Water Health In Lompolo Project (Mapping)

Learning to Cross the Street (Presentation)

Tomorrow's Cities, Tomorrow's Suburbs

A book authored in conjunction with William H. Lucy and published by APA Planners Press is now available from their Bookstore. This book incorporates the findings from the population and income change studies referenced below on 2586 suburbs in the nation's largest 25 metropolitan areas. It also incorporates analysis of all 542 cities in 312 metropolitan areas across the entire United States. Further, census tract analysis is conducted on six major metropolitan areas (Los Angeles and Orange County, Washington D.C., Richmond Va., Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia)

Many old neighborhoods in cities made comebacks and many suburbs had sunk lower in relative income than poor cities like Detroit by 2000.

Attracting more middle and upper income households to pre-1940 neighborhoods helped many cities stabilize between 1990 and 2000, suggesting that most cities will exhibit clear signs of revival by 2010 or at least by the 2020 census.

“...because market trends have turned favorably for many central cities, local, state, and national policy-makers have many opportunities to encourage positive trends rather than be forced to struggle against negative market trends that have plagued cities for most of the 60 years since 1945.”

The belief of some homebuyers that suburban neighborhoods are safest for young children because of cul de sac street patterns is not supported by evidence. They also provide evidence that exurbs often are more dangerous than central cities, contrary to popular belief, a fact which if commonly known, they suggest, may lead to more rapid revival of cities in the future.

 

Suburban Change:

Population

Change in the Suburbs of 35 Largest Metropolitan Areas 1990-2000.  An examination of the population changes in 2,586 suburban places in the 35 largest metropolitan areas of the United States was conducted with William L. Lucy for the Brookings Institution Center for Urban and Metropolitan Policy.  The initial study examined the changes in suburban places (incorporated and Census Designated Places) that had population of 2,500 or more in 1980 and were consistently named in the three Decenial Censuses.  In the 1990's 700 of these suburbs lost population.  Some lost housing stock and  many had reductions in Household Size as the population became more elderly and household composition changed.  Some lost population because of boundary changes.  The distribution of the population losing suburbs throughout the metropolitan regions demonstrate that  "older inner suburb decline" is too simplistic a description.  Summer 2001.

Income Change:

A second set of studies have examined the relative change in per capita and median family income in these suburbs.  These studies are part of the recently published book Tomorrow's Cities--Tomorrow's Suburbs.

The maps showing the status and change in relative family and percapita income are shown for 35 metropolitan areas.

 

Post-Suburban Era:

Examination of the extent of decline in suburban communities within major metropolitan areas has been explored. The status of neighorhoods and suburban places has been examined identifying and describing their stability or decline relative to metropolitan income levels. Population loss, income decline, racial change, owner occupancy rates and homogeneity of housing by age are among the indicators used to demonstrate that some suburban jurisdictions are declining faster than many inner-city neighborhoods. The homogeneity of many suburban jurisdictions seem to make them more vulnerable to decline and more resistent to adjustments. Implications for strategic planning for sustainable community development in this new metropolitan mosaic are explored.  This research has been published by Island Press. Confronting Surban Decline: Strategic Planning for Metropolitan Renewal

Metropolitan Mapping

Metropolitan Change in the Chesapeake Bay Region: (1995 & 1997) Research and mapping of demographic change helped the foundation explore the population growth pressures and demographic shifts taking place in the vicinity of the metroplitan areas within the Chesapeake Bay Area.  The intent was to explore the measured effects of sprawl, the importance of integrating land use and transportation planning for Bay protection, and the importance of "regionalism" in addressing interlocking social, environmental and economic problems of the Bay Area. The project constructed a series  detailed maps for each of four metropolitan areas in the Chesapeake Bay Area at the census tract level.   There were a total of 150 maps produced.

Metropolitan Change in Virginia Metropolitan Areas: (1994 & 1995)

Pittsburgh Census Atlas Project: Desktop Mapping (1993)