"The McMansioning of America" (metro, suburban, crime, highway)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
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”.
Yes, it was a topic in the Florida forum.
However, the biggest tragedy of all would be to think that this phenomenon is exclusive to Florida in general, or Orlando in particular.
Part of the reason for the sprawl is the middle class squeeze.
Exurban used to mean something different from what it now does; sprawl changed it. Regardless, the once-empty space between our cities is filling in.
Highways used to be considered progress, remember?
Urban renewal is indeed beneficial, but America does not necessarily need more hip, boutiquey downtowns. In terms of improving our cities' infrastructure, good schools, public transportation, mom-and-pop stores and safe streets might be preferable.
I've posted this before, but to me, one good success story is Denver's former Lowry Airforce base and former Stapleton Airport. Both these places, well within Denver city limits, are now housing developments. Stapleton is especially good, its mixed income housing choices, traditional neighborhood design, and open spaces.
I don't see why this is news nor really all that amazing or fascinating. Almost everyone wants their peice of the American Dream and almost everyone wants to own a 2500 ft home on an acre or more of land. I suspect that even in other countries the "national dream" looks very similar to the Ameican Dream.
I haven't read the article, but I get the sense that the author was lamenting all of this. Does he realize that part of the problem is the nation's population explosion? People have to live somewhere and they'd much prefer to live in their McMansions (as though a 2500 ft house is suddenly a mansion) than they would tiny sardine can urban apartments and condos or old dilapidated 900 ft houses.
Much of the "exurban" move is probably due to the insane cost of housing in metropolitain areas that developed over the past 10 years, but some of that could also be due to population explosion.
It will be interesting to see how the increasing cost of gasoline will affect all of these long distance commuters. Will they give up their SUVs for subcompacts? Will they have a choice? What will happen if "Peak Oil" comes to pass and the world's demand for oil far exceeds the supply of oil, resulting in huge price increases?
It certainly happened in Massachusetts, because I don't think you could even find a new 3 bed ranch home being built, it is all 4 to 6 bedrooms McMannsions that cost 600,000 and over at least in eastern Mass.
I don't see why this is news nor really all that amazing or fascinating. Almost everyone wants their peice of the American Dream and almost everyone wants to own a 2500 ft home on an acre or more of land.
An acre or more? I don't think so. That's way too much for me. Actually a nice downtown condo with a terrace would be perfect for me.
An acre or more? I don't think so. That's way too much for me. Actually a nice downtown condo with a terrace would be perfect for me.
Ditto. I would never want an acre of land. Perhaps it's my lazy beast within, but the amount of maintenance that would require is not something I'd care to keep up with, and while I can understand the desire for a yard, especially if you have children, once you get to a certain size (far less than an acre in my opinion), I just don't even know what you'd DO with that land. That's just my personal opinion though, and not a popular one at that in this country.
thank you Manhattan-ite for contributing an informative and meaningful post!!!!
I've gotten so sick of reading these constant threads from the same people (like one who must watch CNN's live ticker-tape of news and then rushes to start a new thread). I have stayed away because it's been not only boring, but stupid.
Thankfully people like you are still posting good stuff!
... Almost everyone wants their peice of the American Dream and almost everyone wants to own a 2500 ft home on an acre or more of land. ...
Not sure who "everyone" is, but we just got rid of a small house on 0.12 acres. That was more than enough as the upkeep made it feel like a mansion with a plantation at times. Problem was, the maids, butlers and grounds keepers were us -- and we already have jobs! It felt like indentured servitude (to the bank and county tax collector). I'll take a smaller place with less of a yard any day. For the days I want a yard and BBQ, find me at a nearby park.
Not sure who "everyone" is, but we just got rid of a small house on 0.12 acres. That was more than enough as the upkeep made it feel like a mansion with a plantation at times. Problem was, the maids, butlers and grounds keepers were us -- and we already have jobs! It felt like indentured servitude (to the bank and county tax collector). I'll take a smaller place with less of a yard any day. For the days I want a yard and BBQ, find me at a nearby park.
If the entire country decided to do this ... we'd have a lot fewer problems of all kinds. A smaller economy, yes, but the quality of life would dramatically increase.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Less is more
