In a lot of third world countries (e.g., Mexico), the suburbs are usually the slums. Maybe the U.S. is joining the third world in more ways than just those captured by the income & wealth distributions and the like.
> The subprime crisis is just the tip of the iceberg. Fundamental changes > in American life may turn today's McMansions into tomorrow's tenements. > > by Christopher B. Leinberger > The Next Slum? > > Strange days are upon the residents of many a suburban cul-de-sac. > Once-tidy yards have become overgrown, as the houses they front have > gone vacant. Signs of physical and social disorder are spreading.... > The decline of places like Windy Ridge and Franklin Reserve is usually > attributed to the subprime-mortgage crisis, with its wave of > foreclosures. And the crisis has indeed catalyzed or intensified social > problems in many communities. But the story of vacant suburban homes and > declining suburban neighborhoods did not begin with the crisis, and will > not end with it. A structural change is under way in the housing > market—a major shift in the way many Americans want to live and work. It > has shaped the current downturn, steering some of the worst problems > away from the cities and toward the suburban fringes. And its effects > will be felt more strongly, and more broadly, as the years pass. Its > ultimate impact on the suburbs, and the cities, will be profound. > > Arthur C. Nelson, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia > Tech, has looked carefully at trends in American demographics, > construction, house prices, and consumer preferences. In 2006, using > recent consumer research, housing supply data, and population growth > rates, he modeled future demand for various types of housing. The > results were bracing: Nelson forecasts a likely surplus of 22 million > large-lot homes (houses built on a sixth of an acre or more) by > 2025—that's roughly 40 percent of the large-lot homes in existence today. > > For 60 years, Americans have pushed steadily into the suburbs, > transforming the landscape and (until recently) leaving cities behind. > But today the pendulum is swinging back toward urban living, and there > are many reasons to believe this swing will continue. As it does, many > low-density suburbs and McMansion subdivisions, including some that are > lovely and affluent today, may become what inner cities became in the > 1960s and '70s—slums characterized by poverty, crime, and decay. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
