Panel:
Analyzing Emerging Social Equity Issues and Policies in U.S. Suburbs
(Social Equity)
Friday, November 13, 2015: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Stanford (Hyatt Regency Miami)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Panel Organizers: Katrin B. Anacker, George Mason University
Panel Chairs: Katrin B. Anacker, George Mason University
Discussants: Paul Jargowsky, Rutgers University - Camden
Over the past several decades some suburban picture windows in the United States have developed cracks. Many suburbs are no longer places with high proportions of home-owning non-Hispanic Whites and native borns with relatively high household incomes, high levels of education, and without any problems. Indeed, some suburbs have never had these characteristics.
Since the mid-1980s the literature on suburbs has repeatedly discussed changes in their demographics, socioeconomics, and housing stock. While earlier works have focused on suburban decline and diversity, more recent works have focused on poverty, vacancies in the housing stock, and the crisis in subprime lending and foreclosure. The four presentations given in this panel will focus on the latter aspects, illustrating that challenges previously associated with central cities are now common in suburbs.
Interestingly, many of the suburban changes illustrate the need for public policies. Yet most public policies, along with the infrastructure in philanthropy, are geared towards central cities. In other words, suburbs fall into a “policy blindspot” (Orfield & Puentes, 2002). The four papers will illustrate this gap and suggest how suburban challenges can be addressed by future public policies.
