In The Suburbs, Kids Are Too Expensive

The situation in... [Lopatcong Township, N.J], where enrollment in the town's only elementary school has almost doubled since 1995, illustrates a tension deeply felt in fast-growing areas from here to California as the cost of education turns the social logic of the suburbs upside down. Havens for families are expensive to run, and many of the people who run them are trying to draw childless couples, single people, retirees — anybody but children... 'It shows that the economics of the suburbs are out of phase with the original purpose of the suburbs.' "