For a few months now I’ve been telling anybody who will listen that the suburbs are going to be our next slums, and that the planning that’s fundamental to suburbs will make it enormously difficult for them to go through the standard apartments->business->mixed-use->residence cycles. (Plus, these things are built so terribly that they’ll never last, anyway.) Christopher Leinberger has a great article in The Atlantic about this very topic, with a deck that asserts that “fundamental changes in American life may turn today’s McMansions into tomorrow’s tenements.” I’m not smart enough to know whether this vision of the future is accurate, but it sure rings true for me.
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I’ve been saying this for years. The government needs to get a hold on the massive sprawl before it’s too late.
I read an article a while back about how it’s turning into a privilege to live in the city, or close to one’s work, and that living in the suburbs and commuting from afar is the new slum lifestyle. While I’m glad that more people are realizing the sense of living in urban centers (and also how that life is more environmentally friendly), the sheer waste of all those McMansions is depressing.
P.S. The comment you left on my site made me laugh out loud. Nuclear option indeed!
But I love commuting! I commute all the way down my hallway and then down the stairs!
In the reinvigoration of Denver, the downtown area underwent an awakening. Even before that, the suburbs of the 50’s and 60’s were turning into slums.
I know people who had real estate in or near downtown Denver since the 60’s waiting for it to come around.
I used to live about a half mile from work, I could walk or ride a bike. Of course now, my work is in the living room. And that is just a short commute to the kitchen.
It’s an attention-grabbing headline, but I seriously doubt suburban slums are or will continue to be anything more than statistical outliers — assuming, of course, we don’t arrive at some sort of post-apocalyptic Max Max future for other reasons. :)
Have you guys been on Commonwealth Drive lately? Lock you doors and watch out for bullets. The reverse flight back into the City is only going to get faster with gas prices going up
This article definitely rings true for me. I, and several of my friends in their 20s and 30s, choose to live in the city and commute to the suburbs. My commute can be nearly an hour on public transportation, but it’s worth it to live in Chicago. I have a hard time imagining why people without kids would choose to live in the suburbs and commute to the city. I mean, it’s Chicago! Who wouldn’t want to live in the middle of it all.
Chris Leinberger has been a consultant to Martha Jefferson Hospital on their redevelopment, and gave a public presentation on MJH last year.
My husband and I first noticed this phenomenon when we were living in the D.C. Area. Many of the close-in suburbs had already begun the transformation into what we called “ghettoburbs”. Decaying strip shopping centers, ugly, crumbling residential architecture (that stood little chance of having the charms that encourage renovation of older urban homes) and once shiny and hip malls now full of vacant spaces and dollar stores. People who have lived in the Richmond area for awhile can take a drive out Midlothian Turnpike and see the spreading decay in action. Anyone remember Cloverleaf Mall? Midlothian Cinemas? :)
Waldo: Thanks for the link to that thought-provoking story. I was wondering when someone might analyze the impact on the community of foreclosure and vacant homes in the suburbs. I’m less confident on the move back to the cities–I want to see more numbers and fewer anecdotal stories–but the projection that by 2025 we will have as many single-person households as families with children is most intriguing. Maybe there is hope for our cities yet!
3 Words: West Broad Village
I shared this with some friends who are scattered about and asked for their thoughts. The ones who live in Memphis, Atlanta, and Denver said the article is dead on. One guy living outside of Atlanta wrote “In certain areas around me in Gwinnett, there’ll be 20 painters vans and about 30 people living in a house that used to be considered nice.” Another guy, an urban planner in Oregon, said he was giving copies of the article to everyone on his city’s planning commission.
I’m with you, Jim — the statistics were really interesting.
First, my serious response: I never thought about this before, but as soon as I read it, I totally agreed. Wow. Geez.
Second, the next thing I thought after realizing that is that “subdivisions” AND “hating subdivisions” both need to be added as entries on the blog *Stuff White People Like*. Waldo, have you seen that blog yet? It’s hysterical and I think you’ll enjoy it (if I’m reading you right.) I’ll be curious to hear what you think.
Sorry to stray from the topic, but I just had to mention this.
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com
Cheers,
Christine
Why, Christine, I’m a little surprised. :) I was reading SWPL a few days ago and specifically thought how much you’d probably hate it. I do love me some white people jokes. :)