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Those are excellent pictures, and everything written is correct and to the point. Those pictures remind me very much of what I see when I visit my home state of Massachusetts, and see all the sub divisions with all these McMansions that have been built. Could not be more correct if I said it myself, separation of class, and completely dependent on vehicles to get to and from. These families in these homes have 2 3 and 4 or more vehicles, and of course several are big SUV'S
I just read a great article in the March issue of National Geographic Magazine titled "The Theme-Parking, Megachurching, Franchising, Exurbing, McMansioning of America", accompanied by a "How Walt Disney Changed Everything" subtitle.
I think all of you who joined City Data attracted by demographics, growth and population issues affecting and shaping America will find it interesting.
They focus on Orlando as the ultimate example of 21st America: a complex, contradictory place where nothing is what it seems.
I find the article meaningful because it negates what many people think about the cities today: that they are coming back because some downtowns are being redeveloped with lofts and luxury condos.
It is not true. America is getting more and more exurban. Not just suburban but exurban.
At the same time, America is becoming more homogeneous with all the tract houses and big boxes but more diverse than ever- 28% of people living in American suburbs/exurbs are minorities. This shatters the old stereotype of the suburbs as all-white enclaves.
Exurban America is also a place of contradiction: populated by people who escaped the cities to get away from its problems yet ended facing them in their far-flung development: big-city crime, big-city traffic, big-city taxes.
While our old cities keep dying and losing population, vast amounts of open land in the middle of seemingly nowhere are transformed into the “urban” centers of the “new” America.
Thus goes the National Geographic article:
“Orlando is the new American metropolis”.
“These huge, sprawling communities are where more and more Americans choose to be, the place where job growth is fastest, home building is briskest, and malls and megachurches are multiplying as newcomers keep on coming”.
It's a fascinating read.
CAN SOMEBODY EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT DOES EXURBAN MEAN?
I have no problem with the 'McMansioning of America.' I think it's a good development demonstrative of the vibrant economy and people that make up this country. I don't have a McMansion--though I do live in the suburbs. Everybody still is a-comin' to the 'burbs and they're doing it for a reason. There is obviously something to this McMansion draw and it can't all be bad.
CAN SOMEBODY EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT DOES EXURBAN MEAN?
Well, as I understand it, it is the area outside of the traditional suburbs of a city, but not exactly in the country. When we bought our house 20 years ago, it was considered to be exurbia, but now I guess is almost considered a suburb because areas even further out have been developed since.
Well, as I understand it, it is the area outside of the traditional suburbs of a city, but not exactly in the country. When we bought our house 20 years ago, it was considered to be exurbia, but now I guess is almost considered a suburb because areas even further out have been developed since.
More formalized definition: you can go shopping in suburbia. Exurbia might have a small strip mall with a Subway restaurant and a Shell station. When Target comes to town, you're moving towards suburbia ... brace for traffic.
They focus on Orlando as the ultimate example of 21st America: a complex, contradictory place where nothing is what it seems.
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And Orlando to me, is the ugliest city. Worse than the industrial skyline of Baltimore. It has no soul- everything looks the same- cookie cutter houses, no historical architecture- ugly Target and shopping malls.
There is no artistic/architectural design. Just horrible, and traffic everywhere.
More formalized definition: you can go shopping in suburbia. Exurbia might have a small strip mall with a Subway restaurant and a Shell station. When Target comes to town, you're moving towards suburbia ... brace for traffic.
True, no Target or grocery store, but we have a real mall now, not a strip mall. We also have a backyard with wild turkeys, pheasants, deer and other assorted "critters". Sort of an in-between area, I guess.
Can I just throw something into this discussion? I feel forced to buy a larger house than I need with more land than I want, farther away from the city. Why? Two reasons: thin walls and price.
If you can't afford to live in a very well-insulated and well-maintained older construction, you have to buy larger, more spaced out and farther away if you value your privacy and don't want to hear a neighbor's noise. It's funny how I never hear a sound in a small, pre-war, city apartment, but in a detached, new construction on a quarter acre, I knew when my neighbors came home and what music they were listening to.
Granted, there are many people who are all about the prestige of a McMansion and an SUV and space for all the possessions. But there are also a lot of people just looking for a little privacy and peace and quiet.
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