Since the 1950's, the United States has demonstrated a rapid pattern of suburban growth. Over the years, it has become evident that this growth pattern of large lots, ample private space and auto dependent development has its downfalls. Environmental concerns, rising gas prices, and the changing needs of society as those who originally bought into the suburban neighborhoods post World War II age and people have less and less children have begun to necessitate a change in the suburban growth pattern. In Retrofitting Suburbia, Ellen Dunham--Jones and June Williamson provide an innovative look into this issue and discuss potential solutions through various case studies from around the country.
The authors begin by discussing five reasons why retrofitting takes place. The first of these is that aging and out of date properties, such as dying malls, retail strips and office parks are beginning to create fears of blight in suburban areas. Also, regional cities are growing into edgeless suburban cities, depending highly on auto transit. Now, however, traffic and air quality concerns have led to communities searching for solutions to transit issues, resulting in public transit options being considered. This type of development encourages the redevelopment of underperforming areas into mixed use and walkable areas around transit stops.
The third reason is the changing locational and economic identity of the suburbs. The "bedroom suburbs" of the fifties that were originally far from the central city are now in central areas due to expansion, and they desire to make themselves destination points. The demographics of the suburbs are changing as well, along with the markets they appeal to. There are increasing percentages of homes without children and suburbs are increasingly more diverse in terms of age, income, race and ethnicity. Because of this, there is a need for a more diverse selection of housing types and destinations. Finally, suburban governments have begun to realize the environmental limits to unchecked growth and are planning for the future. These plans include changes in zoning, the anticipation mass transit, and the encouragement of the construction of affordable housing.
The case studies that are provided subsequently demonstrate potential ways to retrofit suburbs into areas that are denser and provide the needed housing options and retail centers. Some of the examples include the transition from a dead mall into a new lifestyle center in Florida, the retrofitting of a big box store into a library in Texas, and the transformation from a suburban edge city into a mixed use, walkable, transit oriented development through infill development outside of Dallas. These will be extremely useful to any architect, planner or developer that is working in a suburban area. They help to explain ways that communities can retrofit, including the process leading up to the approval of a plan and the results of the retrofit. They also provide cautionary advice as to pitfalls to avoid, such as not integrating the retrofitted area well into the surrounding community.
It is important to understand that while areas of suburbs should be retrofitted, the authors propose that suburban areas will always exist. Certain major shopping malls probably will not fail, and there will always be people who wish to live in gated residential neighborhoods. However, there is still a need to bring jobs and affordable housing along with mixes of uses to suburban areas. Further more, town centers that replace aging strip malls and other commercial properties act as nodes and meet the needs of current residents, providing a sense of place in an otherwise placeless location and facilitate social interaction.
Hopefully, another result that will come from people in the business reading this book is to prevent more Greenfield building. Instead, it should encourage the addition of density to existing suburban areas while also adding a sense of place in a way that promotes walkability and social interaction. This retrofitting will be more sustainable overall, encouraging a reduction in vehicle miles traveled and more local spending. Furthermore, as can be seen from the various case studies, these areas tend to do extremely well over time, whereas Greenfield development may become a thing of the past due to environmental concerns and a new generation of worker's desire to live close to their places of work and play.
There are some other very important lessons to be learned from this book. First, these retrofits cost a lot of money. It is important to come up with innovative financing solutions to make them work. A major one is the public-private partnership, and as more governments become aware of the benefits of retrofitting these should become more prevalent. It will also be very important to involve the community when creating retrofits. Without the community on board, it will be impossible to be successful in passing new policies that encourage density and allow for the necessary actions needed for retrofits. Also, the retrofits should add to the character of the community and provide people with necessary services and amenities. They should provide a place that residents enjoy being in and that allows for social interaction. Otherwise, they may end up just as dead in 20 years as the suburban malls and strip centers are becoming now.
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