Synopses & Reviews
A glance at a list of America's fastest growing cities reveals quite a surprise: most are really overgrown suburbs. Places such as North Las Vegas, NV; Plano, TX; Gilbert, AZ; and Chula Vista, CA have swelled to big-city size with few people really noticing--including many of their residents. " Boomburbs, " a term coined by the authors, are large suburbs of more than 100,000 residents that are not the biggest municipality in their metropolitan areas. In this fascinating look at the complicated and often contradictory world of boomburbs, Robert Lang and Jennifer LeFurgy address who lives in them, what drives their development, and how they are governed. The first book to examine these booming suburbs is an essential read for anyone interested in the changing face of America's metropolitan landscape. Found in over twenty-five major metro areas, boomburbs maintained rapid population growth in recent decades with many doubling, tripling, and even quadrupling in size between Census reports. With a combined population of over ten million residents, more than 180 of these super suburbs are located throughout America. Some are now more populated than their better-known, big-city peers. The largest boomburb in the nation, Mesa, AZ, recently passed St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Atlanta in population. Boomburbs are " accidental cities, " but not because they lack planning. Many are made up of master-planned communities that have run into one another. Typically large and sprawling, few anticipated becoming big cities and unintentionally arrived at their status. Although boomburbs possess elements found in cities such as housing, retailing, offices, and entertainment, they tend to lacka large downtown. Urban in fact but not in feel, these drive-by cities of highways, office parks, and shopping malls are mainly low-profile places. But they can contain high-profile industries and entertainment venues: the Los Angeles Angels and Arizona Cardinals are among over a dozen major-league sports teams who play in the boomburbs. Interesting, informative, and accessible, Boomburbs explains why Americas suburbs are thriving and how they are shaping the lives of millions of residents.
Synopsis
A glance at a list of America's fastest growing cities reveals quite a surprise: most are really overgrown suburbs. Places such as Anaheim, California, Coral Springs, Florida, Naperville, Illinois, North Las Vegas, Nevada, and Plano, Texas, have swelled to big-city size with few people really noticing--including many of their ten million residents. These boomburbs are large, rapidly growing, incorporated communities of more than 100,000 residents that are not the biggest city in their region. Here, Robert E. Lang and Jennifer B. LeFurgy explain who lives in them, what they look like, how they are governed, and why their rise calls into question the definition of urban.
Located in over twenty-five major metro areas throughout the United States, numerous boomburbs have doubled, tripled, even quadrupled in size between census reports. Some are now more populated than traditional big cities. The population of the biggest boomburb--Mesa, Arizona--recently surpassed that of Minneapolis and Miami.
Typically large and sprawling, boomburbs are accidental cities, but not because they lack planning. Many are made up of master-planned communities that have grown into one another. Few anticipated becoming big cities and unintentionally arrived at their status. Although boomburbs possess elements found in cities such as housing, retailing, offices, and entertainment, they lack large downtowns. But they can contain high-profile industries and entertainment venues: the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Arizona Cardinals are among over a dozen major-league sports teams who play in the boomburbs.
Urban in fact but not in feel, these drive-by cities of highways, office parks, and shopping malls are much more horizontally built and less pedestrian friendly than most older suburbs. And, contrary to common perceptions of suburbia, they are not rich and elitist. Poverty is often seen in boomburb communities of small single-family homes, neighborhoods that once represented the American dream.
Boomburbs are a quintessential American landscape, embodying much of the nation's complexity, expansiveness, and ambiguity. This fascinating look at the often contradictory world of boomburbs examines why America's suburbs are thriving and how they are shaping the lives of millions of residents.