1. A derisive term for older suburbs that are declining into poverty. The word is a combination of "Slum" and "Suburbia."
2. The bleak future for many aging American suburbs.
3. What happens when people refuse to take
urban planning seriously.
Slumburbia is almost always found in large metro areas. As middle-class residents move farther and farther away from the urban core, the closer-in suburbs start to deteriorate. Property values fall leading to reduced local tax revenue, decreased public services, declining schools and increasing crime, especially gang activity. This
vicious circle continues for years until the suburb itself is no longer distinguishable from the large city it borders.
Examples of Slumburbia: Hamtramck, Michigan; Somerville,
Massachusetts; Camden, New Jersey; and Compton, California.
