Full Citation

Title: Resurrecting Aging Industrial Suburbs

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2009

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Abstract: We typically regard aging industrial suburbs as among the least fortunate of suburban communities, possessing multiple liabilities that have undermined their viability while newer suburbs have flourished. Typically, aging industrial suburbs are dotted with abandoned industrial facilities, many of them sitting atop brownfields. Their housing stocks, home to workers in an earlier generation, were built in styles and sizes that have not been attractive to recent generations of suburban homebuyers. This paper will argue that industrial suburbs possess features that may boost their fortunes during an era when new urbanist designs are become popular. Built at higher densities than more recent suburbs, many older industrialsuburbs have walkable main streets. Often, they are well served by transit, especially rail transit, since railroads played a crucial role in transporting both goods and passengers in manufacturing centers. These design elements make them advantageous targets for redevelopment following new urbanist principles. This paper will illustrate the appeal of older industrial suburbs to current developers using examples from metropolitan Philadelphia, where a number of such communities have already attracted substantial investments. A special advantage of several of these abandoned industrial centers is their waterfront location along two major rivers in the metropolitan region. Earlier industrialists had located their plants near the rivers for pragmatic reasons. Now, the amenity value possessed by waterfront locations has fueled growing interest by developers seeking to rebuild these sites for new uses.

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Authors: Adams, Carolyn T.

Conference Name: Urban Affairs Association 39th Annual Meeting

Publisher Location: Chicago, IL

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Housing and Segregation

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