Given these realities, it seems more practical not to work against such aspirations (of greening suburbia) but instead to evolve intelligent policies that would reconcile them with our long-term environmental needs. Suburbanites like their suburbs but would also like to find a way to make them greener as well as more economically and socially viable. Right now neither party has developed such an agenda, and so the suburbs, now clearly leaning right, remain up to grabs. To win suburbanites over, politicians first have to respect the basic preferences while offering a realistic program for improvement. This remains a key to building a sustainable electoral majority, not just for the next election, but for the decades to come.

So what is your opinion?  Are we not working enough to retrofit and green suburban communities?  How we might work with the suburban landscape to make it greener?  Suggestions?

“Smart Growth and New Urbanism have increasingly merged into a loosely aligned set of ideas. The benefits of this high-density housing viewpoint are fast becoming a ‘given’ to planners and city governments, but studies that promote the advantages often omit the obvious disadvantages. “

Read more about some of the potential rubs between these design trends and sustainability here: http://www.newgeography.com/content/00790-smart-growth-or-not-so-bright-idea

Maybe Broadacre City was a better idea than we give Wright credit for?