inner-ring suburbs
The University of Minnesota’s Design Center for American Urban Landscape’s (UM-DCAUL) definition of inner-ring suburbs is the most widely cited (Design Center for American Urban Landscape, 1999). Inner-ring suburbs are those that developed between 1945 and 1965; they are a group of bedroom communities and small towns sprouting up after World War II “that serviced and relied on the economic prosperity and cultural amenities of the central cities.” UM-DCAUL has identified three characteristics of inner-ring suburbs. First, they are close neighbors to the central city. Second, they were once the edge of the metropolitan area and continue to exhibit some edge qualities. Third, they are communities with their own distinctive characteristics. The inner-ring suburbs are now the middle of the metropolitan area, or the “new urban pivot point.” (Fitzgerald and Leigh, 2002) Elsewhere, the time frame for the formation of the inner-ring suburbs has been extended to 1977 (Muschamp, 1997). The postwar frame of reference for the formation period of these suburbs, however, is most applicable to newer (and/or sunbelt) metropolitan regions. Throughout the country and, in particular, the Midwest and Northeast regions, inner-ring suburbs frequently date back to the turn of the century and the advent of streetcar suburbs (Fitzgerald and Leigh, 2002).