1. Chapter 7
The Suburbs and Beyond

2. I. What is a Suburb?

3. 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”

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. II. A History of Suburban Growth

8. 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

9. 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

11. 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

12. III. Continued Suburban Growth

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. IV. Suburbs and Minorities

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. V. Taxes and the Suburbs

22. 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

23. VI. Nonresidential Growth

24. 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

25. VII. Planned Suburbs

26. 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

27. 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.

28. 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

29. 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

30. VIII. No Growth or Limited Growth

31. 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

32. IX. The Graying of the Suburbs

33. 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

34. X. Deterioration of the Suburbs

35. 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

36. XI. Transportation Problems of the Suburbs

37. 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

38. XII. Revitalization of Suburbs

39. 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

40. XIII. Boomburgs

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

42. XIV. Exurbia

43. 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

44. 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