The History of Alternative Suburbs

A new book about unconventional suburbs challenges the perception that these were socially and racially homogenous places.

1 minute read

April 22, 2019, 7:00 AM PDT

By Camille Fink


Daly City

User:Stilfehler / Wikimedia Commons

In an excerpt from her new book Radical Suburbs, Amanda Kolson Hurley describes various experimental communities that sprung up from the 1820s to the 1960s outside of cities and challenge conventional notions of American suburbs. "These groups had very different backgrounds and motivations, but all of them believed in the power of the local community to shape moral and social values, and in the freedom provided by outskirts land to live and build in new ways."

Hurley says that the perception of suburbs as filled with tracts of cookie-cutter homes where middle-class whites resided is not wrong, but it is a limited understanding of their diversity. Lower-income suburbs existed as did black and integrated suburbs, suburbs based on religious ideology, and suburbs founded by anarchists and socialists.

For Hurley, looking back at the past is important as demographic, social, and economic changes influence the transformation of present-day suburbs. "Heavy-handed zoning and land-use regulations might try to make time stand still, but nothing is predestined about the future of suburbia, where most Americans live. Instead of despairing over the suburbs’ problems, we should be inspired by suburban history to try to solve them."

Tuesday, April 9, 2019 in CityLab

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 9, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Bend, Oregon

Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing

The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.

33 minutes ago - Strong Towns

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

1 hour ago - Smart Cities Dive

Green Skid Row mural satirizing city limit sign in downtown Los Angeles, California.

LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents

The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.

2 hours ago - Los Angeles Public Press