tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post114286534770520717..comments2023-05-14T07:51:18.017-05:00Comments on The Suburban Christian: Sprawl: A Compact History, by Robert BruegmannAl Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04407264726681695790noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post-1148999466863838232006-05-30T09:31:00.000-05:002006-05-30T09:31:00.000-05:00To give Bruegmann a little more nuance - I don't t...To give Bruegmann a little more nuance - I don't think he would say that race is not a factor in suburbanization or that white flight is a myth - I think he would say that race is a factor but not the primary or determining one, that there are larger economic forces at work. Especially in the origins of suburbia. It's not that white flight started suburbia - it's rather that suburbia started and whites (and others with the economic means) were quick to go there once affordable new housing developments were made available.<BR/><BR/>In general, I think suburbia will continue to follow demographic trends and diversify, but it's true that suburbia is a commercial environment, and if you can pay, you can play. I say in my book that I'm more optimistic about ethnic and racial diversity in suburbia than I am of socioeconomic class diversity in suburbia. Neighborhoods and subdivisions tend to be economically segregated - one community has $250,000 homes, another has $400,000 homes, another has $800,000 homes, etc. So even if there is increasing racial diversity within particular suburban neighborhoods, there tends to be socioeconomic homogeneity.<BR/><BR/>Suburbanizing cities and urbanizing suburbs points to a larger umbrella concept - thinking in terms of the overall metropolis rather than a dichotomy between city and suburb. Older suburbs are increasingly having many of the same infrastructure problems of disinvestment, poverty, etc., and so the tools of urban ministry and community development are increasingly relevant to older first-ring suburbs. As new suburbs become new cities, old suburbs become old cities. It just points to a lot of complexity across the board!Al Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04407264726681695790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24215087.post-1148623796329304052006-05-26T01:09:00.000-05:002006-05-26T01:09:00.000-05:00Hey Al, Nice write-up. I haven't read Sprawl yet,...Hey Al, <BR/><BR/>Nice write-up. I haven't read <I>Sprawl</I> yet, but I did read the interview in USN&WR, and found my way here by way of a trackback there. I'm still waiting for Los Angeles Public Library to deliver <I>Sprawl</I> to my local neighborhood branch, as I'm thinking about going to Urban Planning school. And I'm also an IV grad. So I'm glad to have found your blog. <BR/><BR/>That he's dismissive of white flight based on the ethnic and racial makeup of today's surbanizers makes sense to me, but I think he's missing the fact that there's still a kind of flight going on, I think. It's just that minorities are fleeing as they can now, too. Call it socio-economic flight, maybe?<BR/><BR/>Those left behind are still largely minorities, though. It's complicated of course. Downtown L.A. is going through it's own suburbanization right now, and I figure in a few years, there'll be an increase of <I>private</I> space for affluent Downtown dwellars to enjoy. <BR/><BR/>So your point about urban areas suburbanizing, and surburbans urbanizing really makes a lot of sense to me. <BR/><BR/>I'm new to your blog, so I'll have do some more reading to get your take on the Christian suburban life. My thing is, I think, is that I think communities ought to be so much more hetergenous socio-economically than we let them be. Do you think urbanizing suburbans and suburbanizing urban areas are a good trend in this regard? As far forcing us to confront fears. Sprawl as good seems a little too easy, I'm sure his book is more nuanced than that, but that seems to be what he's saying. Hope you can forgive this already too long comment.Natehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15821114457286711438noreply@blogger.com