U.S. Suburbs and the Global COVID-19 Pandemic: From Cleanscapes to Safescapes? The Case of the New York Metropolitan Area

Keywords: United States, suburbs, COVID-19 pandemic
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 23

Abstract

In this manuscript, I argue that over the past two centuries, U.S. cities have transitioned from dirtscapes, characterized by severe water, land, air sanitation, public health, physical, and affordable housing challenges, to cleanscapes. As in previous epidemics, the current COVID-19 pandemic has caused many middle- and upper-income people to leave higher density U.S. cities for lower density suburbs and exurbs. I argue that these places quickly transitioned from cleanscapes to safescapes. I focus on New York City which was hit early and hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several push factors made city life in general and living in multifamily homes in particular unattractive, while several pull factors made living in single-family homes in suburban and exurban safescapes attractive, including Long Island, upstate New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The question remains whether the outbound migration will reverse or telecommuting from suburban and exurban safescapes will stay.