Don't Fight Against Suburbs, Make Them Better

With the suburban lifestyle clearing entrenched in the American mainstream, planners should stop criticizing suburban living and help address the environmental and societal problems that face the nation's low-density communities.

1 minute read

August 7, 2006, 12:00 PM PDT

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera


"Americans have continued to vote with their feet for suburban or exurban landscapes. These Americans now include not only whites, but also a growing proportion of recent immigrants, Asians, Latinos, and African Americans. And it’s not just people who are moving - suburbia is also snagging the lion’s share of new economic growth and jobs."

"Most projections show that the continued increase in the U.S. population and the projected 50 percent increase in space devoted to the built environment by 2030 will largely take place in the sprawling cities of the South and West, areas dominated by low-density, automobile-dependent development of residential, commercial, and industrial space.

For developers, builders, planners, and public officials, the key challenge will be to accommodate this growth in a way that both preserves the advantages of relatively low-density suburban living and addresses legitimate concerns about the environment and about family, cultural, and spiritual life."

Tuesday, August 1, 2006 in The Next American City

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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

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