Even if we assume that suburban sprawl is no longer a significant factor in the growth of our cities, we are still left with all of the suburban development that was built in the last several decades across America. So, the question is: what the heck are we supposed to do with all of our existing suburbs? How do we go about fixing them? The two TED Talks below address this question.
The first TED Talk from Elen Dunham-Jones, Georgia Tech planning professor, and author of Retrofitting Suburbia. Dunham-Jones focuses on how we can “retrofit suburbia” by looking at examples across the country where dead suburban strip malls have been re-created into vibrant urban corridors.
The second TED Talk from Jeff Speck, author of Walkable City, argues that we can fix our country’s suburbs by focusing on improving walkability.
What are your ideas for how to fix the suburbs?
John Karras believes that all communities have the potential to become more vibrant. John’s professional passions are aligned at the three-way intersection of urban planning, economic development and transportation policy. John founded urbanSCALE.com to empower urban planning and economic development professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to make their communities more vibrant. John is also the creator of the urbanSCALE Rating System, the first comprehensive measure of how urban a city is on a scale of 1 to 10.
Hi John,
Great question. Part of the problem, I think, is that people don’t believe there is a problem with the suburbs (I, for one, do, of course). The American dream seems to have focused on having a lot of space and being able to buy a large house, cheaply. That means that people move further and further out, builders go further and further away from the center of town. And, of course, highways are built to accommodate the sprawl. And our country’s focus on and obsession with the new–“let’s build all-new prefab homes and condos”—means that structures closer to the center of down decay instead of being renovated. I do believe that one of America’s benefits is that we’re able to adapt new ideas quickly, but I wish we were betting at revering/preserving the old. Maybe a look to Europe, where history is more respected, would provide some helpful solutions?
Thanks for the comment, Tula! You’ve tapped into the psychology behind the growth of the suburbs: BIGGER, BETTER, NEWER. Those three words describe the American “consumer” mindset, which has been the real driving force of suburban development over the last several decades. The good news is that the tide is turning….The recent decline in “mall culture” and national chain restaurants in favor of urban shopping districts and more unique, local cuisine is a good indicator of a broader trend. For the first time in generations, fewer young people are seeking drivers licenses and today’s young adults want little to do with suburbs and mass market products.
There are many references in TED talks and elsewhere to the positive concepts that became realities in Portland Oregon in the past few decades. What was the impetus or basic insight that allowed Portland’s concept of community to evolve so differently from most other U.S. cities? Why aren’t more communities learning more readily from Portland’s example? How do we create a new mindset so as to repurpose our suburban sprawl?
Yes, Portland is often held up as the poster child of good urban planning and anti-suburban sprawl. The reality is a bit more mixed…there is a considerable amount of sprawl outside of Portland’s urban growth boundary, particularly in the portion of the metro in Washington state. In any case, Portland really has gone against the grain and has done some unique things to create a vibrant, connected region. Most notably, during the 1960s and 1970s, a time when most major U.S. cities were busy tearing down urban neighborhoods to build highways, Portland actually fought against the highway culture and instead invested in a new regional light rail system. Portland even went as far as to tear down a highway along their downtown waterfront and put in a public park in its place.