--- On Fri, 8/29/08, Andy F <andy274 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > To add to Dennis' comment on increased ethnic
> diversity of suburbia - it is quite visible here in the
> DC/Baltimore area. That makes me think that the main
> instrument of apartheid in the US is not housing anymore,
> but transportation.
>
> Or a combination of the two -- older, more expensive
> suburbs served by
> commuter trains that are usually better kept and more
> reliable than
> El/subway systems and especially busses. This is very
> visible in
> Chicago and Boston.
[WS:] Yeah. That was my impression of Chicago too. However, old better off suburbia may lose their value. Case in point - Silver Spring, MD that used to be a better-off railroad suburb of DC. You still see some remnants of that here and there, but today it is mostly Hispanics, Blacks and sandal wearing liberal whites - at least it is whom you see on Ride-On buses and Metro and downtown. More affluent folk left for more posh areas that are NOT served by transit.
BTW, the remnants of the white upper middle class in Silver Spring started their campaign against a public transit initiative called the "Purple Line." You can see signs "No Train on Wayne" (the psoposed track alignemnt) everywhere on manicured front lawns with SUVs in the driveways http://www.gazette.net/stories/071608/takonew200339_32363.shtml. I would love to see these assholes paying substantially more for their life style.
Wojtek