Remaking a Suburb into as Small Business Hub

This piece from Fast Co. Design looks at this idea and how it could work in Levittown and suburbs throughout the U.S.

"When Droog and Diller + Scofidio set out to re-imagine the American suburb -- specifically Levittown, the most pre-fab of them all -- the results were as surreal as you might expect: a "domesticity museum" charged with preserving a dying way of life; a backyard farm with a take-out window, even an "Attention Clinic" catering to all your narcissistic needs.

There were just a few of the homes on display as part of "Open House 2011," a collaboration between Droog Lab -- an offshoot of the Dutch design collective -- and the architects of Diller Scofidio + Renfro aimed at reimagining the American suburb as a hive of bottom-up entrepreneurial activity, no new buildings or infrastructure required. By running businesses out of their homes, suburbanites could simulate New York City's thriving informal service sector of dog walkers, take-out deliverymen, dry cleaners, nail salons, and livery cabs which provide New Yorkers with mobility-on-demand or laundry-on-demand, rather than requiring they own cars and washing machine -- the classic suburban model."