Beyond Real Estate

Will the changing face of suburban living cause slums?

Many people are moving closer to the city as gas prices and and costs for other necessities rise. Homes that typically have been a bargain may not be such a good deal in the future. The upside of suburban living - better schools and safer neighborhoods - has begun to erode.

Now, I don’t think we’ll see a mass exodus in people leaving the suburbs, rather a slower progression much like when people began moving IN to the suburbs. Already, we have seen more gang activity in suburbs than most inner cities.

According to an article by Christopher Leinberger in The Atlantic, much of these problems are attributed to the mortgage crisis but what’s really happening is that the social problems are being intensified by the waves of foreclosures.

Leinberger says

“For 60 years, Americans have pushed steadily into the suburbs, transforming the landscape and (until recently) leaving cities behind. But today the pendulum is swinging back toward urban living, and there are many reasons to believe this swing will continue. As it does, many low-density suburbs and McMansion subdivisions, including some that are lovely and affluent today, may become what inner cities became in the 1960s and ’70s—slums characterized by poverty, crime, and decay.”

It’s certainly an interesting phenomenon that will continue to change over the next two decades or so. You can read more about it The Atlantic: The Next Slum?

~ Annie