Reviving Suburbs Requires an Urban Sensibility

Many suburban and exurban neighborhoods have borne the worst of the foreclosure crisis, and as a result are becoming increasingly blighted and poverty-stricken. Meanwhile inner cities across the countries continue to gentrify, attracting new residents who drive economy growth. Florida asserts the suburban areas that have best weathered the economic recession are much like successful urban neighborhoods--walkable, dense and diverse--and suggests that flagging suburbs may need to refashion themselves accordingly.

Florida writes:

"Remaking America's sprawling suburbs, with their enormous footprints, shoddy construction, hastily built infrastructure and dying malls, is shaping up to be the biggest urban revitalization challenge of modern times-far larger in scale, scope and cost than the revitalization of our inner cities."

There is also a longer version of this article on Florida's website, creativeclass.com.