The evolution of suburbs
“The history of suburban construction can be understood as the evolution of seven vernacular patterns. Building in borderlands began about 1820. Picturesque enclaves started around 1850 and streetcar buildouts around 1870. Mail-order and self-built suburbs arrived in 1900. Mass-produced, urban-scale “sitcom” suburbs appeared around 1940. Edge nodes coalesced around 1960. Rural fringes intensified around 1980. All of these patterns survive in the metropolitan areas of 2003. Many continue to be constructed.” —Dolores Hayden, Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000
“Recently, I drove around some of the subdivisions on State Road 54, as well as in other parts of Tampa Bay and in southwest Florida. A friend from Tampa, who accompanied me on one outing, called them ‘ghost subdivisions’.” —George Packer, “The Ponzi State: Florida’s foreclosure disaster,” The New Yorker, Feb. 9 & 16, 2009
