ABSTRACT
For much of the twentieth century, the suburbs served as the symbolic antithesis of urban decline. The city was stigmatized as a place of blight, poverty, and fear, while homeownership in the suburbs represented the American dream (Schafran 2013). Indeed, for many, suburban homeownership has provided a route to opportunity and upward social mobility. Property ownership has been the primary way that middle-income households acquired and transferred wealth from generation to generation. The suburbs offered the chance for many to become homeowners and move to a neighborhood with good schools and a safe, tight-knit, and family-friendly community. Nevertheless, the suburbs have their critics, who deride them as dull, homogenous, and environmentally harmful (Duany, Plater-Zyberk, and Speck 2010, Kunstler 1994). Despite this, the outer suburbs continue to expand, suggesting that the opportunities still appeal to many people.
