Post on 15-Jan-2016
U.S. suburbanization and gentrification
Soc 331
Population and Society
07.15.2009
Factors that influence urban development
Technology Transportation, building construction, communication
Organizational network of the community Realtors, government, citizen associations
Resource availability Energy (fuel), land supply, income levels
Population growth Individual values (U.S. desire for single family
homes) Institutional structure of society
U.S. Capitalist System vs. kinship or familial systems
Role of transportation
Walking (pre-1880s); 2-3 mph Face to face communication, small but high
density, little separation between home and work Electric Street Car (1880-1920); 10-15 mph
Speeds up travel and focuses activity toward city center, some activities begin to disperse
Automobile (1920-present); 25-40+ mph Lower density, “multiple nuclei” Social class theory
Where have all the street cars gone?
Increased transportation adds an element of geographic flexibility
The process of suburbanization was sped along by the removal of streetcars in favor of automobiles
Automobile manufacturers and tire companies bought local trail lines, dismantled them and replaced them with gasoline powered buses
Seattle street car
The rise of the automobile and demise of public transit
By 1990 in the U.S. 73% of all workers got to work by driving in their automobile while an additional 13% carpooled
More people walked to work (6%) than took public transportation (5%) (1990 Census)
An accounting of Suburbanization
Thought of as relatively new 1899 - Adna Weber noted than American cities
were beginning to suburbanize Really took off in the 1920s Until 1960s continued unabated
1. American desire for less dense space
2. Ability to obtain that space Increasing wealth Availability of automobile/highway transit
Trends in U.S. suburbanization
Westward expansion Karsada (1995) - in 1960 25% of all Fortune 500
firms were located in NYC, in 1990 it declined to 8%
Moving to sunbelt cities and not to city centers Near to highways and regional airports More people now commute from suburb to suburb
than commute to the city center Edge cities Center city deterioration?
A sign of the times?
Explaining Suburbanization
Natural Evolution Theory (“Pull”) “Natural” working of housing market Preference for large single-family lots Decentralization of the city is followed by employment
decentralization (serves to reinforce suburbanization process) Can have deleterious implications for city residents
Fiscal/Social Problems of Central Cities (“Push”) High taxes, poor quality schools, racial tension, crime,
congestion cause affluent to migrate which leads to further deterioration
Gentrification
Influx of businesses and individuals with generally higher SES settling in a an area with relatively lower SES Some add “displacement” to the definition - Also elements
of “improvement” Baby boom generation grew up in the suburbs to a greater
extent than any previous cohort Began to purchase and renovate cheap housing in older
parts of central cities White and upwardly mobile so linked to the gentry moving
back to the city
Impacts of gentrification
Shift of rental property to owned housing Increase in existing rents Decrease in integration “Urban revitalization” Shifting populations Neighborhood turnover
Explanations (London, Lee & Lipton 1986)
Demographics Baby Boom Childless couples (less space and more income)
Ecological Industry replaced by corporation
Socio-cultural “pro-urban”, “urbanicity” is hip
Political/Economical Increase in transit, desegregation, market interaction