The Road to Sprawl

Origins anti-urban ideologies of Howard, Wright, etc. streetcar suburbs (e.g. Riverside) Federally insured (FHA) home loans from 1933 –term was lengthened from 5-10 to –Federal Govt. insured lenders in case of foreclosure –Veterans Administration (GI-bill) created no-down payment loans FAHA: Federally-subsidized highway construction (states ended up paying 10%) –Congress creates a form of corporate welfare under hard lobbying from the “road gang”: oil, car, and tire corporations Automobile dependency of American society

The Post-War House (from 1940s)

A new model of the “good life”

H. Gans “Levittowners” Studied residents of 1 st mass-produced housing (William Levitt → Levittown, NY and NJ) late 1940sLevittown Middle-class values were being asserted vs. working class and upper middle class Class conflict was not explicit but was evident in struggles over public services such as fire protection, libraries, and schools (Herbert Gans) While they were wealthy enough to apply “all-of- the-above” philosophy, their model of community (no taxes, every family for itself) led to an “either/or” philosophy and consequently to class struggle

Levitt’s New Urban Dream Peter Bacon Hales:

What kind of community was left behind? (Jane Jacobs) stable dense proprietary attitude toward neighborhood informal maintenance of order “eyes on the street” round-the-clock activity pedestrian space (sidewalk) mix of ages and uses “sidewalk ballet” Photo: New Deal Network,

The Street as Public Space not machine space

White Flight (from 1940s)

The Mall (from 1950s)

A purified realm

The Service-Oriented Suburban Office Building (from 1970s)

The Back Office (from 1980s)

Feeling a Bit Paranoid?

Gated Communities (from 1990s)

Centrifugal Forces classism racism federal policy automobile dependency ageing infrastructure inner-city crime school quality inner-city pollution What’s wrong with this list? The fact that it is a list!

Who Suffers from White Flight?

Cyclical Relationship DECENTRALIZATION OF JOBS INCREASING CRIME & TENSION IN INNER CITY FLIGHT OF AFFLUENT POPULATIONS

Some New Urban Landscapes Brownfields Greenfields Purified Residential Spaces Machine Spaces Automobile Graveyards

Brownfields

Greenfields

Really Really Green

Purified Residential Spaces

Machine Spaces

Automobile Graveyards

Discovery of the 1990s If everyone wants to live where the rich live, only the really poor will be left in the inner city This will mean the city has no fiscal resources to address their problems Could it be that the way address the social problems of the inner city is to quit running away?

Remaining Problem Cities are increasingly based around the use of private, motorized transportation: cars, SUVs, light trucks, vans, motorcycles Pedestrian spaces are severely degraded –noise –air pollution –lack of access –separation of destinations

Cyclical Relationship SPRAWLING LOW-DENSITY URBAN MORPHOLOGY INCREASING DANGER & INCONVENIENCE TO PEDESTRIANS DEPENDENCE ON PRIVATE MOTORIZED TRANSPORT

Much of this comes back to anti-urban ideologies What are our dreams of the “good life”?

Selling Anti-Urban Dreams

More Dreams …

The Role of Urban Imagery ideologies related to urban life individual and collective location decisions exposure to certain situations and not others

Anti-Urban Ideology in Ads

Small-Town Nostalgia

Confederate Nostalgia

Habitat Gain (for us) Habitat Loss (for wild species)

Deforestation

Exurban Development

Living “in” Nature

Who Suffers from Exurban Development?

Is golfing a way to get in touch with “nature”?

Final Thoughts If everyone wants to live “in nature” the rate of habitat destruction will continue to accelerate If everyone tries to get away from people who are poorer this amounts to imposing a travel-tax on the poor who must travel farther to access jobs, services, retail, useable public spaces, etc. Could it be that the way to improve our social lives and the environment is to quit running away from the city and start acting as if we intend to make the city our home?