Dallas, So Much Like Pittsburgh

We're awaiting our very copy of John F. Wasik's new book Cul-de-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream, due to arrive shortly, in which he documents how the housing boom went bust and how walkable cities died a slow death, surprise surprise. And while Dallas and the surrounding suburbs...

By Robert Wilonsky

June 24, 2009

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We're awaiting our very copy of John F. Wasik's new book Cul-de-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream, due to arrive shortly, in which he documents how the housing boom went bust and how walkable cities died a slow death, surprise surprise. And while Dallas and the surrounding suburbs don't get much mention in the tome, the city does show up on a surprising list called, ahem, "Surprise Cities," which are identified as metropolises that are "primed for some growth and offer multiple amenties." Also on the list: Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Kansas City-St. Louis, Birmingham and Des Moines, so we've got that going for us, which is nice. Wasik also references "the ring of overdeveloped towns surrounding Dallas" in this just-posted essay about how we need to kill the "spurbs," damn right.

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