School sprawl has been part of the pattern, too, with large campuses placed at a distance from most students and their families. Check out the locations of three Loudoun County schools on the satellite map above: they have all been placed on former farmland just beyond the reach of sprawling new subdivisions.

Many planners are concerned that this has led to school sprawl, where schools are located on large campuses away from the residential areas they serve, eliminating neighborhood schools. These means fewer children can walk to school, increasing pollution and congestion and reducing community connection.

The result: "school sprawl" that makes towns less attractive and marketable, feeds exurban growth, forces many students from their bikes onto buses, removes students from the lively daily flow of town life, and indeed simply feeds the isolation many of today's teen-agers feel.