Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America [Paperback]

Setha Low (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0415950414 | ISBN-13: 978-0415950411

In the last twenty years, thousands upon thousands of the upper and middle classes have retreated into gated communities. In 2002, it is estimated that one in eight Americans will live in these exclusive neighbourhoods. What has sparked this alarming trend? Behind the Gates is Setha Low's revealing account of what life is like inside these suburban fortresses. After years researching and interviewing families in Long Island, New York and San Antonio, Texas, Low provides an inside view of gated communities to help explain why people flee to these enclaves. Parents with children, young married couples, "empty-nesters" and retirees express their need for safety, their secret fears of a more ethnically diverse America, and their desire to recapture the close-knit, picket-fenced communities of their childhood. Ironically, she shows, gated neighbourhoods are in fact no safer than other suburbs, and many who move there are disheartened by the insularity and restrictive rules of the community.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Provocative and disturbing, this much-needed book holds up an unsparing mirror to an unsettling sign of our times." - The New York Times

About the Author

Setha Low is Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center. She is the author or editor of numerous books, including Theorizing the City: The New Urban Anthropology Reader; Housing, Culture, and Design; Cultural Spaces; and Place Attachment.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415950414
• ISBN-13: 978-0415950411
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #756,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A major disappointment, November 9, 2009

By 

broccoli_d (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America (Kindle Edition)

As a person who was an anthopolgy major and graduate stuent who is now an urban planner, this book seemed like it was a perfect fit for my interests. Unfortunately, the author squanders what was a sure-thing opportunity to create a fascinating book by spending far too much time personalizing a few of her interviewees rather than really providing a strong critical overview of the subject of gated communities and their social and design implaications.

Behind the Gates gets off to a strong start when the author first provides an overview of her topic and introduces her study participants. However, the chance for this book to have a major impact is lost when she endlessly recounts her interactions with her subjects (including relatives she is visiting who "happen" to live in a gated community) while not spending enough time building an adequare theoretical framework. Using this approach slows the book down to a near-standstill and deprives the reader of the greater overview of the book's topic that its title promises. Due to approach used, Behing the Gates is unlikely to make a significant impact in either urban planning or anthropology--a belief that is corroborated by the fact that I am only the third person to review it.

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating social study, and very highly recommended, September 15, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America (Hardcover)

Expertly researched and informatively written by Setha Low (Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Psychology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York), Behind The Gates: Life, Security, And The Pursuit Of Happiness In Fortress America is an impressive and scholarly study of the gated communities phenomena. The gated commu-nity is the fastest-growing form of housing in the United States. Individual chapters address the origin of the gated community; its emphases on safety and fear of crime; as well as a means of enhancing property values, and promoting insularity -- yet the ironic results are that gated communities are statistically no safer than the suburbs in general. A fascinating social study, and very highly recommended reading for anyone seriously concerned about the trend toward gated communities or seriously considering moving to one, Behind The Gates is a welcome and original contribution to American Urban Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars insightful for those living outside the gates, April 13, 2007

By 

Alan Fox (New City, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America (Paperback)

The findings of Behind the Gates provide opportunities for improvement in policy and design implications. It is likely that the trends and culture of society outweigh the conclusions drawn by this book. People will continue to demand gated communities, and developers will continue to build them, which is disappointing to say the least.