New Visions Of Suburbia

23 March 2006 - 9:00am

A number of books published over the last few years show that scholars and planners have revised the "typical" view of suburbs and sprawl.

"...over the past decade, a revisionist-minded, crossdisciplinary group of researchers has been complicating [the typical] view of sprawl and the metropolitan geography of which it is a part. They are rereading the suburban landscape in ways that unsettle much of the received wisdom about its history and its political economy."

Books covered include A Field Guide to Sprawl, Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000, Places of Their Own: African American Suburbanization in the Twentieth Century, Sprawl: A Compact History, The New Suburban History, and Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream.

Full Story: Revising The Suburbs
Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 24, 2006
Bookmark and Share
The decision to abandon a property is a symptom of the loss of confidence. And while abandonment certainly affects confidence among surrounding homeowners, the most important question to answer is not "how do we deal with abandoned properties?" but "what is the most cost-effective way to restore market confidence, and how do abandoned properties fit into that picture?"