Think you know the suburbs? Well, it might be time to revisit.
At least, that’s what Amanda Kolson Hurley, a senior editor at urban news site CityLab, wants you to do. Kolson Hurley is well-acquainted with suburbia’s numerous negative stereotypes—some of them, such as racial segregation and ecological threat, all too valid. But in Radical Suburbs: Experimental Living on the Fringes of the American City, Kolson Hurley sets out to reveal a different side of the vast patchwork of not-quite-urban, not-quite-rural zones in which more than half of Americans live.
Writing with brisk, upbeat directness, Kolson Hurley urges the reader to envision a very different kind of suburb: one that’s a mix of ethnic groups and income levels, where you can buy or rent a starter home for a reasonable price. One where you can walk or take public transit to most of the places you need to go. One with a flourishing sense of community, where you participate in your neighborhood association and know the people on your street.