strips. Accelerated depreciation not only encouraged poor construction, it also discouraged maintenance...After time, the result was abandonment.” SuburbsStrip Malls162 Book:Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000 Source: Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000
“In 1995 Bank of America issued a famous report on sprawl in California. The bank pronounced: 'Urban job centers have decentralized to the suburbs. New housing tracts have moved even deeper into agriculturally and environmentally sensitive areas. Private auto use continues to rise. This acceleration of sprawl has surfaced enormous social, environmental, and economic costs, which until now have been hidden, ignored, or quietly borne by society.” SuburbsSprawl157 Book:Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000 Source: Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000