suburban history

Will the Battle of the Suburbs Play Out Differently This Time?

by Lily Geismer

One of the most important failures of the civil rights era was allowing affluent suburbs to block requirements to build affordable housing in their jurisdictions. As housing costs climb higher, is there the political will among Democrats to risk angering suburban voters? 

The Local Roots of Marjorie Taylor Greene's "National Divorce" Rhetoric

by Michan Connor

To understand her embrace of secessionist rhetoric, don't look to the Civil War; look to the political conflict that erupted in Atlanta's suburbs in the 1990s and 2000s. 

Republicans Can Thank Suburban New Yorkers for House Majority

by Stacie Taranto

The volatile politics of New York's downstate suburbs trace back to the settlement of massive suburban tracts outside the city after World War II, which created a large constituency of homeowners concerned with "law and order." 

What American Dream did Asian Immigrants Find in the Southern California Suburbs?

by James Zarsadiaz

Asian-American suburbs grew east of Los Angeles in part because developers catered to a growing market and in part because Asian Americans embraced some of the anti-urban tropes common in postwar America. Today conflict still surrounds how much diversity the suburban ideal can accommodate.

Clover Lawns Replacing Grass in Reversal of Suburban Historical Pattern

Clover lawns are trendy on social media. Historian Ted Steinberg says this is a reversal of a half century of industrial marketing and cultural values that have made the grass lawn a suburban goal. Environmentalists hope it continues. 

The Architecture of the Shopping Mall Shaped by Racism, Surveillance

The architects who envisioned early shopping malls as common spaces were overwhelmed by the imperatives of exclusion and surveillance in spaces made safe for mass consumption, argues architecture critic Alexandra Lange. 

Malverne: The Incomplete Struggle for School Integration on Long Island

by Alan J. Singer

The general diversity of Long Island should be the area's strength. It's time to learn lessons from the past and stop allowing the area to be carved up into small and segregated school districts. 

Laugh at Parodies of School Board Meetings, but Take Local Politics Seriously

by Lily Geismer and Eitan D. Hersh

Local politics – if it involves a wide spectrum of community opinion – can help override partisan polarization, create new coalitions, and empower citizens to make meaningful change.

The Suburban Strategy

Novelist Zinzi Clemmons looks to the history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania to consider, with help from historian Lara Putnam, the implications of Democrats' pursuit of the elusive suburban voter. 

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Ties the History of Housing Discrimination to Reparations

John Oliver breaks down the long history of housing discrimination in the U.S., the damage it’s done, and, crucially, what we can do about it.

How New York’s Suburbs Got So Segregated

by Alan J. Singer

The builders of Long Island's mass postwar suburbs chose not to challenge existing patterns of segregation, with consequences for communities and individuals today. 

The Housing Market is Booming but Remains Deeply Unequal

by LaDale Winling

The standards and practices of real estate appraisal were developed in the context of white supremacy in the 1920s and since then have worked to make home ownership a path toward building wealth that has favored white Americans. 

How White Americans’ Refusal to Accept Busing has Kept Schools Segregated

by Matthew D. Lassiter

The legal distinction between "de facto" and "de jure" segregation has always been a convenient fiction allowing the perpetuation of segregation by obscuring the role of government in creating and sustaining a racially discriminatory housing market. 

The County Where Cops Call the Shots

Aaron Bekemeyer's PhD dissertation research examines how police unions, like those in Suffolk County, NY, became powerful in the 20th Century. Jennifer Mittelstadt also comments on the exceptional status of police unions.

Georgia’s Center of Political Gravity Shifting Toward Atlanta

"As Georgia transforms from a Republican stronghold to the nation’s premier battleground state, a seismic geographic shift is underway."

New Exhibit Reckons With Glendale's Racist Past as ‘Sundown Town'

The suburban city of Glendale, CA has initiated a series of public programs confronting its legacy as a "sundown town" where minorities, particulary African Americans, were able to work but barred from living or socializing. 

West Hartford is Mostly White, While Bloomfield is Largely Black. How that Came to be Tells the Story of Racism and Segregation in American Suburbs

Local historians in West Hartford are working to promote public knowledge of exclusionary zoning and other practices that built and maintained racial segregation in the suburbs. 

How Fear Took Over the American Suburbs

Historian Kyle Riismandel's new book “Neighborhood of Fear” examines the cultivation of a white suburban culture of vigilantism and the political exploitation of fear of community change in the late 20th century. 

Stop Worrying About Upper-Class Suburbanites

by Lily Geismer and Matthew Lassiter

Two suburban historians argue that the changing demographics and political composition of American suburbs mean the Democrats' strategy of courting white moderates will foreclose building the ethnically and economically diverse coalition they need to win. 

How Suburbs Swung the 2020 Election

by Richard Florida, Marie Patino and Rachel Dottle

The noted urban theorist points out that assumptions about suburban voters haven't kept up with the changing demographic realities of America's suburbs, which house a majority of the population and differ from each other as much as they do from central cities.