Should we be proud of our suburbs?
Is the history of the suburbs one to be celebrated? Or should we be ashamed about the real reasons that led to the mass migration of city dwellers into what were at the time considered far outposts?
I bring up this question because of an intriguing series that recently ran in the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune took an in-depth look at what they called the “new pioneers,” families that have left not only big cities but the suburbs surrounding them, too. They, instead, have moved to the few undeveloped areas around Chicago, meaning they’ve set up homes in cornfields locate far, far from the city.
The reasons for this are many: Some want the quiet. Others are looking for affordable homes. Others want a safe place to raise their children. (I don’t know if any of the “new pioneers” specifcally sought a two-hour commute to their jobs in Chicago, but many have gotten that, too.)
The Tribune story compares these folks to the city residents who first moved from the cities to the suburbs decades ago. A letter writer though in Sunday’s paper brought up an interesting point: Didn’t the first suburbs form because of racism, ignorance and fear?
You can’t deny the letter writer’s point: Many – probably the vast majority – of the first suburban homeowners fled the city in droves because black families were moving in. I don’t know about the rest of the country, but “white flight” was a major problem in Chicago.
If this is the case, how should we feel about the initial growth of the suburbs? I, for one, can’t respect anyone who fled at the first sight of a black family. I’m not so sure we should call the men and women who first moved to the suburbs back in the 50s and 60s pioneers. Maybe we should call them “racists” instead.
What do you think? Should the beginnings of the suburbs be celebrated? Or is there too much racism and fear mixed in with their founding?
Tags: Chicago-Tribune, far-suburbs, suburbsRelated Stories
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