Making Suburbs Act Like Cities

"Why young people flee the suburbs was the underlying question of the day. But there has never been much mystery about it: There is nowhere to live; not enough to do; and not enough young adults around to improvise the kind of neighborhood scene born every few years in the big city."

"Planners have been promoting the idea of suburban downtown life for decades, not just for the young, but also for retirees and workers of all ages. Corporate employers in the suburbs have long lamented the scarcity of affordable rental housing for workers. The environmental advantages of living and working in the same zip code are obvious."

"But recent shocks over gas prices, global warming and the tenuous hold many people have on their mortgaged homes seem to have brought new urgency to the idea - at least among professional worriers about the suburbs."

"Though there was nothing groundbreaking about Friday's meeting in Nassau County - no programs unveiled, no new money dedicated - it seemed to reflect what Bruce Katz, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, called an emerging consensus among planners about how the suburban landscape needs to change."