Urbanizing America: The Mid-Atlantic

The Baltimore-Washington Metro Area from Space
(Washington D.C. at top of photo, Baltimore is below) 
Image Courtesy of NASA Johnson Space Center

White Flight and Suburbanization

Suburban sprawl around Los Angeles
Image by flickr user ATIS547

While most metropolitan areas in the Mid-Atlantic continue to grow steadily, population growth within the metro areas themselves, in terms of cities vs suburbs, is uneven. From the 1950's up until the early 2000's population and economic growth in America has been strongest in its suburbs. There were a large number of catalysts for this growth shift out of urban areas, the most notable of which is the "white flight" phenomenon of white Americans leaving industrial cities for new housing in their suburbs. This in turn was precipitated by the “Great Migration” of economically disadvantaged African-Americans from the South (were racism was still prevalent and job opportunities scarce) to industrialized cities in the Northeast and Midwest between 1940 and 1970. As blacks moved into traditional white European-American neighborhoods, ethnic frictions served to accelerate flight into the suburbs because of lower property values and higher crime rates. 

Abandoned row homes in BaltimoreImage by flickr user newskin0

In later years urban centers were drained further through the advent of mass car ownership, the marketing of suburbia as a location to move to, and the building of the Interstate Highway System. This shift manifested itself in strip malls, suburban retail and employment centers, and very low-density housing. As a result of urban decline, many cities in the Northeast and Midwest peaked in population in 1950 and have seen declines ever since. Washington D.C. Philadelphia, Cleveland, Baltimore, Detroit, and Chicago, which each had populations greater than 800,000 in 1950, all saw population declines of 25% or more between 1950 and 2010. The percentage of Americans living in cities declined from a high of 32.8% (vs 23.3% in suburban areas) in 1950 to 30.3% (vs 50.0% in suburban areas) in 2000 according to the Census Bureau.

The Reemergence of Cities
In recent years, the trend of suburbanization has begun to reverse itself, with growth in American suburbs beginning to slow and many big cities beginning to see their populations rise again. Between 2011 and 2012 only one of the nation's 20 largest cities (Detroit) saw it's population decline, and 16 of the 20 saw an increase in their growth rates compared to 2010-11. Among the 51 metropolitan areas with more than one million residents, 24 saw their cities grow faster than their suburbs 2011-12 with average big city growth being 1.12% and suburban growth 0.97%. Even booming Sunbelt cities such as Orlando, Austin, Atlanta, Houston, and Charlotte saw their suburbs grow slower than the cities themselves (although many Southern have a low-density, "suburban" feel/layout outside of their downtowns).

The recently developed NoMa neighborhood in Washington D.C.Image by flickr user Elvert Barnes

Mid-Atlantic Urbanization
The Mid-Atlantic wasn't an exception to the trend of growing urban areas. In the New York metropolitan area, New York City — the nation’s largest, with over 8 million people — saw its population grow 0.8% between July 2011 and July 2012, much faster than the 0.3% growth of its suburbs. Between 2000 and 2010, the New York metro area’s suburbs generally grew faster than New York City. Recently in the Baltimore metro area recent years, the rapid pace of growth in two suburban counties, Carroll and Harford counties slowed. In fact, Carroll County's population saw a decline from 2011 to 2012, a very rare occurrence in the Baltimore-Washington metro area. At the same time more urban counties such as Baltimore and Anne Arundel grew, as well as the city of Baltimore itself (for the first time in over 50 years). In the rapidly growing Washington D.C. Metro Area 62% of the 224,000 people who moved to Greater Washington between 2010 and 2012 moved to the city and inner suburbs.

The faster growth of large cities probably has its origins in the downturns in the national housing and labor markets of the past five years and the continued slowdown in suburban growth. Young people, retirees, and other householders who might have moved to the suburbs in better times are unable to obtain mortgages or employment. Young people especially may have put their lives on hold indefinitely because of the downturn, delaying marriage, kids and home-buying. They have also moved to cities in search of jobs, an urban lifestyle, and better nightlife. In addition baby boomers are tired of commuting and want to have easier access to events and cultural activities.

If this trend continues, and so far it has shown no signs of letting up, it could create a major shift in the "typical" American residence away from the stereotypical sterile middle-class subdivision filled with families residing in detached single-family homes with 2-car garages on cul-de-sacs to urban rowhomes, apartments, and condos near entertainment, commercial, and retail destinations and along transit routes.