Sunbelt Cities and Suburbanization PDF

Sunbelt Cities Top Ten Largest US Cities With the largest Populations 1950 Top Ten Largest US Cities With the largest Populations 2010  Sunbelt City Populations 1950 2000 2020 Los Angeles 1...

Sunbelt Cities Top Ten Largest US Cities With the largest Populations 1950 Top Ten Largest US Cities With the largest Populations 2010  Sunbelt City Populations 1950 2000 2020 Los Angeles 1,970,0 3,694,000 3,898,00 00 0 Houston 596,000 1,953,000 2,304,00 0 Phoenix 107,000 1,321,000 1,608,00 0 San Antonio 408,000 1,145,000 1,435,00 0 San Diego 334,000 1,223,000 1,387,00 0 Dallas 434,000 1,188,000 1,304,00 0 San Jose 95,000 895,000 1,013,00 0 Why did the Sunbelt cities grow? Economic developments Relocation of manufacturing and other sectors to these regions Location of new firms and facilities Why? Land and labor costs; some cases other costs such as environmental legislation; Transportation – networks of transportation have reduced the advantages of being located in older areas – airports and railroads reduce costs. Migration patterns: Immigration! Most of the largest sunbelt cities have huge Latino populations. Why are they coming? What is the push and the pull? Why these cities? Internal Migrants: Why? Economic opportunities Cultural/Quality of life issues: climate, living conditions, etc. Characteristics of Sunbelt cities:  Sprawling cities – large geographic areas  Economies have been better performing than in the older cities; (Interesting example was - San Diego - recruiting businesses to Mexico!) Politics – Tend to have reform governments, with weak mayors/city managers and at-large councils; Tend to have a pro-business agenda; Lower levels of social spending; Some analysts argue - elite domination of politics, rather than the ethnic/labor political traditions of the older northeast and Midwest; Political Impacts of Sunbelt growth:  Population gives them power to influence national urban policy;  BUT, they tend to have different policy preferences than the older rust belt cities BUT they are still cities and they face a myriad of challenges as well. Many have begun to have the same issues as the rust belt cities!  Suburbanization 194 195 196 198 200 0 0 0 0 0 % % % % % Suburbs 15.3 23 31 45 50 City 32.5 33 32 30 30 Total 48 56 63 75 80 Growth of the Maryland suburban counties versus the loss of population in Baltimore and trends in Washington, DC 1950 2000 2020 Balt. City 949,000 651,000 586,000 DC 802,000 572,000 689,000 Balt. County 270,000 762,000 854,000 Ann Arundel 117,000 489,000 588,000 PG 194,000 801,000 967,000 Howard 23,000 247,000 332,000 Montgomery 164,000 873,000 1,062,000 Transportation and the evolution of suburbs – From 1815- 1918 – suburbanization related to the rise of the railroad and the trolley and then ultimately other forms of mass transit. (Wealthier residents can afford to move further out) 1918- 1940s - The rise of the automobile suburbs – again those with money could move out further 1946-1960s – The emergence of the bedroom suburbs – live in the suburbs but work, shop and play in the city. 1960s on – The rise of the enclave suburbs – live, work, shop and play in the suburbs o You get the rise of the suburban shopping malls – which compete with and in many cases out perform the downtown shopping districts. How might this impact the city? The downtown shopping districts? o Decline and decay in most downtowns – large and small cities! o Although some are now coming back… o Other manifestations of this? Places to play – mega movie theaters; etc. o And ultimately, of course, employment – offices and manufacturing move out as well. What are the roots of suburbanization? Much of this has already been covered- Economic transitions Manufacturing moved out to the suburbs in many cases Why? Land costs and availability Commercial enterprises as well – office space – sprawling campuses versus high cost and limited space of central city – Why was it no longer necessary to be in the city for financial and other services? Retail establishments move out as well (to serve the growing suburban populations! Policy Incentives- FHA, VA, Highway Act, etc. – created incentives for out migration. Review – the impact of the FHA (and the VA) Transportation – mass transit, and then the automobile; the affordability of the automobile makes travel more feasible. Developers – Post WWII - developers literally build suburban communities. New technologies and production processes combined with economic incentives, significant demand, and supportive policies. Key Example: Levittown - William Levitt largest home builder in nation; perfected low cost, fast building process; led to low cost homes; prototype of the mass produced house; not a lot of variation; planned communities– through restrictive covenants; (no changing the house, maintain certain colors, etc., and included who could buy the homes, no blacks!) Demand for suburban living - Cultural/Standard of Living- What do we think of when we think of the city? Suburbs? Levittown, NY -- Aerial view of Levittown New York 1957 -- Levittown was the miracle suburb on Long Island that opened the way for the middle class to move out of New York City and enabled veterans returning from World War II to become homeowners. ( Meyer Leibowitz/The New York Times) “Drawn by prices of about $7,000, or monthly payments of around $60”, NY Times The delivery of housing materials to the building site waiting for construction. (Source:University of Illinois at Chicago) “At its peak, Levitt built 36 houses a day, each on a 60-foot-by- 100-foot plot. The original Cape Cods had two bedrooms and an unfinished attic. ” NY Times – “Levittown at 50” The role of the developer, the late William J. Levitt, is debated. He defended his actions as following the social customs of the era. ''The Negroes in America are trying to do in 400 years what the Jews in the world have not wholly accomplished in 600 years,'' he once wrote. ''As a Jew, I have no room in my mind or heart for racial prejudice. But I have come to know that if we sell one house to a Negro family, then 90 or 95 percent of our white customers will not buy into the community. This is their attitude, not ours. As a company, our position is simply this: We can solve a housing problem, or we can try to solve a racial problem, but we cannot combine the two.” --NY Times- “Levittown at 50” 2010 Census – Levittown, NY: 74% White, 17% Hispanic, 7% Asian, 1% Black The Impacts of suburbanization - The Fragmented Metropolis Multiple jurisdictions – develop outside of the cities – (Baltimore is an exception); political divisions In early days city would annex new developments – they would get city services – was good for both sides. Then newly developed areas started to incorporate themselves in order to retain independence – [political separation from the city – why? same reasons why they left!] Economic challenges – Competition; lack of coordination; spatial mismatch Segregation (race and class) Social class segregation – by the zoning requirements that prohibited certain kinds of housing from being built – no apts; no multi unit structures, certain lot sizes, etc. Even the kinds of roads built – e.g., Robert Moses Education segregation - Detroit busing case Miliken v. Bradley (1974); persistent education inequities;  Census - 2019 Estimates Baltimore Metro Baltimore City Total Pop. 2.8 Million 593,000 (22% of Metro) White 56% 27% Black 29% 62% Latino 6% 5% Asian 5% 2% Median 83,000 50,000 Household Income Median House 313,000 179,000 value Poverty 9.5% 20.2% High School grad 92% 86% or more Bachelor’s 42% 33% Impact on the Central City Economic Decline – Manf.; retail; other aspects of the service sector; job growth in metropolitan areas occurs primarily in suburbs; Loss of Political standing (especially for Rust belt Central cities) Federal policy - sunbelt v rust belt; suburbs v. central cities in general; State policy -- in legislatures and governors’ races – loss of influence Baltimore: In 1950 -36% of vote in governor’s race; In 2002 – 9%; Baltimore County – 16%; PG 12%; Mont- 18% What does that mean? less state resources, even though city still has disproportionate share of challenges; even for infrastructure which may be used by more than residents. Recent Trends – Inner ring suburbs - facing the same challenges as central cities – crime, education, decline of infrastructure, population loss, economic decline, etc. Increasing Racial and Class Diversity Black and Latino suburbanization – reflects -middle class flight as well as in-migrants choosing suburbs over city; Will impact politics and economics, etc. (e.g., Baltimore County redistricting) What does this mean? Concentrated poverty, destabilized communities? Immigration directly to suburbs Increasing class diversity: there are more impoverished in suburbs than in the cities! Sprawl – continuous expansion of the developed area; expansion of the metropolis; one definition claims sprawl occurs where developed land is growing at a faster rate than the population growth. Table 1: Income rises with distance to CBD for non-white families Correlation between distance and income among: Hispanic Asian MSA Whites Blacks s s Atlanta -0.09 0.45 0.18 0.25 Detroit 0.40 0.48 0.25 0.54 Los Angeles 0.20 0.30 0.36 0.33 Washington -0.02 0.53 0.14 0.22 DC All MSAs 0.06 0.36 0.20 0.30 Melting Pot Suburbs – Suburbs with 35% minorities or more http://www.atlasofurbanexpansion.org/ Challenges of Sprawl -Why is this a problem? o Environmental issues— o Emissions from traffic; o Congestion driven by increased number of travelers as well as the layout of roads – the cul de sac! o Run-off from developed areas o Loss of farmland and green areas o Impact on the city and inner ring suburbs; o Impact on state and local governments – What do the new communities need?– infrastructure costs – sewers, roads, services, schools, etc. o Limited potential for mass transit o Decline in social capital? https://www.buildzoom.com/blog/cities-expansion-slowing Baltimore metro population - 1990- 2.38 million; 2000- 2.55 million ; 2010 – 2.7 million Buffalo – 1990 - 1.18 million , 2000 – 1.17 million ; 2010 – 1.13 million Cleveland -1990- 2.20 million ; 2000 - 2.1 million; 2010 -- 2.0 million  Save Our land, Save Our Towns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r9fINEvsJA According to this film, what are the… 1. Causes of Sprawl? 2. Impacts of Sprawl? 3. Solutions? https:// www.buildzoom.com/blog/can-cities-compensate-for-curbing-sprawl- by-growing-denser What can you do about Sprawl? Growth management strategies o Many argue that the solution must be government regulation o Sprawl as an example of a “tragedy of the commons?” o Growth management legislation – various jurisdictions have had wide ranging legislation (often supported by both Democrats and Republicans). Essentially zoning restrictions to limit growth– quality of life concerns. Fewer in recent years. o Smart Growth o Urban Growth Boundaries o European strategies o New Urbanism – a movement; shift in approach to development -- what developers build. Smart Growth – MD – State plan focused infrastructure development in priority funding areas – (inside the beltways, already developed areas, e.g. in Frederick) Goals: - Support existing communities by targeting resources to support development in areas where infrastructure exists; - Preserving greenspaces (farmland, forests, woods, etc.) - Save our most valuable natural resources before they are forever lost; Save taxpayers from the high cost of building infrastructure to serve development - Preserve quality of life in rural, urban and suburban communities Urban Growth Boundaries – Primary Example: Portland – Governed by a metro council – 20 years worth of space for development; revisited every ten years. Opposition – unfair - goes against property rights!; bad for affordable housing Baltimore County URDL – Urban Rural Demarcation Line One exception made in last 25 years. What was it? http://freeassociationdesign.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/portland-ugb_ grid_entire.jpg Picture of Portland’s growth boundary.  https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4 763699,-122.8861631,2947m/data=! 3m1!1e3 Portland - Urban Growth Boundary https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3 786556,-76.5643883,17631m/data=! 3m1!1e3 Baltimore County URDL Maple Lawn, Howard County, MD http://www.atlasofurbanexpansion.org/