Suburbs have experienced a sort of renaissance over the last decade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people fled urban cores in favor of open space and decentralized amenities. For some people, the word “suburb” or “suburbia” flashes images of manicured lawns and rows of identical homes, but what makes a successful suburb may have more in common with cities than you might think.
It’s important to understand what a suburb even is and how it can be defined. In 2017, HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed more than 75,000 people who were asked to define if their neighborhoods were rural, suburban, or urban. Of this population, 21 percent said that they lived in a rural area, 27 percent said that they resided in an urban area, and 52% identified as living in a suburban neighborhood. Interestingly, when the survey was repeated three years later, many people claimed to be living in suburbia, when their homes were actually identified as being within urban limits. However, the most widely accepted definition of suburbs describes the post-war areas featuring low-density buildings and housing. These areas lie beyond a city’s perimeter and are largely residential.
