Analyzing Urban Growth Trends in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Author: Glenn Mohler
Organization: Lancaster County Planning Department

50 North Duke St.
Lancaster, PA 17608-3480
USA

Phone: (717)299-8333
Fax: (717)295-3659
mohler@co.lancaster.pa.us

In 1993 Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, established urban growth boundaries. These boundaries are designed to limit the impact of urban growth patterns on our County.

County planners needed a tool to determine the effectiveness of these boundaries. A team was assembled to create a GIS-based system to quantify the development patterns relative to the growth boundaries. The result is a system that tracks these patterns using Arc and ARCPLOT tools in AML programs. The system calculates the acres of land developed, the acres of vacant land remaining in each growth area, and the number of housing units built.