This article in the Atlantic predicts that McMansions are destined for the blight that affected inner cities in the '70s. The writer, Christopher B. Leinberger, even suggests it's going to be worse, because the buildings in question are nowhere near as tough as urban tenements. That means those complexes are going to get very messed up very fast.And thanks to the boom in foreclosure, It's already started, he says:
Low-income people, displaced from gentrifying inner cities, have moved in, and longtime residents, seeking more space and nicer neighborhoods, have moved out . . . Some of the worst problems are likely to be seen in some of the country's more recently developed areas-and not only those inhabited by subprime-mortgage borrowers. Many of these areas will become magnets for poverty, crime, and social dysfunction.
While the image of these planned communities suddenly prey to gang violence and chaos has vast cinematic potential, as the article's author points out, it is in reality very scary. Here you have all these families who moved out there to raise their kids around good schools and peace, and it turns out that in the long run they might have been safer in the city sticking with the tiny walk-up and the mediocre public school.
It also makes one doubt Bush's recent insistence that the economy is not recession-bound. When places with suburban-dream names like Willowbrook Ranch Glen Canyon Creek Rock Trail are subject to drive-bys, the problem is harder to ignore.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
1. The citys became the slums after the Great White Flight in the 60s and 70s. Now the closer suburbs to the cities are basically the same way, and for the same reason. The money is continually moving away from cities (in some rare cases today it's moving back in), leaving behind a population incapable of sustaining the area. Outward expansion of affluence, leaving decay in the center.
Strados at 7:51AM on Mar 3rd 2008
2. The economy surely effects real-estate values, Ada.
No dought about that. But here's a thought about those McMansions
My trout fishing partner's son bought one and moved his young family into. The place was huge. It had a room called a "media room". I thought this was the den, but I was wrong. The den was another room all together.
Anyway, it was the commute into the city that got to him after a few years. I guess he traded a 30 minute commute (one way) into a 2 hour commute in the process.
So he's in a townhouse now and a lot closer to work.
Hmmm...speaking of trout fishing. I'd better check the line on my fly rod and make sure Mrs. Willet's little dog didn't chew another hole in my hip waders.
Willet at 10:28AM on Mar 3rd 2008
3. Rising fuel costs & a lack of good mass transit are another reason why the "burbs" are less attractive!
Robert E. Quillen at 10:43AM on Mar 3rd 2008
4. http://evolutionfacts.blogspot.com
FORMER ATHEIST at 10:47AM on Mar 3rd 2008
5. FORMER ATHEIST, you are an internet disease. Why do you even bother?
Mokele-Mobembe at 11:09AM on Mar 3rd 2008
6. Yes, I think the suburbs in many places will be the slums of the future.I say this because of the cheap construction going into these homes.They do not have the sturdy architectural detailing of the older well made buildings of years gone by.The strip malls as well will be crummy. Most already are.
Mary J. at 12:41PM on Mar 3rd 2008
7. Living in downtown Baltimore for the last 18 years, with a 5 mile commute against traffic I have to laugh at my siblings that have a 60 or more mile one way commute. That being said, even with their good paying jobs, they're always strapped. I can easily see people falling behind, ending in foreclosure and then the houses going abandoned. The rest of the world seems to be able to keep up their cities for hundreds of years, maybe we're going to learn how to also. Good riddance.
Dennis at 12:42PM on Mar 3rd 2008
8. I get that the inner cities and the first ring suburbs have decayed with folks going further and further out. But just how are the folks who have lost their homes to foreclosure going to afford the "McMansions" being built? They are financially beyond the reach of most of us. And some are very well built and sturdy - beacause the folks who buy them paid for that.
I personally like being close to the city, but if folks want to live in far flung suburbs, so be it. I just chuckle at folks I work with who drive 30 - 50 miles to work every day - it takes me 15 minutes.
David S. at 2:52PM on Mar 3rd 2008
9. David,
Downtown Baltimore has moved in a huge way toward livability, as has Philapelphia and NY. I think the point is, if there's no reason to be that far out in a house no one can afford and therefore become abandoned, do the suburbs and exurbs become the "badlands"?
Dennis at 2:59PM on Mar 3rd 2008
10. Dennis,
I get what you are saying. But I live in Cleveland, and I can assure the foreclosure mess has hit hard here. But it is the inner ring neighborhoods where it is most prevalent, not the McMansions in far out neighborhoods. Folks who buy out there can typically afford to live there, and they moved there because they like the school systems for their kids. I am sure there are some foreclosures out there as well, but I doubt many. Cleveland has attracted more folks downtown to lofts and condos, but those tend to be either the young and adventurous professional types or retirees. Folks raising kids do not want to live in the city because of the schools - again only speaking for Cleveland. I cannot imagaine a mass exodus from toney suburbs to inner city neighborhooods.
David S. at 3:15PM on Mar 3rd 2008
11. Agreed David, same here. I've had neighbors until the kids turn 3-4 and its see ya later. As gas continues to rise in price and get scarcer, we'd better learn to take care of the cities, otherwise we as a country are all going to be stranded in the burbs.
Dennis at 3:22PM on Mar 3rd 2008
12. The, "American Dream" of home ownership has become the "American Nightmare" for far too many people.
My experience with commuting from the 'burbs to the core business center of a major city was a disaster. Hours of my life were spent standing at bus stops in the dark of the morning and the early evening. Fender benders caused traffic jams that added hours to my day. Even taking public transit costs a lot of money. Never mind parking expenses for those who drive their autos, which contribute to the pollution and congestion.
By the time I got home in the evening, all I could do was eat dinner and fall asleep in front of the television. By the time Friday night arrived, I was totally exhausted. I'd "make up" for lost sleep on Saturday and by Sunday night, I was stressed out by knowing I'd have to start the cycle again at o-dark-thirty on Monday morning. The weekend just disrupted my sleep pattern. It was no way to live. So I changed.
And parents should ask themselves if, "better schools" are more important for their children than seeing their parents' stressed out lives. Among the leading causes of divorce are financial difficulties. And, are, "better schools" really in the suburbs? Is that just a cover excuse for, "keeping up with the Jonses?"
I know people who got into mortgages they should have known they could never afford in the first place. They were persuaded that they could just re-finance in two years - "Hey, no problem." was what they heard from the sub-prime lenders.
Time to re-examine the, "American Dream."
Captain Negative at 4:35PM on Mar 3rd 2008
13. Ada,
Take down Dinesh's truly offensive post now!
Paul at 4:40PM on Mar 3rd 2008
14. This is exactly the problem facing the Washington DC metro area today, in the last 15 years since about 1998, or 1999 the mid-to outer suburbs have experienced a massive White flight of over 800,000. All of the people buying these McMansions are former inhabitants of inner city slums of DC and Baltimore, that happened to get an education...but that doesn't change your "hood mentality"
Welcome to new America.
Scott at 5:32PM on Mar 3rd 2008
15. I think a lot of what is going on is just history catching up with the way things were handled with white flight. I think if the problems that caused white flight were addressed instead of just moved away from then people wouldn't have to worry about these issues today.
Darius at 5:39PM on Mar 3rd 2008