One of the key goals of Metro's planners was to encourage dense development around stations, fighting sprawl while boosting patronage. By the early 1970s, Metro's potential to boost property values was a subject of much speculation. By the 1980s, developers bragged about the proximity of their projects to stations, sometimes featuring passageways to them. In some places, things have worked out just as planned, with buildings clustered around stations, but elsewhere, due to political or market forces, stations are surrounded by little but parking lots.