It Takes a Region

INTRODUCTION American cities, reeling from the impact of relentless suburbanization, have taken a beating in recent decades. So, too, have many African Americans who fifty years ago, hoping to build a better life, left the South in large numbers and began settling in these cities. Recent dramatic demographic changes in cities and older suburbs brought on by immigration and shifting settlement patterns have added a new complexity to the regional picture. (1) While low-income communities and communities of color suffer the most negative consequences of regional inequity, the impacts of uneven and unhealthy development patterns create widespread problems. Auto-oriented sprawl is causing long, crowded commutes and more driving, which leads to worsening air pollution and worry among single-parent and two-worker families about stealing parental time from children. Farmland and open space are being steadily eaten up by the continuous spread of businesses and housing beyond the boundaries of the central city and inner suburbs into more distant rural areas. Growing awareness regarding the fallout of sprawl is signaling a new round of debates regarding the future of metropolitan regions. This debate is being taken up by groups with diverse interests ranging from advocates for smart growth who see revitalization of cities and older suburbs as a way to contain sprawl and preserve open space, to mayors and county administrators who wish to connect cities to the growing prosperity of surrounding regions, to advocates for equal opportunity and full inclusion who see a direct connection between growing inequity and regional development patterns. Does the policy agenda emerging from the push for smart growth reach the needs of people of color being left behind by metropolitan development patterns? Is something more or different required to achieve regional equity? After exploring these and other questions, this article proposes equitable development as an action and policy agenda that can align multiple interests into a sustainable movement for positive change. I. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Increasingly, people's life chances are determined by where they live. (2) One of the more troubling urban trends of the '70s and '80s was the concentration of poverty in America's inner cities. (3) During these decades, as whites continued their march from cities to the suburbs, middle-class African Americans spread out within cities to areas that had previously been inaccessible because of discrimination. (4) Surprisingly, the expanded housing opportunities that had been sought under the banner of racial progress turned into racial disaster for many African Americans left behind in once vibrant, economically integrated neighborhoods that had turned into communities in which almost everyone was poor. This resulting isolation of poor African Americans from the more politically sophisticated and connected African Americans made these neighborhoods and residents extremely vulnerable to neglect and the full impact of discrimination and racism. (5) Further, the likelihood of obtaining good jobs diminished as those living in concentrated poverty became increasingly isolated from natural job networks--the connection to people who are working and can provide information about and access to job opportunities. (6) Adding to this mix was the steady decline in inner-city public schools and the growing trade in drugs as legitimate work opportunities disappeared. (7) This period also ushered in an ascendance of African Americans into positions of political power, especially in cities. Unfortunately, this was accompanied by an exodus of retail establishments, business headquarters, and traditional civic leaders to the suburbs. Adding to this the devastation caused by the disappearance of manufacturing jobs, cities were left in decline, with shrinking tax bases and an abundance of residents requiring expensive services. …