Land Use
Anti-Sprawl
% of New Housing Units Built Within Existing Urban Growth Boundaries by Washington State County
Rolling 3-year Average – Source: WA State Office of Financial Management
100%+ years are periods where housing was built within the urban growth boundary and housing was lost outside of it.
Acres of Farmland & Critical Habitat Converted to Development Annually
(Work in Progress)
% of Statewide Land in Protected Farmland, Forest, and Critical Habitat Over Time
(Work in Progress)
Key Points
• Anti-Sprawl means directing housing growth inward through infill, not outward onto farmland, forest, and habitat.
• Worse yet, greenfield development produces far fewer units per acre than infill built near jobs and transit.
• Goal: nearly 100% of new housing built within existing urban growth boundaries, with farmland conversion declining year over year.
What is it?
Anti-Sprawl means directing growth inward, into existing cities and urban growth boundaries, rather than outward onto undeveloped land. This priority combines two closely related goals: containing new development within the urban footprint that already exists through infill, and protecting farmland, forest, and critical habitat from being consumed by the kind of outward, low-density growth that contributes the least housing for the most land.
Why Anti-Sprawl Matters
Sprawl is an inefficient way to solve a housing shortage. Greenfield development on the urban edge typically produces low-density housing that serves far fewer people per acre than infill development closer to jobs, transit, and existing infrastructure, while permanently consuming farmland and habitat that cannot be recovered once paved over. Every acre of sprawl is also an acre of housing that did not get built more efficiently somewhere infill could have absorbed it instead. Containing growth within urban growth boundaries and prioritizing infill is not in tension with building enough housing. It is the more housing-efficient path, and it is also what protects the agricultural and ecological land base the state depends on.
Where We Want to Be
The goal is for the strong majority of new housing units to be built within existing urban growth boundaries, with greenfield development becoming the exception rather than a routine release valve for growth. Acres of farmland and critical habitat converted to development annually should decline steadily rather than holding steady or climbing, and the ratio of infill to greenfield permits should continue shifting toward infill statewide. Over the longer term, the share of WA land held in protected farmland, forest, and critical habitat status should grow, reflecting active conservation rather than passive attrition. The vision is a state that houses its growing population primarily by building up and filling in, not by paving over the land base that future generations will need.
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