The Burbs – The Urbanist Dispatch

Arlington, Virginia shows how feet on the street help a community thrive

America’s Most Walkable Suburb Offers Lessons for Towns Everywhere

Jay Walljasper

March 31, 2015

Suburban life has always been synonymous with long hours in the car-- going to work, school, the grocery store, the mall, soccer practice and friends’ homes. Some people even drive to take a walk. That’s cha...

Rising to Downtown Views from the roof of Detroit's Michigan Central Station. Photo by Sean Döerr, snweb.org

Address Sprawl for a Stronger Metro Detroit

Chris Matus and Emily Thompson

May 28, 2014

Featured, Policy, The Burbs

1

Detroit’s ups and downs are well documented, but the conversation often fails to frame the city as anything more than the victim of post-industrial disinvestment, mismanagement, or contentious race relations. L...

A covered bridge in Long Grove, Illinois. Photo by jim_watkins on Flickr.

Paying for Underfunded Village Roads

John Cruz

February 5, 2014

The Burbs, Transportation

The Village of Long Grove, Illinois is one of many communities throughout the United States learning the hard lessons of depending on continuous growth to sustain their network of public infrastructure. While c...

The Jersey City powerhouse. Photo by Kate Rounds of hudsonreporter.com

The Powerhouse Rules

Melissa Cameron

December 5, 2013

Community and Neighborhoods, The Burbs

3

The Jersey City Powerhouse patiently sits on Washington Street, just outside a sea of newly built Trump funded high-rise buildings. The partially crumbling brick structure, graffiti laden walls, and broken cath...

Turner Field, Atlanta GA. Photo by markwhitt on Flickr.

The new stadium deal in “Atlanta” that has everyone talking

John Cruz

November 28, 2013

Economic Development, Featured, The Burbs

4

In 1996, in preparation for the summer Olympics, Atlanta erected a number of athletic structures to host some of the greatest athletes from around the globe. The Centennial Olympic Stadium would continue to hos...

Manhattan. Photo courtesy of andrew c mace on Flickr.

Cities and Free Markets: The Manufactured American Dream

John Cruz

April 18, 2012

Community and Neighborhoods, Culture, Featured, The Burbs

2

For some reason or another people seem to associate cities with socialism and suburbs with the capitalist American dream. The notion that the strong middle class created American suburbia has been engraved in o...

5 Takeaways from “Defend Your Ride”

John Cruz

February 10, 2012

Community and Neighborhoods, Culture, Featured, The Burbs

1

Towards the end of last year I had the opportunity to produce a blog feature for CBS Detroit called Defend Your Ride (which is why there was a bit of a lull in posting for a while). The segment is being done in...

Home in Warren for Rent. Photo courtesy of Zillow.com

(Slum)Lord of the Inner-Ring

David Mieksztyn

January 30, 2012

Community and Neighborhoods, Featured, The Burbs

1

Across the street is a partially run down home, with the front screen door off its hinges, peeling paint all around the house, and a partially collapsed garage door. This is the site you see outside your front...

Parking Lot Hockey. Image courtesy of The Western Star.

A Parking Spot to Play In

David Mieksztyn

January 19, 2012

The Burbs, Transportation

1

Planners and urbanists have boisterously made the case that parking lots are a nightmare in terms of land use, and with good reason behind it. Considering the amount of land a typical shopping center's parking...

James H Kunstler dissects suburbia

John Cruz

January 11, 2012

The Burbs

From the YouTube Description: In James Howard Kunstler's view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in Amer...