There are many challenges facing cities and suburbs across the country. How they handle such issues may determine if they thrive or fail in the 21st century, writes Mary Newsom.
Newsom discusses the role of suburbs over the next century, recapping what it has been this past decade. She wonders if the country will be able to re-invent the suburb so as to prevent some severe implications in the future:
"Although some first-ring suburbs are thriving, others aren't. Many suburban neighborhoods are seeing rising poverty and crime, dead or dying shopping malls and derelict strip centers and big-box stores. Can we just abandon them to blight?"
Newsom also sees some growing trends that are encouraging for urban areas across the country:
"Gen Y-ers (aka the Millennials) have a clear preference, at least at this stage in their lives, for urban living. Meantime, aging Baby Boomers will be selling the family house and moving to condos or apartments. And as age, illness and infirmity start to take their toll, many boomers will have to give up driving. They're going to want walkable neighborhoods."
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