American suburbia didn't just happen as an accident of the free market. Government housing policies built it through decades of programs that consciously segregated metropolitan areas by race.
http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/09/how-the-federal-government-built-white-suburbia/403321/
stimulus
Anyone else actually read the article finehoe posted? Anyone? Don't think its main thesis was about how we were pulled out of the great depression unless it's a recognition that regulations designed on purpose to create segregation and build white middle class consumer communities and ghettoizing black communities.
Stimulus?! Really?! Do you think this is a shining example of america doing things right?
Way to lose the plot.
Very true article and the things mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. Arlington, Cedar Hills, Englewood, Lake Shore, etc. are all examples of local suburbs stimulated via federal regulations and policies of the mid-20th century. Public housing was also segregated. Brentwood was originally white, while Durkeeville and Blodgett Homes were black. Also, a chunk of Hansontown and Sugar Hill were demolished to build Blodgett Homes. Combined with I-95 being ripped through them, those neighborhoods were never the same after that.
Back in 2013, there was a pretty good traveling exhibit on Race, covering this era and more in explicit detail. I unexpectantly came across it during a visit in Birmingham. I ended up spending most of my day reading every piece of the exhibit. Here's a link to it:
http://www.understandingrace.org/home.html
^This link includes a timeline with detailed information on events, policies, etc. between 1600 and 2010.
http://www.understandingrace.org/history/society/post_war_economic_boom.html
^This link includes a brief summary of post WWII suburban growth.
So what. Jacksonville is projected to become predominantly non white. Victory.
^I think we can put to rest the idea that Jacksonville and cities like it are what they are because of the free market. That's about as far from the truth as it gets. That's something to remember the next time, someone makes a claim that downtown can't be vibrant because everyone wants to live in the suburbs locally.
Jacksonville could benefit greatly with some true urban development. I hate to say it but i was initially very disappointed when i moved down here at the complete lack of anything urban by my standards (northeast). Riverside is beautful but lets be real, its suburban by most non-Florida standards and Brooklyn is nothing but a few apartments behind a strip mall #suburban. I have learned to love other things about Jax though and am no longer unhappy. I have been very pleased with the development in the elbow area of downtown. Going out there on a Saturday night is probably the only urban experience i have been able to find in Jax.
Quote from: finehoe on September 03, 2015, 10:09:44 AM
American suburbia didn't just happen as an accident of the free market. Government housing policies built it through decades of programs that consciously segregated metropolitan areas by race.
http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/09/how-the-federal-government-built-white-suburbia/403321/