Cities, Suburbs and the Problem of Sprawl Course Description: In 2000, the Census revealed that more Americans live in suburbs than rural areas and central cities combined. The seminar will explore the changing meanings of "city" and "suburb" in the American landscape and consider definitions of "sprawl." While downtowns have declined in size and influence since 1950, suburbs have come to dominate metropolitan regions. After reviewing accounts of downtown decline, we will survey seven suburban configurations (the "borderlands" of the 1820s, the picturesque enclaves of the 1840s, the dense streetcar suburbs of the late nineteenth century, the mail-order house boom of the 1920s, the mass-produced bedroom communities of the 1950s, the mall-centered "edge cities" along highways, and the rural fringes of the 1980s and 1990s) and discuss the contemporary visual culture of sprawl. These images are for class use only.

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