From Suburbs to "Urban Burbs"

A major shift is occurring in suburban and urban environments, highlighted by recent studies on population growth in city centers, shifting attitudes about driving, and rapidly increasing urban home values.

During an interview with Eric Jaffe of The Atlantic Cities, Leigh Gallagher states that although these recent trends are accelerating, it is unrealistic and impractical to assume everyone will want to migrate to an urban setting, but that a “big part of the future will be ‘urban burbs.’ Suburbs that are adapting or already exist in this fashion. Where they have a walkable downtown, a pleasant place to take a stroll and bump into people, and where it's possible to live in closer proximity to the things you need to do everyday.”

Gallagher's new book, The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream Is Moving, asserts that there are several reasons why the suburbs were poorly designed, and why they are currently making millions of people people really unhappy. She notes that "somewhere along the way the American Dream morphed from being a dream, an opportunity, to being a house,” but that is no longer the case.

She concludes the interview by stating how far we actually are from this idealized “urban burb” style of living, and that the most important thing for us to do is to follow what current market demand is telling us, and recognize that we can't continue doing what we’ve been doing.