The Right to Suburbia

Book excerpt: In recent decades, American suburbs have undergone a so-called renaissance as multiple forces have transformed them into denser urban landscapes. Yet at the same time, suburban racial diversity, immigration, and poverty rates have surged. The Right to Suburbia investigates how marginalized communities in the suburbs of Washington, DC--one of the most intensely gentrifying metropolitan regions in the United States--have battled the uneven costs and benefits of redevelopment. Willow Lung-Amam narrates the efforts of activists, community groups, and political leaders fighting for communities' "right to suburbia"--that is, their right to stay put and benefit from new neighborhood investments. Revealing the far-reaching impacts of state-led redevelopment, The Right to Suburbia shows how patterns of unequal, racialized development and displacement are being produced and reproduced in suburbs--and how communities are fighting back.