Rule, Suburbia

The battle’s over. For half a century, legions of planners, urbanists, environmentalists and big city editorialists have waged war against sprawl. Now it’s time to call it a day and declare a victor.

The winner is, yes, sprawl.

The numbers are incontestable and the trends inexorable. Since 1950, more than 90 percent of metropolitan population growth in America has taken place in the suburbs. Today, roughly two out of three people in the nation’s metro areas are suburban dwellers. “The burbs” have become the homeland of American success, with an increasing share of our national wealth and half the poverty of the urban core.

joelkotkin.com / Washington Post