NYTpg1: Living Large, by Design, in the Middle of Nowhere (growing exurbs)

[DeepModem Mom]

Living Large, by Design, in the Middle of Nowhere
By RICK LYMAN
Published: August 15, 2005


....America is growing. And it is growing the fastest here, at the farm-road margins of metropolitan areas, with planned communities sprouting up and becoming a prime focus, almost a fetish, for election strategists from both major parties.

Such places do not sprout by happenstance. Driven by irresistible economic forces and shaped by subtly shifting social patterns, they are being created, down to the tiniest detail, by a handful of major developers with a master plan for the new America. In the case of New River, that developer is KB Home, one of the nation's biggest and most profitable builders with $7 billion in sales last year, which helped make it sixth among all Standard & Poor's 500 companies in total revenues.

KB Home has 483 communities under development in 13 states and expects to complete more than 40,000 new homes this year. Yet it is just one of about two dozen such corporate giants fiercely competing for land and customers at the edge of America's suburban expanse.

Poring over elaborate market research, these corporations divine what young families want, addressing things like carpet texture and kitchen placement and determining how many streetlights and cul-de-sacs will evoke a soothing sense of safety.

They know almost to the dollar how much buyers are willing to pay to exchange a longer commute for more space, a sense of higher status and the feeling of security....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/15/national/15exurb.html

[n2doc]

1. Future ghost towns

When gas is $20 a gallon nobody is going to want a 100 mile roundtrip commute by car.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Good point! nt

[Bragi]

7. Not sure about that

Isolated communities seems to fit quite well with the new locked-down America. These places may be souless non-communities, and transporation may be increasingly expensive, but they may also be popular in a society where fear of everything and everyone is seen to be the new normal.

- B

[getmeouttahere]

9. True, no different than before, just heightened

to the extreme. White people in particular have always been trying to escape to the 'burbs.

[krkaufman]

53. The article indicates that these "exurbs" are less homogenous...

... even multi-cultural.

[Tesha]

20. "Hey! Wanna go over to Mad Maxville? Or Thunderdome?" (NT)

[krkaufman]

52. "future ghost towns" *may* be a bit extreme...

... but the inhabitants of these "communities" are definitely going to be hard-pressed as gas prices rise. Also, since they're all newer homes, I expect the "homeowners" may have opted for some of the low-equity mortgage options. They're gonna get hit from multiple directions if/when the economic hammer falls.

[cmd]

8. Smile when you read this

The story goes on to say that most of the residents are Republicans. I hope they enjoy filling up their SUV's for the commute.

[Roland99]

11. Video on today's local morning news showed someone in a Suburban

They had their requisite red-white-and-blue magnetic ribbon and were bitching about the price of gas.


Well, cry me a fucking river, moran!

[getmeouttahere]

13. Just this weekend, my conservative BushCo supporting...

cousin was saying how his fiance wanted to buy another Volvo, this time an SUV, because it was safer, as they had just been in a horrific accident. When I suggested they would regret it because of the price of gas, they didn't seem to care. In the very next sentence, they were saying how they never go out or do much of anything because the car costs so much to use. Un-fucking-believable!

Believe me, I feel for them because of the crash. But I can't understand why anyone would give up their life and even financial security so they can drive a "safer" vehicle, on the odd chance that they will be in another horrific accident. But I guess it's a matter of priorities. Plus, there are millions of people out there who have no choice but to drive "unsafe" vehicles because that is all they can afford.

[Roland99]

16. Hmm, buy a vehicle with a higher center-of-gravity and less performance

in order to be "safe"


Looks like those marketing geniuses have won over another one.


Sorry to hear about their crash but their thinking now is...well...it's NOT thinking.

[getmeouttahere]

17. Yeah, they are too overwhelmed with...

memories of the crash, I guess. But the likelihood of them coming around a corner on a two-lane highway to find a jack-knifed semi in their path AGAIN is virtually nil...or anything horrific like that, for that matter.

[Javaman]

41. Call me kooky, but she lived. To me, it sounds like the car did its job..

Cars these days are made to be crumpled. Sounds like they lost the car but saved their lives. I don't understand the concept of getting something bigger, more expensive and sucks gas as being more safe.

Like I said, call me kooky...

[Clovis Sangrail]

22. kids?

------------
I can't understand why anyone would give up their life and even financial security so they can drive a "safer" vehicle
------------

for some people safety rating will trump everything

[xxqqqzme]

27. after being in one of those 'horrific'

accidents, and acquainted w/ others as well, the feeling of 'being safe' is paramount and over-riding. After 10 years I still react, flinch and brace myself when brake lights come on unexpectedly or a car in the next lane swerves. I guess it's PTSD.

[etherealtruth]

43. My (now 23 YO) son ...

... was in an horrific accident when he was 20 ... I think your experience is not uncommon ... those of us who have never had the misfortune to experience this have no idea what you have gone through.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

28. Yes, thinking about cars seems to disconnect some people's logic neurons

They complain about never having any money, but look closely, and it's likely that they're shelling out several hundred a month in car payments and almost as much for gas, because they lived so damned far from everything.

[HuckleB]

29. Exactly.

It never boggles my mind how people fail to add up the true costs of their choices. And, in my opinion, one should add the lost time spent driving to your equation, as well.

Salud.

[krkaufman]

54. Yes, very ironic...

Preserving a life not being lived...???

[CottonBear]

33. Why the helldid they buy a Suburban if they couldn't afford the gas?

I mean, the payments, the insurance, the ties and other maintenance cost a fortune. If you can afford all of that then the gas should be your least concern.

[Roland99]

34. Well, I'm sure they bought it a couple of years ago. Back during the cheap

gas days.


They did interview one guy who said he was taking his SUV to the dealership that day to trade it in.

[SoCalDem]

3. McVillages

:(..

[Doremus]

14. McGhost-towns.

The people in these communities might be insulated from the riff-raff, but not from economy reality. When the price of oil escalates beyond their ability to afford A/C, some will wish they hadn't invested in such large houses. When it rises to the point that they have to choose between heating their behemoths or making their long daily commutes, many will begin leading less energy-intensive lives, just like the rest of their middle-class brethren. With the difference being they, and all other exurbia homeowners, will have it that much harder due to their poor choices.

Eventually they'll abandon their energy-eating albatrosses and move back with the riff-raff.

At some point in the transition I'll bet they start seeing politics in a slightly different light. One can only hope anyway.

[getmeouttahere]

4. I'm just amazed that there are that many people....

who could afford the commute NOW, let alone afford to buy a home.

[meganmonkey]

5. I essentially live in an exurb right now

sort of a long story how I got way out there, but my SO and I have had our house on the market for a while and it isn't selling.

I hate the commute to Ann Arbor, and I miss my social life and the convenience of things like the farmer's market and the library.

And in our development of about 50 houses, there are at least 8 for sale right now. :( It's gonna be awhile.

[northzax]

23. no one wants a used mcmansion

or exurban palace, why buy used when there are so many new ones being thrown up? sorry. :)

The big problem coming is that many of these are built like crap, made to last 20 years, not 50-100, so they don't hold resale value, the only valuable thing about them is the land, and that hasn't caught up yet.

[meganmonkey]

24. Fortunately I don't have most of those problems,

my boyfriend built it, starting about 3 years ago. He did a large part of the work himself, and he built it specifically to sell it. Three years ago I guess it seemed like a good idea to him. So it isn't huge, it is energy efficient and well-built and since he did so much of the work himself with no contractor he can charge less than most people and still make a profit. Well, assuming it ever sells ;)

And meanwhile I live a lovely house. And i have it in perspective - I have things pretty good right now so I won't complain. I just don't like being so wasteful. I just have to drive 25 miles to get anywhere I actually want to go. At least it's close to the hwy and I get 35 mpg. But I am used to walking most everywhere and driving 5 miles to work.

:shrug:

[northzax]

25. certainly didn't mean to imply anything

I was making a broad generalisation of the market as as whole...

good luck!

[meganmonkey]

26. No worries - I just always need to reassure myself that I won't be

stuck out there forever :)

[Blue_Tires]

50. even worse in the south

where there are next to zero quality controls on new home construction...My uncle lives in one of those sterile Atlanta exurbs, (alone with his wife in a 3-story, 10-bedroom mcmansion) and since he's in constuction I've got to see plenty of these homes up close---believe me when i tell you that many of these homes won't last 6-7 years without needing some work---some are just that shoddy

[cmd]

6. A Community of Republicans (last page)

(snip)
Although opinions differ about why Republicans did so well last year in these areas, it seems to boil down to demographics. The bulk of people who choose to live in exurban communities, families with young children and property owners who share a desire for security and more personal space, are statistically more likely to vote Republican, as are the rural residents who live here before the exurbs arrive.

In 2004, the two precincts nearest to New River - those voting at the nearby middle school and at a Baptist Church a few miles away - gave 1,265 votes, or 61 percent, to Mr. Bush, and 782 votes, or 38 percent, to John Kerry.

A Community of Republicans (sub title)

"Most of the people I know out here are Republican," said Yolanda Breuer, 34, who works for a software company in Tampa. "In the workplace in the city, its more like 50-50. And there were some Kerry supporters out here. But mostly, it's Republican."

Ms. Breuer said that she and her husband, Andrew, 29, who switched jobs to become a Pasco County firefighter, did not move to the exurbs to be near others who

[nashville_brook]

18. the modern slave demands lots of storage space

i love how michael moore treats suburbs in bowling for columbine.

more like:

Communities of Scared 'Little Men' With Guns.
Communities of Wage Slaves.
Communities of Easily Duped.
Communities of People Who Won't Be Able To Afford The Commute In A Couple Of Months.
Communities of Porn Addicts.
Communities of Sleeping Sickness.
Communities of Tax Protestors.
Communities of Sweat Shop Chic.
Communities of The Highest Profit Margin Vehicles.
Communities of Gilded Gates.

[Maven]

44. Isolated living arrangement -->

Insular and homogeneous social environment-->

Lack of compassion/knowledge for different socioeconomic groups-->

Adoption of self-important/discriminatory attitudes-->

Greater social and economic conservatism.

Maybe the one great thing that will come from the peak oil meltdown is that it will force people like this to live closer to others who are different from them. Draw your own conclusions with regard to the political ramifications of that change. (Here's a hint: look at how large cities tend to vote.)

[meg]

10. About KB homes

Home Owners for Better Building
KB Homes fined $3.2M

San Antonio Experience with KB
KB Home has been after home-owner activist Janet Ahmad for a long time. She has been very critical of the sales and building practices of the construction giant. Ahmad tells stories of threats, intimidation and dirty dealing.

[DBoon]

12. the anti-levittowns

Levittown (and other post WWII suburbs) were based on a newly affluent working class, affording their first suburban homes.

Levittown was about middle class living for the masses - who could never enjoy this life before.

These suburbs are about an increasingly wealthy minority isolating themselves from the social decay they have created, and seeking safety behind a guarded and gated community.

The new suburbs are about the collapse of the dream behind the old suburbs.

[getmeouttahere]

15. From what I've read...

in a book about that very thing by Lizabeth Cohen, Levittowns were mostly starter homes and at that time there was a burgeoning middle class (where as now it is shrinking rapidly). The one bad thing that came about from "Levittowns" was that many of them that sprung up in later years did not have sidewalks, so not only did people have to commute but it was nearly impossible or at the very least unsafe for people to walk anywhere. This is probably one of the reasons that so many suburban communities have so many fat people.

[nashville_brook]

19. that hits the high notes -- the movie "Over the Edge" (1979)

was a great pop culture expression of this in a Lord of the Flies kinda way.

from the synopsis:
New Grenada is a planned community set in the desert where there is nothing for the kids to do, save for a rec center - which closes at 6 PM. The parents, in their zeal to attract industry to their town, have all but neglected their children. As a result, the kids begin to create their own entertainment, which involves vandalism, theft, and general hooliganism. During an incident when one of the kids brandishes an unloaded gun at town cop Ed Doberman, he is shot and killed. When the parents gather the next night to discuss the killing and the level of lawlessness among the youth, they soon find out that their kids have had all they can take.

think about suburb zoning and what makes a city cool to live in. there's gathering places. meaningful public spaces. stores. services. it's not natural to live separated from the rest of life. i grew up in a place like New Granda. the reason why KIDS manifest the sickness is b/c kids don't drive. surburbs are built for cars, not people.

Prince Charles also has a lot to say about this. google New Urbanism. Jane Jacobs.

[demnan]

21. I wish real estate was affordable inside the Beltway

I would rather have stayed there - so would so many other people I know who had no choice but to move to a suburb where the housing costs were lower.

[CottonBear]

32. Gentrification and urban renewal = less affordable housing in cities.

This is a huge problem, IMHO. Many people simply can't afford to live in cities and own a home too. They get pushed out in to the suburbs while the wealthier upper-middle class moves to the exurbs. The older suburbs are transforming as well. They are becoming more urban and are experiencing typical urban problems. Pretty soon the various exurbs will bump into each other. The exurbs, in turn. cause huge problems for rural landowners and farmers who face higher taxes unless they can put their land into farm land programs or land trusts.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

45. Rising housing prices in the city:

These occur because a non-decayed city neighborhood is an excellent place to live.

I live in a pre-WWII "urban village" in Minneapolis, and homeowners who sell here ask and get astounding prices (not as astounding as in LA or NY, but twice as much as comparable housing in the burbs) because the neighborhood is so attractive and convenient. (I'm able to live here only because a family that owns apartment buildings around here has mysteriously decided not to raise rents.)

You want low housing prices? Go to a city that has been devasted by the loss of its industries, has no tax base to provide services, and is full of despairing people.

There ARE options for those who truly want to live in the city. One is to live in a smaller space. Another, not possible in all cities, is to give up driving, which will save you about $6,000 a year. Another is to rent rather than buy and invest in things other than property.

[MountainLaurel]

35. You've got it

There was a question on the Post's Dr. Gridlock's chat today about the traffic and building out in Hagerstown, which is rapidly becoming a suburb of DC: Too many people -- even those who make reasonably livings such as teachers, police officers, and government grunts -- simply can't afford to live closer in. And the Post itself did an article within the past year about how some public housing residents are having to move to Hagerstown because no one closer in accepts Section 8 anymore.

[anaxarchos]

30. Lemme get this straight....

...they build their own internment camps, move in, and then lock the gate?

[FlemingsGhost]

31. "Sucker-ity" (n/t)

Flem.

[Godspeed_Democrats]

36. K B Homes has a bad reputation

http://www.kbhomessuck.com/viewarticle.asp?artID=172

[DeepModem Mom]

51. Thanks for this info, Godspeed_Democrats -- welcome to DU!

[MisterP]

37. that's what's really gonna collapse if oil hits 100/bbl:

the suburbs can always have mobs tear down a car dealership--they cover half the suburban area near me--but exurbs growing along highways have no urbanized or built-up resource base to turn to: a drive across southern Nevada or the Mojave will give us newer ghost towns, but without any romance that you get with the Old West ones

[depakid]

38. The greatest misallowcation of wealth in history

That's what this type of mindless suburbia wil be thought of in 50 years...

The more I think in those terms- from a historian's perspective, the clearer it is to me that American richly deserve all of the hardship that they're going to go through.

My only hope is enough of the people who caused and profitted from it live to see their kids suffer for their willful ignorance and avarice-

[ramapo]

39. Developed Desolation

Whatever natural resources and beauty were Pasco County will be paved over and built upon. The pine, palmetto, and dense thatch will be clear cut and replaced by sod requiring water and fertilization and pavement which will stop rain absorption into the acquifer.

Nobody walks when you live in nowhere. The SUV is the basis for getting to school or work as well as buying a gallon of milk. Instead of sustainable density , the exhurbs are building upon the unsustainable: unlimited gasoline and fresh water supplies.

From what I've seen, most developments have an oppressive sameness about them. Often treeless, the homes and yards bake in the sun. But as this article documents, home are brilliantly marketed.

Not far from where I live in NJ is a new development called "Ramapo Preserve". It consists of a number of McMansions built on clearcut land that was not too long ago dense forest. But what a nice place to live, a Preserve!

[Fire Walk With Me]

40. Yeah you just try and divine what carpet texture I'd prefer

fascist bully boys... heh...

Mmm, wonder how the Texan lemon laws fit it, and the domination of homebuilders over buyers (can't sue, have to arbitrate, and guess who supports the arbitrators...)

[milkyway]

42. Lovely article, but it makes no mention of energy prices and what's

going to fuel these communities in the near future. These is the first article of a series on the exurbs. I wonder if the Times will go through the entire series without ever mentioning the concept of peak oil.

[depakid]

46. You actually expect the Times to mention this?

Not in a million years- not in this context. It would offend their advertisers and their Board of Directors....

In this respect, the Times is no better than every other so called "mainstream media" outlet in this country. Bought and paid for by the same shortsighted scum that are condemning their children to misery.

[maxsolomon]

48. david "exurbs are the best" brooks

probably edited it.

[VegasWolf]

47. Aritcles like this make one think that the housing bubble has to pop soon!

[Hotler]

49. Greedy developers have ruined Colorado.

The place is now californicated.