Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Smart Growth

Rail~volution: Will New Americans Fuel Smart Growth or Suburbanism?

This year’s Rail~volution conference — the annual gathering of livability advocates, urban sustainability coordinators, and transit agency officials – kicked off today with remarks by Chris Leinberger of the Brookings Institution and Manuel Pastor, who teaches demographics and ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

Is this the new image of walkable urbanism? Photo: WekeRoad

Leinberger noted that Hollywood does more consumer research than anyone else, and it portrays what audiences aspire to. So, we can see in the difference between TV shows of past decades and current shows the evolution of tastes in the U.S. Where we had I Love Lucy, Dick Van Dyke, and The Brady Bunch, all set in the suburbs, we now have Seinfeld, Friends, and Sex in the City – all set in cities.

Indeed, Leinberger often talks about the increased demand for urbanism, especially among young people, but he also noted the downsizing trend as baby boomers move out of big houses to smaller spaces in more walkable, urban neighborhoods. And he credited the trend of people having fewer children with the expansion of the demand for walkable urbanism: Only 25 percent of households have children now, as opposed to 50 percent in the 1950s. Singles and couples without children are the “target market” for walkable urbanism, he said, and that constituency is only growing.

At the same time, Manuel Pastor argued that the main catalysts of walkable urbanism in the future are going to be the people with the highest fertility rate in the nation, having the most children: Latinos. (Latina women have an average of three children each, while each white woman has an average of 2.1.)

Pastor said the age gap between whites and “non-white Hispanics” (Latinos) – the median age among whites is 41; among Latinos it’s 27 – is causing significant tension. The state with the largest age gap between whites and Latinos is Arizona, which notoriously passed (what was then) the country’s most repressive anti-immigrant law last year. The gap is also responsible for low levels of per capita spending on education, since older whites “don’t see themselves” in the younger generation using the schools. And good urban schools are key to keeping families in cities as their children grow up.

Even with their big families and many children, Latinos prefer to live in cities, Pastor said. New arrivals, especially, disproportionately use transit. The walkable urbanism in immigrant neighborhoods is characterized by “taquerías, not cappuccino bars,” Pastor said. Latinos simply don’t follow the same trends as white Americans when it comes to suburban flight when kids come into the picture.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Waste of Time: Full-Salaried NYPD Cops Now Needed to Enforce the Unprotected Bedford Avenue Bike Lane

Streets that are properly designed — with bike lanes that can't be blocked or narrower lanes in which drivers can't speed — don't need squads of cops to hand out tickets.

August 7, 2025

NYC Could Have Its First Car-Free Neighborhood (But Won’t Get It Due To Revanchist Pols)

Creedmoor should not become just another mixed-use development, but, instead, become America’s next great neighborhood.

Northern Disclosure: Canada’s Road Laws Could Help Save U.S. Lives

The U.S. would be safer if we implemented some of Canada's most common roadway laws — but the politics are complicated.

August 7, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Vanderbilt to Last Edition

We had a lot of problems with a New York Magazine story that forgot the benefits of open streets and outdoor dining. Plus other news.

August 7, 2025

Construction Begins On Deliverista Hub Highlighting Need For More Infrastructure

It's one small hub for a few humans, but what's needed is a giant leap for humankind.

August 6, 2025

It’s Back! 34th Street Busway Revived In Midtown Rezoning Deal

The Adams administration has agreed to create a 34th Street busway as part an agreement to rezone a slice of Midtown.

August 6, 2025
See all posts