Joel Kotkin recently argued that America is becoming more suburban. Tim Evans says that it's easy to draw that conclusion "when you define 'suburb' so loosely that it includes just about everything."
Evans is a blogger with New Jersey Future, a non-profit, smart growth advocacy organization based in Trenton, NJ. He says Kotkin's article was sent to him because it dismisses the efforts of organizations such as his that promote urban revitalization.
Evans writes:
"Are we all wrong? Is the resurgent city just wishful thinking?
Or is there something misleading about Kotkin's analysis? Those familiar with Kotkin know that he is a frequent critic of cities and defender of suburbia, so it is not unreasonable to harbor the suspicion that he might be slanting his analysis to lowball the degree to which many of the country's (and New Jersey's) urban areas are reviving their fortunes.
In fact, this is exactly what he'a doing. It's easy to say that "America is becoming more suburban" when you define "suburb" so loosely that it includes just about everything. The problem with Kotkin's analysis is in his very expansive definition of 'suburb.'"
Thanks to Jay Corbalis
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