A satellite’s view of what’s been built, destroyed and remade across the United States
A satellite’s view of what’s been built, destroyed and remade across the United States
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A Decade of Urban Transformation, Seen From Above
ByEmily BadgerandQuoctrung BuiDec. 27, 2019
Kenosha, Wis.,in2013
Kenosha, Wis.,in2018
Dublin, Calif.,in2009
Dublin, Calif.,in2018
Tilikum Crossing, Portland, Ore.,in 2009
Tilikum Crossing, Portland, Ore.,in 2016
Kenosha, Wis.,in2013
Change can seem slow. A new building rises, one floor at a time. A new subdivision breaks ground with two homes, and then four. A new transit line is planned, and years pass. What it all adds up to can be hard to see.
But zoom out — way out — and it’s clear that the last decade has brought remarkable transformation to many communities. It's visible from 400 miles above: Vast new exurbs have been carved from farmland, and once-neglected downtowns have come to life again. The tech industry has helped remake entire city neighborhoods, and it has dotted the landscape with strange new beasts, in data centers and fulfillment hubs.
To grasp the scale of this decade of change, The Upshot worked with Tim Wallace and Krishna Karra fromDescartes Labs, a geospatial analytics company, using a tool that has itself evolved significantly over this time: satellite imagery. With its growing power and precision, we can see both intimate details — a single home, bulldozed; a tennis court, reinvented — and big patterns that recur across the country. Here, we show some of the most consequential changes over the last 10 years, as seen from above.
The Exurbs Boom Again
At the beginning of this decade, for a short period after the housing bust, it looked as ifthe exurbs were over. Housing construction and population growth thereground to a halt. Briefly, central cities and denser suburbs weregrowing faster than exurbia. But the exurbs eventually boomed again, a pattern we can see in rings of new development around most major metro areas in this map, especially in the Sun Belt:
Land newly developed this decade
Maine
Wash.
Mont.
N.D.
Vt.
N.H.
Minn.
Mass.
Ore.
N.Y.
Wis.
Conn.
R.I.
Idaho
S.D.
Mich.
Wyo.
Pa.
N.J.
Iowa
Ohio
Md.
Del.
Neb.
Ind.
Nev.
Ill.
W. Va.
Va.
Calif.
Colo.
Utah
Mo.
Kan.
Ky.
N.C.
Tenn.
Okla.
S.C.
Ariz.
Ark.
N.M.
Miss.
Ala.
Ga.
La.
Texas
Fla.
Maine
Wash.
Mont.
N.D.
Vt.
N.H.
Minn.
Mass.
Ore.
N.Y.
Wis.
Conn.
Idaho
R.I.
S.D.
Mich.
Wyo.
Pa.
N.J.
Iowa
Ohio
Md.
Del.
Neb.
Ind.
Nev.
Ill.
W. Va.
Va.
Calif.
Colo.
Utah
Mo.
Kan.
Ky.
N.C.
Tenn.
Okla.
S.C.
Ariz.
Ark.
N.M.
Miss.
Ala.
Ga.
La.
Texas
Fla.
Maine
Wash.
Mont.
N.D.
Vt.
N.H.
Minn.
Ore.
Mass.
N.Y.
Wis.
Idaho
Conn.
S.D.
R.I.
Mich.
Wyo.
Pa.
N.J.
Iowa
Md.
Del.
Neb.
Ohio
Nev.
Ind.
Ill.
W. Va.
Va.
Utah
Calif.
Colo.
Mo.
Kan.
Ky.
N.C.
Tenn.
Okla.
S.C.
Ariz.
Ark.
N.M.
Miss.
Ala.
Ga.
La.
Texas
Fla.
Land newly developed on the West Coast...
Wash.
N.D.
Mont.
Minn.
Ore.
S.D.
Idaho
Wyo.
Neb.
Nev.
Colo.
Kan.
Utah
Calif.
Ariz.
N.M.
Texas
… and East Coast.
Minn.
Wis.
N.Y.
Mich.
Pa.
Iowa
N.J.
Ind.
Ohio
Del.
Ill.
Md.
W. Va.
Va.
Mo.
Kan.
Ky.
N.C.
Tenn.
Okla.
Ark.
S.C.
Miss.
Ala.
Ga.
La.
Fla.
To produce this map, Descartes Labs trained a computer model to automatically identify newly impervious surfaces — land that appears paved or topped with buildings — in satellite imagery. ComparingLandsatimagery from 2018 and 2019 with urban areas from the 2008National Landcover Database, the model highlighted the places shown in red on the accompanying U.S. map.
We then took a closer look at what happened in some of those places, like Loudoun County, Va., on the western edge of the Washington metro area:
Loudoun County, Va.,in 2012
Loudoun County, Va.,in 2018
As the Bay Area has grown more expensive, more people are living in bedroom communities like this one, 30 miles to the east:
Dublin, Calif.,in 2009
Dublin, Calif.,in 2018
Maricopa County, Ariz., around Phoenix, has had the most new development, according to the Descartes Labs analysis.
Gilbert, Ariz.,in 2013
Gilbert, Ariz.,in 2019
Nine of the 20 counties in the U.S. that have experienced the most development this decade are in Texas. Among them is Harris County around Houston:
Katy, Texas,in 2012
Katy, Texas,in 2018
The Villages, a retirement community in Central Florida, is among the fastest-growing places in America. Neighborhoods like this one, newly built this decade, stretch for several miles:
The Villages, Fla.,in 2007
The Villages, Fla.,in 2017
The Urban Core, Redeveloped
Changes to urban neighborhoods are harder to detect automatically. But they have been significant, too, particularly in andaround the downtownsof cities that have increasingly attracted higher-income, highly educated residents. Across all of the central cities shown here, redevelopment takes a common form: Buildings have replaced surface parking lots, creating significantly denser neighborhoods.
In their place, apartment buildings, offices, parks and sports complexes have been built in both big cities like Los Angeles…
South Park, Los Angeles,in 2009
Parking
lots
Parking
lots
South Park, Los Angeles,in 2018
Buildings
Buildings
… and midsize ones like Durham, N.C.
Downtown Durham, N.C.,in 2012
Parking
lots
Parking
lots
Downtown Durham, N.C.,in 2018
Buildings
Buildings
This is the Navy Yard area of Washington, D.C.:
Navy Yard, Washington,in 2009
Less developed
land
Less developed
land
Navy Yard, Washington,in 2018
New
development
New
development
On the northern edge of downtown Nashville, a new minor-league baseball stadium has replaced a large parking lot.
Nashvillein 2012
Nashvillein 2018
In Boston, acres and acres of parking have given way to the construction ofa new neighborhood in the Seaport District.
The Boston Seaportin 2012
The Boston Seaportin 2018
Diversity Becomes the Norm
Many communitiesgrew more racially and ethnically diversethis decade, mirroring the rising diversity of the country as a whole. Such demographic shifts generally aren’t apparent from a satellite’s view. But we found some telltale signs.
In a public park in Akron, Ohio, a cricket field replaced a soccer field, a response tothe area’s growing South Asian immigrant population.
Akron, Ohio,in 2010
Soccer
field
Soccer
field
Akron, Ohio,in 2018
Cricket
pitch
Cricket
pitch
We found similar transformations elsewhere: cricket fields newly opened in Virginia, New Jersey, Texas and Maryland, andfutsalcourts replacing tennis and basketball courts in California and Kansas:
Kansas City, Kan.,in 2011
Tennis
court
Tennis
court
Kansas City, Kan.,in 2018
Futsal
court
Futsal
court
All of these are on public parkland, a sign of diversity embraced in civic life. In St. Paul, Minn., a baseball diamond was replaced by a tuj lub court,requested by the local Hmong community.
St. Paul, Minn.,in 2010
Baseball
diamond
Baseball
diamond
St. Paul, Minn.,in 2018
Tuj lub
court
Tuj lub
court
Big Tech’s Urban Imprint
The explosive growth of the tech industry and its demand for more office space — and high-end housing for its workers — has driven intense redevelopment in some cities. Amazonannounced in 2007that it would move into the South Lake Union area of Seattle. Since then, the company hastransformed the neighborhood.
South Lake Union, Seattle,in 2009
South Lake Union, Seattle,in 2019
Additions to
Amazon’s
campus
Additions to
Amazon’s
campus
The area south of Market Street in downtown San Francisco has been similarly remade by a boom in tech headquarters, including the construction of what isnow the city’s tallest building, the Salesforce Tower.
Downtown San Franciscoin 2009
Downtown San Franciscoin 2019
Salesforce
Tower
Luxury
apartments
Salesforce
Transit
Center
Salesforce
Tower
Luxury
apartments
Salesforce
Transit
Center
Forty-five miles to the south, Apple took on a comparably immense project this decade, albeit of a very different shape.
Apple Park, Cupertino, Calif.,in 2009
Apple Park, Cupertino, Calif.,in 2014
Apple Park, Cupertino, Calif.,in 2018
Big Tech’s Big Boxes
Far from the campuses where their highest-paid employees work, tech companies have fed a second development boom this decade, this one in colossal data centers and fulfillment and distribution hubs. These tend to be located where large plots of land are relatively cheap, but within reach of major metro areas.
The Amazon fulfillment centers shown here were all built this decade on previously undeveloped land. The Kenosha, Wis., site sits conveniently between the Milwaukee and Chicago metro areas, right on the interstate connecting them:
Amazon facility in Kenosha, Wis.,in 2013
1/4 mile
1/4 mile
Amazon facility in Kenosha, Wis.,in 2018
1/4 mile
1/4 mile
Each of these boxy facilities, like this one in Jacksonville, Fla., is at least a million square feet in size.
Amazon facility in Jacksonville, Fla.,in 2015
1/4 mile
1/4 mile
Amazon facility in Jacksonville, Fla.,in 2017
1/4 mile
1/4 mile
This one is just southwest of Columbia, S.C.
Amazon facility in West Columbia, S.C.,in 2009
1/4 mile
1/4 mile
Amazon facility in West Columbia, S.C.,in 2015
1/4 mile
1/4 mile
In the West, the big boxes have appeared on arid land rather than cleared forests:
Amazon facility in Riverside, Calif.,in 2014
1/4 mile
1/4 mile
Amazon facility in Riverside, Calif.,in 2018
1/4 mile
1/4 mile
Rust Belt Homes, Demolished
The picture of change looks notably different in some formerly industrial cities that have endured decades of population loss. Where other communities grew, these places shrank, visibly.
In Detroit, a blight removal task forceassessed every parcel in the citythis decade and identified tens of thousands of properties in need of demolition or repair.
Detroitin 2013
Detroitin 2018
Around the same time in South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg set the goal of demolishing or repairinga thousand houses in a thousand days, an initiative he emphasizes now as a presidential candidate.
South Bend, Ind.,in 2011
South Bend, Ind.,in 2019
Transit Transformations
How we get around has changed over the past decade, too. Bike-share systems started in Washington, New York, Chicago and other cities. New rail lines, years in the making, finallyopened in Los Angelesand Denver. Entirely new modes like scooters proliferated.
The projects shown here are all large in scale, and as a result they will have a big influence on what takes shape around them. In Portland, Ore.,a new bridge spanning the Willamette Riverserves a rail line, city buses, cyclists and pedestrians — but no cars.
Tilikum Crossing, Portland, Ore.,in 2009
Tilikum Crossing, Portland, Ore.,in 2016
In Northern Virginia, the Washington Metro systemnow extends deeper into the suburbs, where new stations like the one shown here in Reston have spurred more development.
Reston, Va.,in 2009
Reston, Va.,in 2018
New metro
station
New rail line
along the
highway
New metro
station
New rail line
running along
the highway
In Denver,a rail line to the airportappears in satellite imagery as a new thread running across a vast stretch of landscape.
Denverin 2011
Denverin 2018
New rail line
New rail line
After Disaster, Renewal
A number of communities were transformed this decade by fire or flood, hurricane or tornado. And satellite imagery captured each chapter: before the disaster, immediately after the destruction and through the years of recovery.
A tornadoleveled parts of Moore, Okla., in 2013:
Moore, Okla.,in 2011
Moore, Okla.,in 2013
Moore, Okla.,in 2018
And the 2017 Tubbs fire destroyedmuch of the Coffey Park neighborhoodof Santa Rosa, Calif.:
Santa Rosa, Calif.,in2010
Santa Rosa, Calif.,in2018
Santa Rosa, Calif.,in2019
Each neighborhood was physically rebuilt by the end of the decade, looking, at least from above, almost exactly like its old self.
These two communities embody many of the stories of change that have individually touched other parts of the country: loss, development and renewal.
Images from the National Agriculture Imagery Program and by Maxar Technologies, via Google Earth.
Additional work by Josh Williams.