The 10 Worst Things About Suburban Sprawl

An piece from Joshua Smith's Suburbs of the Emerald CityThis new piece from Jeff Speck (co-author of the influential book Suburban Nation) has been floating all around the internets this week. Key section:

Over a decade ago, when we started writing our book, "Suburban Nation," we had no idea how quickly the conversation was about to change. The New Urban critique of sprawl, initiated by my co-authors in the late seventies, was at first an aesthetic discussion -- by God, this stuff is ugly....But now, a preference has become a mandate, as sprawl has quietly been identified as a central cause behind a growing list of mounting national crises including foreign oil dependency, climate change, and the obesity epidemic. With economists, environmentalists, and epidemiologists all bemoaning suburbia, it is a good time to step back and remind ourselves what we're still up against.

Somber, true, useful reminders. But my favorite line was his critique of the ubiquitous, garage-fronted "snout house:" 

"Nothing says 'suburban anomie' quite like the dull stare of the American wide-mouthed garage-house."

For more on this topic, view our audio slideshow in which artist Joshua Smith discusses sprawl and his installation piece Suburbs of the Emerald City.