Inner-ring Suburbs - Policy Blindspot?

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WaPo says that Arlington (Va) and its ilk are increasingly elderly and increasingly urban (and Democratic), but increasingly troubled as they are ignored in favor of responding to exurban service demands and central city redevelopment goals.

Are these trends due to people moving out of the inner-burbs (in both directions?) or people moving in, or both?

The article suggests that encouraging development around transit stops in these areas is a good preliminary response (citing Nu-Arlington as an example). Because it will draw young people/families? From where?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 13:38 (nineteen years ago)

Urban planning is so different in the USA to here, although rampant non-planning mentalism is turning my city into a parody of Los Angeles. Which SuXoR, obv.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 14:55 (nineteen years ago)

The article suggests that encouraging development around transit stops in these areas is a good preliminary response

the problem with this is the (probably incorrect) assumption that inner-ring suburbanites don't WANT their towns to turn into riff-raff destination stops. there are a lot of inner-ring suburbs within NYC as well, places out in queens and staten island that are inaccessible and unwelcoming on purpose, even though developers and planners have tried to build out there and extend the city-center radius out towards the fringes a bit more. it'd be wonderful to get more people out to, say, bayside, but somebody in the whole process is operating on 40-year-old assumptions about NIMBYism. the real NIMBYs are out on eastern long island though; they can isolate themselves until they're blue in the face.

― kanye twitty (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 16:57 (nineteen years ago)

although rampant non-planning mentalism is turning my city into a parody of Los Angeles. '

los angeles, incidentally, just hired a shitload of new planners.

― kanye twitty (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 17:00 (nineteen years ago)

Lock that stable door!

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 17:05 (nineteen years ago)

the Brookings report

the Times writes about it, noting the immigrant factor that seemed to have been left out by WaPo

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 16 February 2006 16:55 (nineteen years ago)

I haven't read these articles yet, but I read a different article in the WaPo in which the director of the Fairfax County Library system, and my old professor, asserted that his system was evolving from a suburban into an urban one. I thought that was interesting. Can suburbs indeed become so congested that they become urbs?

― Mary (Mary), Thursday, 16 February 2006 21:51 (nineteen years ago)

The DC example they've chosen to use is extraordinarily poor. Though I love how the original article does the bait and switch vis a vis Arlington v PG Counties ie "They do so well with their metro stop 'vibrancy'" (?? Does vibrancy mean lack of poor people? Not having read the original WaPo article I don't wanna put words in their mouth on the basis of MSNBC) vs heavily-minority inner suburbs discussed later on. Arlington is such a hideous choice to discuss, why even bring it up? PG County is one thing but that's just not true for NoVa. On second thought, I will tar WaPo with MSNBC's brush.

NYT article is better. I wish people would stop pretending that the areas immediately surrounding major cities aren't part of the city, everyone on this thread basically OTM though re: certain people within the community purposefully taking some of these steps and suburbs defacto becoming urbs after a certain point.

I have to think about this more, I need to read the whole Brookings report better.

― Allyzay Rofflesberger (allyzay), Thursday, 16 February 2006 22:08 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, read it better and get back to us.

(I have yet to read it at all, FWIW.)

― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 16 February 2006 22:11 (nineteen years ago)

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