The Jacob Riis of tomorrow is going to have to drive out to the 'burbs to document the suburban poor as the subprime mortgage crisis has done a job on the explosion of residential developments and creepy McMansions created in the past 20 years. According to this article by Lara Farrar, the U.S. is about to encounter an interesting shift in demographics and the defninition of the American dream.
Back in the day, it was considered en elevation in status to remove oneself from the cities and get a house in the suburbs. Statistics show now that suburban folks want a sense of community back. To be able to walk places in real neighborhoods instead of manufactured ones. To be able to walk to a corner store instead of having to drive everywhere. Whatever happened to front porches? Now new houses feature the outside of a closed 4-car garage door. Inviting!
In short: people want to live and work in cities or at least work closer to their homes. No shizzle. In this town, the average person can't afford to live. And the below average income person? Forget about it, they're getting pushed out of neighborhoods left and right--New York City is for richy snooty pants either foreign or domestic (at this rate, most likely foreign). The future West Side Story won't be in NYC, it'll be in Elk Grove, California or Marietta Georgia, or Medina, Ohio. Who knew?
Jane Jacobs knew.
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