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I know there's countless of examples of gentrification happening in ring neighborhoods around various downtowns and uptowns in America, and I suppose by pure definition many of these neighborhoods are technically suburbs. But the suburbs I'm talking about are usually the ones created after World War II, and are usually automobile-centric. Neighborhoods and streets mostly characterized by low-density housing, single-use commercial buildings, shopping malls (enclosed, outdoor, power centers, etc.), and places with cul-de-sacs and erratic street placements.
Any examples of places like this falling in despair, but are now showing signs of revitalization? Or even suburban areas slowly transitioning to a more urban environment?
Frederick, Maryland's "Golden Mile" might be an example. Used to have two dead malls, now one live one, and a lot of new housing. Most of this is within the city limits of Frederick but with a suburban built form.
A certain type of suburban gentrification has been common in older suburbs in the NYC metro for some time. Basically there are a large number of dated small (3 bedroom, 1 bath) houses (largely ranches and cape cods) which were bought decades ago. The homeowners aged in place, becoming empty nesters and then retirees. The houses do not fit the needs of modern families, but because of their location in the NYC metro, the land they are on is worth lots of money. Hence when they go on the market, they are bought and promptly torn down, with a McMansion replacing them.
In terms of "falling into disrepair" remember that gentrification only means the replacement of a lower economic stratum with a higher one. Lower-middle class places becoming wealthy is just as much gentrification as low-income places becoming upper-middle class.
I don't think there are too many examples of suburbs which have gone into heavy decline only to bounce back in recent years because of the time factor. I mean, keep in mind that the suburbanization of poverty only really got into full swing in the 1990s. Some functionally suburban neighborhoods within city limits went into decline prior to that I suppose. But in general the time frame hasn't been long enough yet to have these neighborhoods "hit bottom" so it's hard for there to be a significant resurgence.
Pretty easy to find downtown suburban gentrification and small town downtown gentrification.
If you talking gentrification in areas with neighborhoods and streets mostly characterized by low-density housing, single-use commercial buildings, shopping malls (enclosed, outdoor, power centers, etc.), and places with cul-de-sacs and erratic street placements, then that is more rare but it's still occurring. Look around local universities in most decent-sized cities.
Toronto's city limits are pretty expansive, and there's functionally suburban neighbourhoods within them that already started to decline a little in the 1970s, but I wouldn't say any of those are gentrifying. Some of them have hit bottom, and that bottom seems to be lower than is typical in the US, but I wouldn't say there a noticeable rebound yet. There are suburban areas that are gentrifying, but those are mostly places where incomes were previously stable and middle class, or even relatively wealthy (but not as much as now).
There's a few neighbourhoods in Toronto to keep an eye on though, which I could potentially see starting to rebound, but it's hard to say that that has happened yet. Maybe places like Parkwoods-Donalda or Eringate, which are still more or less middle class but were a bit wealthier in the past.
Pretty easy to find downtown suburban gentrification and small town downtown gentrification.
If you talking gentrification in areas with neighborhoods and streets mostly characterized by low-density housing, single-use commercial buildings, shopping malls (enclosed, outdoor, power centers, etc.), and places with cul-de-sacs and erratic street placements, then that is more rare but it's still occurring. Look around local universities in most decent-sized cities.
Are any of those instances in neighbourhoods that previously experienced noticeable decline though?
Are any of those instances in neighbourhoods that previously experienced noticeable decline though?
Absolutely. In the '80s and '90s, being located next to a university was for the 'student ghetto' even next to local community colleges.
If you want some examples, around Golden West College in Huntington Beach CA or around University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson TX are some easy examples I'm aware of.
Last edited by TheOverdog; 04-12-2016 at 02:18 PM..
Raleigh's very first enclosed mall was becoming obsolete and it was redeveloped into a new urban environment with re-imagined retail plus entertainment, class A office space, hotels and high density residential. In its initial revisioning, it included a strip mall across the street and now it's doubling in size as it grows across yet another street where stand alone suburban style businesses and small businesses were replace with master planned new urbanism. It continues to grow today and is now referred to as Midtown for the city as it sits about 3 miles or so north of the city center. Ten years ago it was just a slowly dying mall and tired suburban retail in the midst of neighborhoods built in the late fifties through late sixties. Today it's an emerging vibrant "new-urban" neighborhood whose success is feeding upon itself to grow. Is it like the urban core? Absolutely not. It's it moving in the right direction as the city looks to curb the sprawl and make the infrastructure of the city more productive? Absolutely. North Hills | Raleigh's Midtown
I know there's countless of examples of gentrification happening in ring neighborhoods around various downtowns and uptowns in America, and I suppose by pure definition many of these neighborhoods are technically suburbs. But the suburbs I'm talking about are usually the ones created after World War II, and are usually automobile-centric. Neighborhoods and streets mostly characterized by low-density housing, single-use commercial buildings, shopping malls (enclosed, outdoor, power centers, etc.), and places with cul-de-sacs and erratic street placements.
Any examples of places like this falling in despair, but are now showing signs of revitalization? Or even suburban areas slowly transitioning to a more urban environment?
Disrepair part is harder but no problem finding areas that are transitioning to more urban. Redwood City had the disrepair part and now has a revitalized downtown area. Palo Alto is much more urban than it was when I was a kid. Not so much disrepair though. It's just gone from affluent to much more affluent. Concord's downtown. Antioch tried to do the same thing and failed pretty miserably. Fair amount of activity in Martinez. Hayward extension of downtown to the new city hall. There's even some apartment/condo buildings designed to look like rowhouses. Pleasanton has Urbanish development going up around BART as well as downtown. Walnut Creek is much more urban. Broadway Plaza (the mall-thing) is going mixed use. That might not be the type of urban you're looking for but it's a world apart from closer to home in, say, Roseville with it's forgotten sleepy little downtown where the development is all occurring on the edges.
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