1st Edition

Between Bohemia and Suburbia Boburbia in the USA

By William J. Weston Copyright 2019
    164 Pages
    by Routledge

    164 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book identifies a distinctive kind of urban neighborhood that is on the rise throughout the USA, the dense, walkable, mixed-use bourgeois-bohemian suburb or the "boburb."



    It looks at case studies of areas to live in Louisville, Kentucky. Based on scores of interviews with college graduates, backed by survey data and Census figures, it provides a clear, historical account of how these spaces arose. Chapters depict, analyze, and compare the Highlands neighborhood with other Louisville boburbs, contrasting them with the ephemeral bohemian quarters and the many suburban subdivisions. The Highlands are also compared with five other boburbs around the USA. Attention is given to the influence of transportation systems in shaping residential, community, and commercial spaces. Deeper cultural reasons for choosing the boburbs or the suburbs are also explored, including the political "big sort" between liberal and conservative places, and Bourdieu’s account of how the distinction between economic and cultural capital shapes how people choose to live where they live.



    This book will appeal to those interested in the evolution and distinctions among urban neighborhoods. It is ideal for academics and students within urban geography, urban gentrification, cities, and population.

    Introduction: walking to the coffeehouse Part I: The Louisville Highlands: an exemplary boburb 1. Louisville: the big picture 2. Boburbia: the vibrant mixed-use community 3. How did the Highlands happen? From suburbia to bohemia to boburbia 4. Why do you live in the Highlands? Part II: Bohemia and suburbia in Louisville 5. The Highlands and “the Glens”: the suburban alternatives 6. Germantown and Clifton: Bohemia the old-fashioned way 7. NuLu and Portland: Bohemia on steroids Part III: Varieties of boburbs 8. Crescent Hill: the bourgeois boburb 9. Norton Commons: the boburb in the fields 10. Russell and Shawnee: imagining a multiracial boburb of the future 11. Boburbs elsewhere Part IV: Between bohemia and suburbia 12. A measured appreciation of the boburb

    Biography

    William J. Weston is Van Winkle Professor of Sociology at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.