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Originally published in hardcover in 2013.
“The government in the past created one American Dream at the expense of almost all others: the dream of a house, a lawn, a picket fence, two children, and a car. But there is no single American Dream anymore.” For nearly 70 years, the suburbs were as American as apple pie. As the middle class ballooned and single-family homes and cars became more affordable, we flocked to pre-fabricated communities in the suburbs, a place where open air and solitude offered a retreat from our dense, polluted cities. Before long, success became synonymous with a private home in a bedroom community complete with a yard, a two-car garage and a commute to the office, and subdivisions quickly blanketed our landscape. But in recent years things have started to change. An epic housing crisis revealed existing problems with this unique pattern of development, while the steady pull of long-simmering economic, societal and demographic forces has culminated in a Perfect Storm that has led to a profound shift in the way we desire to live. In The End of the Suburbs journalist Leigh Gallagher traces the rise and fall of American suburbia from the stately railroad suburbs that sprung up outside American cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries to current-day sprawling exurbs where residents spend as much as four hours each day commuting. Along the way she shows why suburbia was unsustainable from the start and explores the hundreds of new, alternative communities that are springing up around the country and promise to reshape our way of life for the better. Not all suburbs are going to vanish, of course, but Gallagher’s research and reporting show the trends are undeniable. Consider some of the forces at work: The nuclear family is no more: Our marriage and birth rates are steadily declining, while the single-person households are on the rise. Thus, the good schools and family-friendly lifestyle the suburbs promised are increasingly unnecessary. We want out of our cars: As the price of oil continues to rise, the hours long commutes forced on us by sprawl have become unaffordable for many. Meanwhile, today’s younger generation has expressed a perplexing indifference toward cars and driving. Both shifts have fueled demand for denser, pedestrian-friendly communities. Cities are booming. Once abandoned by the wealthy, cities are experiencing a renaissance, especially among younger generations and families with young children. At the same time, suburbs across the country have had to confront never-before-seen rates of poverty and crime. Blending powerful data with vivid on the ground reporting, Gallagher introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters, including the charismatic leader of the anti-sprawl movement; a mild-mannered Minnesotan who quit his job to convince the world that the suburbs are a financial Ponzi scheme; and the disaffected residents of suburbia, like the teacher whose punishing commute entailed leaving home at 4 a.m. and sleeping under her desk in her classroom. Along the way, she explains why understanding the shifts taking place is imperative to any discussion about the future of our housing landscape and of our society itself—and why that future will bring us stronger, healthier, happier and more diverse communities for everyone.
After the U.S. housing bubble burst, no part of our country felt the pain more than the suburbs. Headlines screamed of foreclosed homes, displaced families, and an upsurge of crime in the once bucolic subdivisions that for so long symbolized the American Dream. Even five years later, conventional wisdom seems to be that this is all temporary - that once the economy rights itself and home prices return to pre-recession levels, we'll go back to the lives we led before. But that's not true. According to Leigh Gallagher, the recession was simply a catalyst for a much larger trend. The suburbs may have represented the dominant pattern of housing and population growth in the United States for more than half a century, but powerful social, economic, and demographic forces - along with the suburbs' poor design to begin with - are converging to render them unnecessary, and even undesirable, for an ever-increasing number of Americans. Consider some of the forces at work- The nuclear family is no longer the norm- U.S. marriage and birth rates are steadily declining, while the number of single-person households is skyrocketing. The main selling points of suburban life - good schools and family-friendly lifestyles - matter less. We want out of our cars- As the price of oil continues to rise and commuting becomes more expensive, once-affordable homes on the suburban fringe are no longer a bargain - and we are driving less, in general, for the first time since the invention of the automobile. This is especially true among teenagers, who are delaying getting their driver's licenses, and young adults, who are opting to live in more walkable, action-packed communities. Cities are booming- Once abandoned by the wealthy, cities are experiencing a renaissance, especially among younger generations and even among families with young children. At the same time, suburbs across the country have had to confront never-before-seen rates of poverty and crime. Not all suburbs are going to vanish, of course, but the trends are undeniable. In this deeply reported work, Gallagher introduces us to a lively cast of characters, including the charismatic leader of the anti-sprawl movement, a mild-mannered Minnesotan who quit his job to convice the world that the suburbs are a financial Ponzi scheme, and a grade-school teacher whose commute entailed leaving home at four a.m. and sleeping under her desk in her classroom. Blending powerful data with on-the-ground reporting, Gallagher takes us inside the hundreds of new communities springing up around the country - such as shopping malls that are being converted into downtown-like neighborhoods and dense pedestrian-friendly urban centers that are more reminiscent of small towns than sprawling modern-day suburbia. Offering a fascinating and timely portrait of our changing landscape, Gallagher reveals irrefutable reversals taking place - and demonstrates why the post-cul-de-sac future is not a bleak one but a better one. The end of the suburbs, as Gallagher foretells it, will mean stronger, happier, and healthier communities for all of us. 'The most convincing book yet on the lifestyle changes coming to our immediate future.' Andres Duany, coauthor of Suburban Nation 'This book is a steel fist in a velvet glove. Beneath Leigh Gallagher's smooth, elegant prose there is a methodical smashing of the suburban paradigm. When all is done, a few shards remain - but only because she is scrupulously fair. This story of rise and ruin avoids the usual storm of statistics - nor is it a tale told with apocalyptic glee. The End of the Suburbsis the most convincing book yet on the lifestyle changes coming to our immediate future.' Andres Duany, founding partner of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company and coauthor of Suburban Nation
A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.
For decades the suburbs have been where art happens despite: despite the conformity, the emptiness, the sameness. Time and again, the story is one of gems formed under pressure and that resentment of the suburbs is the key ingredient for creative transcendence. But what if, contrary to that, the suburb has actually been an incubator for distinctly American art, as positively and as surely as in any other cultural hothouse? Mixing personal experience, cultural reportage, and history while rejecting clichés and pieties and these essays stretch across the country in an effort to show that this uniquely American milieu deserves another look.
More than half of Americans live in the suburbs. Yet for many Christians, the suburbs are ignored, demeaned, or seen as a selfish cop-out from a faithful Christian life. What does it look like to live a full Christian life in the suburbs? Ashley Hales invites you to look deeply into your soul as a suburbanite and discover what it means to live holy there.
Provides information on ways to create a sustainable lifestyle in the suburbs, covering such topics as growing food, keeping livestock, electricity, waste disposal, health care, entertainment, education, and networking.
This is the first comprehensive look at the role of North American suburbs in the last half century, departing from traditional and outdated notions of American suburbia.
Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk are at the forefront of the New Urbanism movement, and in "Suburban Nation" they assess sprawl's costs to society, be they ecological, economic, aesthetic, or social. 115 illustrations.
America’s suburbs are not the homogenous places we sometimes take them for. Today’s suburbs are racially, ethnically, and economically diverse, with as many Democratic as Republican voters, a growing population of renters, and rising poverty. The cliche of white picket fences is well past its expiration date. The history of suburbia is equally surprising: American suburbs were once fertile ground for utopian planning, communal living, socially-conscious design, and integrated housing. We have forgotten that we built suburbs like these, such as the co-housing commune of Old Economy, Pennsylvania; a tiny-house anarchist community in Piscataway, New Jersey; a government-planned garden city in Greenbelt, Maryland; a racially integrated subdivision (before the Fair Housing Act) in Trevose, Pennsylvania; experimental Modernist enclaves in Lexington, Massachusetts; and the mixed-use, architecturally daring Reston, Virginia. Inside Radical Suburbs you will find blueprints for affordable, walkable, and integrated communities, filled with a range of environmentally sound residential options. Radical Suburbs is a history that will help us remake the future and rethink our assumptions of suburbia.