From: dtasman@mccoy.NMSU.Edu (Dan Tasman)
Subject: Diversity of suburbs (was :Sure we all knows what its like...)
Organization: New Mexico State University
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 03:31:20 GMT

singh-naunihal@CS.YALE.EDU (Naunihal Singh) writes:

>This time my postings will be without the typos that plagued the last one ...
>just so I can look literate.
>to asnwer your question though - besides the diversity and access to resources
>there are two things I noticed.
>1) in a suburb, b/c of the car, there is not really a sense of community the
>   way there is in a small town or even in a neighborhood in a big city. In a
>   suburb people have to drive every where. You never see people walk by
>   conducting their daily affairs. there is no street life, no feeling of
>   interaction. 

Somewhat agree.  Many older suburbs developed during the 1920s, while  
streetcars and interurban trains were still running in most cities, have a  
higher population density, and a bit more of an urban feel, although they are  
distinctly suburbs.  Some examples would be Evanston and Oak Park, Illinois or  
Kenmore, New York.  For the majority of 1950s to early 1980s suburban  
developments, with streets designed by traffic engineers with an attitude of  
"pave it ALL over" and zoning with the goal of separating perceived  
uncompatible uses as much as possible, there is a sense that something is  
missing.

>2) since suburbs tend to be homogenous economically you tend to meet only one
>   strata of people. There is no mixed use housing the way there is in a city.
>   You dont have neighbors of different ages and races and income levels. One
>   result of this is that there is alot less tolerance for diversity amongst
>   kids. Im a member of a visible minority (Im a Sikh) and my Sikh friends
>   growing up in the suuburbs had to deal with much more harassment and abuse,
>   growing up, than I did. They had teachers who made fun of them and they got
>   beaten up regularly - even though they were in wealthy white suburbs where
>   "there are no problems". My Sikh friends who grew up in the city,even the
>   bad parts thereof, never had to experience the crusing pressure to be like
>   every one else and the social and physical coercion that backed it up.

There is a Sikh temple about a mile away from where my parents just moved  
(Amherst, NY).  Right nearby is the area's only Mormon church, along with many  
Catholic and protestant churches and the Buffalo Jewish Center.  

Suburbs have a soul, just like the city.  As the suburbs age, they become more  
diverse, just like neighborhoods in the city.  How many "Little Italys" are  
100% Italian anymore?  How many inner city "Polonias" are exclusively populated  
by Polish-Americans?  Same thing for the suburbs ... as they get older, they  
begin to develop more character, more personality.  People personalize their  
homes, businesses change, and the high mobility that affects Americans in  
general begins to affect the suburban community.

I could do a long history of Amherst, but I'll just keep it short.

1800s - German settlers (look at old street names - Frankhauser, Miller, Klein,  
	Heim, Abt, etc)
1930s - Affluent suburbanization (Snyder and Eggertsville developments)
1950s-1960s - Middle class suburbanization
1975  - Audubon New Town
1970s - University of Buffalo expansion - influx of Orientials, Asian Indians,     
	Arabs who worked at the university.
      - Movement of Buffalo's Jewish community from North Park (Buffalo) to  
	Amherst.  North Park, an affluent neighborhood in Buffalo, experienced  
	an influx of new residents, primarily Anglo ethnic, displacing the  
	dominant jewish population.
1980s - Go-go Reagan boomtown era 
	Most new homes $200,000 +
	Lots of new shopping centers, office parks, etc.
	Influx of African-American upper middle class
1990s - Same thing, except boom driven by Canadians, New York City refugees
	African-American upper middle class, fueled by revival of city living  
	and gentrification of inner city neighborhoods in Buffalo, begin to  
	reconsider the suburbs and a "return to the city" movement begins.

Despite the town's reputation as a haven for rich snobs, it's really a diverse  
town, whose residents range from the working poor living in Section 8  
subsidized apartments to multimillionaires who drop $100,000 (or more) to join  
the Park Country Club.  As suburbs age, there'll be more places like this.

Now, as for Cheektowaga NY ... :)

--
   Dan Tasman                                       dtasman@dante.nmsu.edu
                                                     molson@rever.nmsu.edu
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