Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
protection. Fragmentation of metropolitan areas became a problem following the
First World War, primarily in the Manufacturing Belt. Subsequently, and primarily
in the 1950s, the exclusionary practice became generalized in the rest of the country.
Early suburbs faced with the high cost of infrastructure investment and maintenance
were eventually forced to accept annexation. Prosperity and economic growth
following the Second World War led to increased federal subsidies for critical
infrastructure such as roads and expressways, bridges, water mains, irrigation
systems, and flood control. It also reduced the need for territorial solidarity.
Desegregation of public schools (1954) and intercommunity social tensions during
the civil rights period (see Chapter 4) exacerbated exclusionary practices, especially
in southern states. Suburban incorporation thus became a way to check the
expansion of black communities and limit the enrollment of black children in the
predominantly white public schools. Only cities west of the 95th meridian still retain
the potential for territorial extension.
Consolidation between the city center and the county is an event that can be
desired by local actors at one time or another. The consolidation of five counties to
form New York in 1898 remains exceptional in the administrative history of the
United States. However, city centers on numerous occasions have annexed the
whole of their counties. This, in any event, is the solution advocated by David Rusk,
former mayor of Albuquerque and special advisor to President Clinton, to overcome
the crisis of American cities. Baltimore and New Orleans are examples of cities that
extended over the whole of their county. However, metropolitan development
extends far beyond county boundaries, except in a few cities in the West where
counties are geographically extensive, as in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The
examples that were developed in the previous section show the magnitude of the
current fragmentation of metropolitan areas (see Figures 8.31 and 8.32).
8%
7%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
0%
Atlanta
Detroit
Houston
Portland
Figure 8.31.
Relative share of the city center within their metropolitan region's area
