Rethinking The ‘Burbs

Is it time to rethink our perceptions of urban sprawl? “Does sprawl include exurbia, the outmost band of development, … the very low-density urban penumbra that lies beyond the regularly built-up suburbs and their urban services? Or is it the newly emerging suburban band of conventional subdivisions, golf courses, schools, and strip malls located closer in toward the city? If the latter is sprawl, is it logical to exclude older suburbs? Certainly at one time these older communities, even many of the most densely packed inner neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan, were themselves relatively low in density and suburban in character compared to what was the core of the city. Why wouldn’t they be considered historic sprawl?”