Suburbanization and Urban Components

Mr. Keller APHG 2011

Urban Components

-CBD

(central business district): location of skyscrapers and companies (would always be the center of the 3 urban models, many people commute, few actually live there) -

Central city

: urban area that is not suburban; generally the older or original city surrounded by the newer suburbs.

-

Inner city

: urban area around the CBD; typically poorer and more run down in the US and other long-developed states; typically more rich upscale in less-developed states.

-

Ghetto

: inner cities that become dilapidated centers of poverty, as affluent whites move out of the suburbs (

white flight

) and immigrants and poorer people vie for scarce jobs and resources.

Urban Components

Suburb

: residential communities, located outside of city centers; usually homogeneous in terms of population and ethnicity.

-

Exurb

: ring of prosperous communities beyond the suburbs that are commuter towns for an urban area; began to emerge in the 1970s when rampant crime and

urban decay

(when part of a city falls into disrepair due to deindustrialization, depopulation, high unemployment, ...) in U.S. cities were the primary

push factors

; more recently since house prices have skyrocketed, middle-class people who want a large yard or farm are pushed beyond suburban counties and into “exurbs”.

Urban Geography – Urban Systems

John Borchert - 1967

R

ecognized four epochs in the evolution of the American metropolis based on the impact of transportation & communication: • 1) Sail-Wagon Epoch (1790-1830) – associated with low technology • 2) Iron Horse Epoch (1830-70); steam-powered locomotive & spreading rails • 3) Steel-Rail Epoch (1870-1920); full impact of Ind. Rev. (steel), hinterlands expand • 4) Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920-70); gas-powered internal combustion engine • High Technology Epoch (1970-today ); expansion of service & information industries (not part of Borchert’s model)

U.S. Urban Growth Stages

Changes in Cities in the U.S. U.S. population has been moving out of the city centers to the suburbs :

suburbanization and counterurbanization

Developed Countries: suburbanization

 wealthy move to suburbs  ‘American Dream’   automobiles and roads; better services wealthy move to suburbs

counterurbanization

 idyllic settings  cost of land for retirement  slow pace, yet high tech connections to services and markets

U.S. intraregional migration during 1990s

.

Inner Cities – White Flight

• Inner-city physical problems – – Deterioration process Urban renewal • Inner-city social problems – Underclass – – – Culture of poverty Blockbusting Redlining

Urban Sprawl and Response

Urban sprawl:

process of expansive suburban development over large areas; the automobile provides the primary source of transportation.

Smart Growth and New Urbanism:

urban design originating in the US during the 1980s to work against sprawl; characterized by organized urban planning, suburban

infill

(filling in unused space), and are designed to be walkable. (Celebration, Florida)

http://www.treehugger.com/urban-sprawl-america.jpg

www.cartoonstock.com/directory/u/urban_sprawl.asp

onlinegeography.wikispaces.com/S+-+Urban+Sprawl

Suburbanization Question

The development of suburbs in North American metropolitan areas has greatly accelerated since the 1950s and 1960s.

How have the following contributed to this acceleration .

(1) Transportation (2) Housing production (3) Landscape preference (4) Social and demographic trends

Definition

  Movement of upper and middle-class people from core areas to surrounding outskirts. The process began in the mid-nineteenth century but became a mass phenomenon in the late-twentieth century. Critical elements   Social stratification Long history dating from railroad and streetcar suburbs  Phenomenon of the masses since 1950s

Why is this a significant geographic question?

 Post-War suburbanization represents a huge change in the distribution of the nation’s population.

The U. S. suburban population grew from 26.7% in 1950 to 49.8% in 2000.

Pop. in Cities, Suburbs, and Nonmetro Areas 1950 to 2000 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 1950 1960 1970 years 1980 1990 2000 central cities suburbs nonmetro

Levittown, NY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx6JSJ3l qg&feature=related

Levittown, NY

 30 houses a day & still couldn’t keep up with demand  Mass production and non-union labor used  Houses sold for $7,990 and could be bought with a $90 deposit and $58 monthly payment

Post WWII

 Before the war, education and home ownership were considered unattainable for many average Americans  GI Bill – 2.4 million home loans backed by the Veterans Administration

Why is this a significant geographic question?

 Post-War suburbanization represents a huge change in the distribution of the nation’s population.  It has important consequences for how society uses its land resource.

Phoenix as a case study. Suburbanization is a land-hungry process.

Suburbanization as a mass phenomenon after 1950.

Phoenix grew by 1 million between 1990 and 2000.

Why is this a significant geographic question?

   Post-War suburbanization represents a huge change in the distribution of the nation’s population. It has important consequences for how society uses its land resource.

It is the physical manifestation of changes in economy, society, and culture.

Transportation

  Freeways and transport corridors increased accessibility of the suburbs. (Co-Op City) Critical link between transportation technology and urban form -- 4 stages of urban development --(1) pedestrian and horsecar travel from 1800 to 1890, (2) electric streetcars between 1890 and 1920, (3) recreational automobiles between 1920 and 1950, and (4) freeways from 1950 to present.

Car Culture – 1950s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWsxK AS4CfQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvrrM ZvoHwk&feature=related • Diners, Motels and drag races  • The Impact of the intestate?

57’ Chevy BelAir

 http://www.classiccarcenter.net/images/customers/1957Chevy02.JPG

4 stages of urban transportation development

Suburbs evolved from “sub” “urbs” to freestanding, self-sufficient entities.

Joel Garreau – Edge Cities

Mass production of housing housing supply issues

    Housing was produced by large developers on large tracts of cheap land. 70% of new homes were constructed by 10% of builders.

Mass produced styles made housing cheaper and more affordable.

Post-war mortgage programs. FHA and VA loans guaranteed creditors security on their loans by reducing down payments and extending repayment period. Homeownership increased from 43.6% in 1940 to 65.5% in 2000.

American Dream

Landscape preferences – housing demand issues

   Jeffersonian democracy fostered a powerful rural ideal. Cities were a necessary evil. Urge to make them as non-city-like as possible. 18 th Century French traveler, Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur summarized American cultural values:     Love of newness Desire to be near nature Freedom to move Competitive urge  Sense of destiny Suburbs are portrayed in the 1950s media as the ideal American lifestyle -- Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best.

Leave it to Beaver (1957 1964)

The Cleavers lived in the generic suburb of Mayfield.

Father Knows Best (1954 1962)

The Andersons lived in Springfield.

How about other late 20 th , early 21 st century TV shows?

 Friends – New York City  Seinfeld – New York City  South Park – Denver  Gilmore Girls, Everwood – mythical small town ideal  Simpsons – Springfield  Smallville – the middle of nowhere? Kansas 

Social and demographic trends

    High fertility of the baby boom era raised the demand for housing.

Large families demanded large homes.

The nuclear family replaced the extended family as the ideal.

Prevailing model of male breadwinner and women as homemakers. Suburban location gave them home, garden, and automobile – cult of domesticity.

Fertility peaks at 3.77 in 1957.

US Total Fertility Rate 1940-2000 4 3.5

3 2.5

2 1.5

1940 1950 1945 1960 1955 1970 1965 1980 1975 1985 1990 2000 1995 Year TFR

Married women as homemakers in the 1950s.

Percent of Married Women in Labor Force 70 60 50 Married Women 40 30 20 10 1940 1947 1944 1955 1950 1965 1960 1975 1970 1985 1980 1995 1990

year

Problems of Suburbs

 The peripheral model  Density gradient   Cost of suburban sprawl Suburban segregation   Transportation and suburbanization  Motor vehicles  Public transportation Local government fragmentation   Metropolitan government Growing smart

Conclusions

 Between 1950 and 2000, the U.S. became a suburban nation. 50% of population lives in suburbs.

 Growth of suburbs reveals societal forces – transportation technology, residential preferences, housing policy, and demographic change.

Discussion Questions

  What are the consequences of mass suburbanization for N. American society?

 Plight of central cities    Urban sprawl Social fragmentation Local, state, and national politics Will the trend toward suburbanization continue? Think about the forces that created mass suburbanization. Will they continue?

US Megapolitan Areas

Megalopolis

Fig. 13-4: The Boston-Washington corridor extends over 700 km and contains about one-quarter of U.S. population.

Megalopolis/Conurbation

Illustrates the difference between strict city proper definitions and broader urban agglomerations.

To define urbanized areas, the U.S. Census Bureau uses the term Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or Consolidated MSA (CMSA) if two of them overlap.