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Subject: Suburban Disequilibrium
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THE NEW YORK TIMES
OPINION
OPINIONATOR | THE GREAT DIVIDE
APRIL 6, 2013, 1:30 PMSuburban DisequilibriumBy BECKY M.
NICOLAIDES<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/becky-m-nicolaides/>
 and ANDREW WIESE<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/andrew-wiese/=
>

A little pocket of Los Angeles County tucked into the foothills of the San
Gabriel Mountains reflects a crucial facet of suburban life. There=92s tiny=
,
wealthy Bradbury, a town that prides itself on having one of the richest
ZIP codes in Los Angeles, where a house is on the market for $68.8 million.
A couple of miles to the east is Azusa. This modest suburb is more than
two-thirds Latino, a town of working families whose incomes and home values
are a sliver of the wealth nearby.

These towns represent extremes of social inequality, but in Los Angeles and
other areas, they reflect a defining pattern of contemporary suburban life.
Nationwide, rich and poor neighborhoods like these house a growing
proportion of Americans, up to 31 percent compared with 15 percent in 1970,
according to a recent study by Sean F. Reardon and Kendra Bischoff.
Meanwhile, iconic middle-income suburbs are shrinking in numbers and
prospects.

Today=92s suburbs provide a map not just to the different worlds of the ric=
h
and the poor, which have always been with us, but to the increase in
inequality between economic and social classes.

From the historian=92s perspective, these patterns also reveal another trut=
h
about suburban places: their tendency to sustain and reinforce inequality.
Bradbury and Azusa have maintained their spots in the top and bottom tiers
of the Los Angeles suburbs for decades. The sociologist John Logan
described this =93stratifying=94 feature long ago, noting that localities h=
eld
on to social advantages and disadvantages over time. Patterns are
established, and successive waves of pressure =97 fiscal, political, social=
 =97
tend to keep things moving in the same direction.

Some of this is obvious. High property values support high-achieving
schools, which in turn increase property values and personal wealth. Racial
redlining holds property values down, limiting investment in schools and
preventing families from building equity, disadvantages that pass to the
next generation like a negative inheritance. The point is not simply that
rich and poor people live in different places through a kind of class
sorting in the marketplace. The places themselves help to create wealth and
poverty. Because of this power of places to fix inequity over time, current
patterns are likely to outlive their residents.

Los Angeles embodies these processes in vivid ways, showing how recent
trends have amplified uneven landscapes from the past. At the high end, San
Marino, Palos Verdes Estates and La Ca=F1ada Flintridge have ranked for
decades among the county=92s top municipalities. All are picturesque suburb=
s,
sited in some of the most visually appealing locales in the Southland.
Adding to these natural advantages, each is carefully controlled by
land-use restrictions that freeze in place their landscapes of high-end
homes and freeze out almost everyone else. In San Marino, these buffers are
so strong that home prices actually rose during the recession. At the other
end, working-class towns like Azusa, San Fernando and Maywood began and
remain in a lower tier. These suburbs started modestly with small homes and
slender public investments, and they passed these humble trappings down
through time.

Globalization helps drive these patterns to new extremes. Money flows into
suburbs like San Marino and Palos Verdes, where Asian immigrants buy up
expensive properties and generously donate their time and money to the
local schools. Money flows out of poorer suburbs like South Gate, Bell and
Huntington Park, all heavily Latino, where disposable income is tight and
many families export remittances to a home country. New poverty builds upon
old impoverishment. Infrastructure is stretched as renters crowd into
dwellings that were modest to begin with. The toxic footprint of departed
industries is left behind for new residents to contend with.

Many of Los Angeles=92s middling suburbs have also slipped, especially thos=
e
ravaged by plant closures since the 1980s. The southern section of
blue-collar suburbs was hit especially hard. Here, suburbia transformed
from comfortable communities housing unionized workers with well-paying
jobs in local factories that gave them access to a middle-class lifestyle
to fiscally strained communities housing immigrants working in low-paying,
nonunion jobs.

Outer suburbs have fared little better. As home costs skyrocketed in recent
decades, families chased =93affordable=94 housing to the exurbs. They took =
on
outsize mortgages and monster commutes, and they took with them congested
roads, smog and sprawl. Compounding these strains, tax revenues lagged
behind the cost of schools, roads, parks and libraries =97 the very
infrastructure necessary to sustain middle-class life. This edifice came
crashing down in the recession. In the Inland Empire, 60 miles east of Los
Angeles, one in six homes entered foreclosure between 2006 and 2009.
Billboards on the interstate recite a sad litany of child custody law,
foreclosure counseling and addiction hot lines =97 symbols of the good life
turned inside out.

Policies to redress suburban inequality must focus not only on factors like
income but also on tax equity across metro areas and regional planning that
fairly distributes resources and responsibilities (like affordable
housing). We should limit the mortgage-interest deduction for second homes
and for values above the regional median. These steps would reduce
distortions that inflate housing prices and concentrate wealth in what are
already wealthy places.

It is not enough to call for measures that stop suburbanization =97 the
suburbs aren=92t going anywhere. If all we do is try to pretend away their
radically unequal fortunes, we will just drop a new suburban inequality on
top of the old one.

*Becky M. Nicolaides<http://www.women.ucla.edu/csw/Research_Scholars/b_nico=
laides.html>,
a research scholar at the U.C.L.A. Center for the Study of Women, and Andre=
w
Wiese<http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~histweb/faculty_and_staff/faculty_bios/a_w=
iese.htm>,
a professor of history at San Diego State University, are the editors of
=93The Suburb Reader.=94*

   *The Great Divide is a series on inequality =97 the haves, the have-nots
   and everyone in between =97 in the United States and around the world, a=
nd
   its implications for economics, politics, society and culture. The serie=
s
   moderator is Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, a Columb=
ia
   professor <http://www.josephstiglitz.com/> and a former chairman of the
   Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist for the World Bank.*

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--20cf3071cab4a21d0a04d9babc83
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<div><img src=3D"http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/04/07/sunday-revi=
ew/07DIVIDE/07DIVIDE-tmagArticle.jpg"></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><=
div>THE NEW YORK TIMES</div><div>OPINION</div><div>OPINIONATOR | THE GREAT =
DIVIDE</div>
<div><div id=3D"opinionator" style=3D"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:1=
3.333333015441895px"><div align=3D"left"><span class=3D"timestamp published=
" title=3D"2013-04-06T13:30:36+00:00" style=3D"margin-top:15px;font-size:0.=
829em;font-weight:bold;display:block;margin-bottom:10px;text-transform:uppe=
rcase;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">APRIL 6, 2013,=A01:30 PM</spa=
n><h3 class=3D"entry-title" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 12px;padding:0px;font-s=
ize:16px">
Suburban Disequilibrium</h3><address class=3D"byline author vcard" style=3D=
"font-weight:bold;font-size:0.829em;margin-bottom:12px;font-family:arial,he=
lvetica,sans-serif">By=A0<a href=3D"http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/au=
thor/becky-m-nicolaides/" class=3D"url fn" title=3D"See all posts by BECKY =
M. NICOLAIDES" style=3D"color:rgb(0,0,102);text-decoration:none;text-transf=
orm:uppercase">BECKY M. NICOLAIDES</a>=A0and=A0<a href=3D"http://opinionato=
r.blogs.nytimes.com/author/andrew-wiese/" class=3D"url fn" title=3D"See all=
 posts by ANDREW WIESE" style=3D"color:rgb(0,0,102);text-decoration:none;te=
xt-transform:uppercase">ANDREW WIESE</a></address><div class=3D"entry-conte=
nt">
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">A little pocket of Los Angeles County tucked in=
to the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains reflects a crucial facet of s=
uburban life. There=92s tiny, wealthy Bradbury, a town that prides itself o=
n having one of the richest ZIP codes in Los Angeles, where a house is on t=
he market for $68.8 million. A couple of miles to the east is Azusa. This m=
odest suburb is more than two-thirds Latino, a town of working families who=
se incomes and home values are a sliver of the wealth nearby.</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">These towns represent extremes of social inequa=
lity, but in Los Angeles and other areas, they reflect a defining pattern o=
f contemporary suburban life. Nationwide, rich and poor neighborhoods like =
these house a growing proportion of Americans, up to 31 percent compared wi=
th 15 percent in 1970, according to a recent study by Sean F. Reardon and K=
endra Bischoff. Meanwhile, iconic middle-income suburbs are shrinking in nu=
mbers and prospects.</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">Today=92s suburbs provide a map not just to the=
 different worlds of the rich and the poor, which have always been with us,=
 but to the increase in inequality between economic and social classes.</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">From the historian=92s perspective, these patte=
rns also reveal another truth about suburban places: their tendency to sust=
ain and reinforce inequality. Bradbury and Azusa have maintained their spot=
s in the top and bottom tiers of the Los Angeles suburbs for decades. The s=
ociologist John Logan described this =93stratifying=94 feature long ago, no=
ting that localities held on to social advantages and disadvantages over ti=
me. Patterns are established, and successive waves of pressure =97 fiscal, =
political, social =97 tend to keep things moving in the same direction.</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">Some of this is obvious. High property values s=
upport high-achieving schools, which in turn increase property values and p=
ersonal wealth. Racial redlining holds property values down, limiting inves=
tment in schools and preventing families from building equity, disadvantage=
s that pass to the next generation like a negative inheritance. The point i=
s not simply that rich and poor people live in different places through a k=
ind of class sorting in the marketplace. The places themselves help to crea=
te wealth and poverty. Because of this power of places to fix inequity over=
 time, current patterns are likely to outlive their residents.</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">Los Angeles embodies these processes in vivid w=
ays, showing how recent trends have amplified uneven landscapes from the pa=
st. At the high end, San Marino, Palos Verdes Estates and La Ca=F1ada Flint=
ridge have ranked for decades among the county=92s top municipalities. All =
are picturesque suburbs, sited in some of the most visually appealing local=
es in the Southland. Adding to these natural advantages, each is carefully =
controlled by land-use restrictions that freeze in place their landscapes o=
f high-end homes and freeze out almost everyone else. In San Marino, these =
buffers are so strong that home prices actually rose during the recession. =
At the other end, working-class towns like Azusa, San Fernando and Maywood =
began and remain in a lower tier. These suburbs started modestly with small=
 homes and slender public investments, and they passed these humble trappin=
gs down through time.</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">Globalization helps drive these patterns to new=
 extremes. Money flows into suburbs like San Marino and Palos Verdes, where=
 Asian immigrants buy up expensive properties and generously donate their t=
ime and money to the local schools. Money flows out of poorer suburbs like =
South Gate, Bell and Huntington Park, all heavily Latino, where disposable =
income is tight and many families export remittances to a home country. New=
 poverty builds upon old impoverishment. Infrastructure is stretched as ren=
ters crowd into dwellings that were modest to begin with. The toxic footpri=
nt of departed industries is left behind for new residents to contend with.=
</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">Many of Los Angeles=92s middling suburbs have a=
lso slipped, especially those ravaged by plant closures since the 1980s. Th=
e southern section of blue-collar suburbs was hit especially hard. Here, su=
burbia transformed from comfortable communities housing unionized workers w=
ith well-paying jobs in local factories that gave them access to a middle-c=
lass lifestyle to fiscally strained communities housing immigrants working =
in low-paying, nonunion jobs.</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">Outer suburbs have fared little better. As home=
 costs skyrocketed in recent decades, families chased =93affordable=94 hous=
ing to the exurbs. They took on outsize mortgages and monster commutes, and=
 they took with them congested roads, smog and sprawl. Compounding these st=
rains, tax revenues lagged behind the cost of schools, roads, parks and lib=
raries =97 the very infrastructure necessary to sustain middle-class life. =
This edifice came crashing down in the recession. In the Inland Empire, 60 =
miles east of Los Angeles, one in six homes entered foreclosure between 200=
6 and 2009. Billboards on the interstate recite a sad litany of child custo=
dy law, foreclosure counseling and addiction hot lines =97 symbols of the g=
ood life turned inside out.</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">Policies to redress suburban inequality must fo=
cus not only on factors like income but also on tax equity across metro are=
as and regional planning that fairly distributes resources and responsibili=
ties (like affordable housing). We should limit the mortgage-interest deduc=
tion for second homes and for values above the regional median. These steps=
 would reduce distortions that inflate housing prices and concentrate wealt=
h in what are already wealthy places.</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em">It is not enough to call for measures that stop=
 suburbanization =97 the suburbs aren=92t going anywhere. If all we do is t=
ry to pretend away their radically unequal fortunes, we will just drop a ne=
w suburban inequality on top of the old one.</p>
<p style=3D"color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:medium;margin:0px 0px 0.7em;paddi=
ng:0px;line-height:1.375em"><em><a href=3D"http://www.women.ucla.edu/csw/Re=
search_Scholars/b_nicolaides.html" style=3D"color:rgb(0,0,102);text-decorat=
ion:none">Becky M. Nicolaides</a>, a research scholar at the U.C.L.A. Cente=
r for the Study of Women, and=A0<a href=3D"http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~histw=
eb/faculty_and_staff/faculty_bios/a_wiese.htm" style=3D"color:rgb(0,0,102);=
text-decoration:none">Andrew Wiese</a>, a professor of history at San Diego=
 State University, are the editors of =93The Suburb Reader.=94</em></p>
</div></div></div><div id=3D"footer" style=3D"clear:both;padding:0px;min-wi=
dth:0px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,&#39;sans serif&#39;;font-size:10px;mar=
gin:4.9em 0px 0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);width:909.9375px;border-bottom-width:=
0px!important;border-top-width:1px!important;border-top-style:solid!importa=
nt;border-top-color:rgb(226,226,226)!important">
<ul style=3D"margin:0px;padding:10px 0px;list-style:none;white-space:nowrap=
"><em style=3D"font-family:georgia,&#39;times new roman&#39;,times,serif;fo=
nt-size:12px;line-height:16.79166603088379px;white-space:normal;background-=
color:rgb(255,255,255)">The Great Divide is a series on inequality =97 the =
haves, the have-nots and everyone in between =97 in the United States and a=
round the world, and its implications for economics, politics, society and =
culture. The series moderator is Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in ec=
onomics, a Columbia<a href=3D"http://www.josephstiglitz.com/" style=3D"colo=
r:rgb(102,102,153);text-decoration:none">professor</a>=A0and a former chair=
man of the Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist for the World B=
ank.</em></ul>
</div></div>
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Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship
e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's
latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent
editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/
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To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
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