Chapter 7 The Suburbs and Beyond

I. What is a Suburb?

What is a Suburb? A SUBURB, describes a community near and subordinate to a central city Suburbs depend on cities You cannot have a suburb without a city The U.S. Census Bureau classifies any community outside the central city that exists within a metropolitan statistical area as a “suburb”

A. Characteristics of Suburbs Income tends to increase with the distance from the city center Transportation costs to city employment precludes the very poor from moving to the suburbs Suburban dwellers are more likely to have a traditional household and more education and income than central city residents Because most new suburban developments have residents of similar economic backgrounds and interests, there is often more socializing in the suburbs than in the central city

B. Culture in the Suburbs Suburbs today, are no long dependent on the central city for performing arts, museums, etc Suburbs are getting culture Professional sports teams are also moving to suburbs to be closer to affluent ticket-buying sports fans

C. Suburban Price Escalation The market forces of supply and demand resulted in escalating housing costs in many suburban areas A negative effect of high housing costs is that many employers in those communities have difficulty filling positions since new employees can’t afford to live there

II. A History of Suburban Growth

A. Earliest Suburbs Many of the earliest suburbs were hovels for the poor outside the city walls Many of our early modern suburbs were within walking distance of the city

B. Transportation and Suburban Growth Long before the automobile, the railroads opened suburban areas to city workers BEDROOM COMMUNITIES are residential communities where the inhabitants commute to work in other areas The economics of assembly line production led to lower automobile costs, which in turn increased automobile ownership

C. World War II Changed Housing Housing construction from 1930 to 1945 had been very limited because of the Depression Homebuilders could sell everything because of a the PENT-UP DEMAND Veterans moved to the suburbs because housing was available with low-cost VA loans Between 1960 and 1970, the 25 largest cities in America gained only 710,000 people, while the suburbs gained 8.9 million people

III. Continued Suburban Growth

A. Areas of Greatest Growth Suburban areas of greatest growth have a number of factors in common: They are outside of cities or other suburbs that have vibrant economies They have a supply of relatively inexpensive land They have good transportation routes to the areas’ economic centers The local political climate is friendly to development Continued growth has resulted in the suburbs becoming party of continuous urban sprawl

B. Growth Patterns and Phases Suburban growth patterns tend to duplicate city growth Historian Frederick Lewis Allen categorized suburban growth in the U.S. into 5 phases: Country homes for the wealthy, reached by horse and buggy, used year round when suburbs grew Railroad and streetcar suburbs from 1800’s to 1920’s, autos allowed greater growth beyond the rail lines The Depression, which was a period of no-growth Post-war housing boom The movement of business and industry to the suburbs

C. Other Growth Factors The main factor contributing to growth in the suburbs is transportation Without septic tank systems, our suburban growth would have been severely hampered The telephone also played an important part in suburban growth

IV. Suburbs and Minorities

A. Ethnic and Racial Separation By the 1800’s, the influx of foreign-born people to our cities served to encourage suburban growth Cities were becoming a conglomerate of separate ethnic enclaves Initially, the high land costs and the absence of low-cost housing in many suburb areas actually excluded the poor or minorities from desirable suburban areas

B. Economic Factors of Separation The rapid growth of many suburban areas served to open up housing to minority groups The principle of filtering down made more housing available to lower economic levels Restrictions on lot and home size have closed many communities to the poor Often the unskilled workers in the suburbs cannot afford to live where they work

C. Exclusion More communities are raising the lot size requirements in their areas to allow for more green areas for animals and birds Minority presence in the suburbs is growing – 1 in 4 suburban residents is a minority versus 1 in 10 previously recorded Little evidence exists today as to exclusion from buying in a suburb due to discrimination, but it still exists in suburban rentals

D. Inclusionary Zoning In order to have a more balanced community, some communities require developers to include a specified percentage of housing units for low or moderate income housing Some states even allow developers to bypass municipal zoning restrictions if they build affordable housing in a community that has less than 10% affordable housing Providing housing for all economic levels can be accomplished with a carrot on a stick

V. Taxes and the Suburbs

Taxes and the Suburbs Property taxes are based on the value of improvements, so the higher the value, the greater the amount paid in property taxes Because suburbs refuse to provide aid to the cities, some cities have found ways to tax suburbanites

VI. Nonresidential Growth

Nonresidential Growth People moving to the suburbs created the need for service jobs and shopping The growth of non-residential suburban development is an example of supply chasing the demand of suburban residents for goods and services Commercial and industrial development of the suburbs has been accelerated by the need for space and a quality work force

VII. Planned Suburbs

A. History of Planned Suburbs Most of our suburbs were the result of private development without much planning for the future Suburban planning is NOT a recent phenomenon SCATTERATION is prevented by designated farm, forest, and park areas, which keep the cities from fusing together

B. Reston Virginia A NEW TOWN is an artificial creation by entrepreneurs, designed to attract people, rather than a natural creation springing up on its own Reston, Virginia, is a planned, privately funded “new town” on 6,800 acres 18 miles west of Washington, D.C.

C. Other Planned Suburbs Radburn, New Jersey King Farms, Maryland It is interesting that the planners are intent on higher density villages while “no growth” is the battle cry in many communities

D. New Communities Act Congress approved Title VII of the New Communities Act in the early 1970s The NEW COMMUNITIES ACT allowed the government to guarantee developers loans to develop new towns for the purpose of moving Americans out of congested urban areas

VIII. No Growth or Limited Growth

No Growth or Limited Growth The term GROWTH MANAGEMENT is used by planners to describe restrictions on growth NO GROWTH or LIMITED GROWTH is the mentality of some suburban and small city dwellers, which seeks to restrict new residential and commercial construction Many feel that continued growth will take away from the attraction that brought them to the suburbs

IX. The Graying of the Suburbs

Graying of the Suburbs GRAYING OF THE SUBURBS is a phrase that means the average age of the suburbs is rising We are now experiencing a graying of many suburbs, with a significant increase in the age of the average resident and the age of the head of the household

X. Deterioration of the Suburbs

Deterioration of the Suburbs Many suburbs have increasing crime, deteriorating housing, loss of tax base and all of the urban problems typically associated with the cities Suburbs with a close proximity to central cities have become the heir to the problems of those cities Los Angeles suburbs have more severe problems than Los Angeles itself

XI. Transportation Problems of the Suburbs

Transportation Problems Traffic congestion is no longer limited to rush hours Traffic gridlock is becoming a major problem of the suburbs Transportation networks were designed to take people from the suburbs to the cities, NOT for suburb-to-suburb traffic

XII. Revitalization of Suburbs

Revitalization Many suburban communities now have redevelopment agencies which offer tax incentives Many communities have taken a smart growth approach in revitalizing suburbs by requiring greater density for redevelopment

XIII. Boomburgs

Boomburgs The term BOOMBURG has developed to describe fast-growing suburbs There are 53 Boomburgs in the United States today

XIV. Exurbia

Exurbia “Exurbia” is the land beyond the suburbs EXURBIA is characterized by smaller-sized farms, homes on acreage and a scattering of subdivisions FOOTLOOSE INDUSTRIES are those not tied physically to a particular market, location, or suppliers,…they often move to exurbia

Chapter Summary Nonresidential Growth Planned Suburbs Reston, Virgina New Communities Culture in the Suburbs No Growth or Limited Growth The Graying of the Suburbs Deterioration of the Suburbs Transportation Problems Revitalization Boomburgs Exurbia What is a Suburb? Characteristics of Suburbs Culture in the Suburbs Suburban Price Escalation A History of Suburban Growth Transportation and Suburban Growth World War II Changed Housing Continued Suburban Growth Growth Patterns & Phases Suburbs and Minorities Taxes and the Suburbs