Closely related is the "McMansion" trend in housing, designed around the dubious idea of spending all ones time at home, as opposed to out in a neighborhood. Which was itself fueled by another extremely unhealthy bubble -- the mortgaged backed securities bubble.
In earlier posts, I mentioned that I was reading a new book by Rich Benjamin,
Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America. Well, I finished it last night while waiting for “Curb Your Enthusiasm” to come on. This book certainly goes a long way to explaining my recent fascination with exurbia and white flight patterns; that is, after all, what the book is about. And while Benjamin states up front that the book is not about the state of race relations in America, he also pulls no punches in detailing out the often unconscious racism that has helped create what he deems “Whitopias"---communities, often of wealthier white people, that are enclaves from a more diverse America. He visits Whitopias that are small towns in the middle of nowhere, that are exurbs, and even one that is ensconced inside New York City (Carnegie Hill in Manhattan). Whitopias are places that have a higher percentage of white people than most of the country, and usually it’s much higher, sometimes tipping 90% white compared to a nation that’s 66% white.
But Benjamin found out that Whitopias are defined by a lot more than just their whiteness. Whitopias also function as bubble lands. The people who move to them---and Whitopias are mainly composed of transplants---are actively interested in creating the world around them. That’s why golf is such an important feature of Whitopia. It’s not just that it’s fun and escapist, but also because the way that golf courses remake the landscape into a fantasy one for the golfers suits the aesthetic and philosophy of Whitopians. Disneyland isn’t just a place to visit anymore; the philosophy of complete control over the environment and home has become the one that beckons a growing population of white Americans to exurban communities. In fact, Disney has created their own Whitopia---Celebration, Florida---though Benjamin doesn’t go to it. Instead, he lives in 3 Whitopias over the course of a year---Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (96% white), the sprawl around St. George, Utah known as Utah Dixie (92% white), and Forsyth County, Georgia (95% white). All three places are experiencing population explosion, as white people who can afford to leave California, the Southwest states, and Atlanta to live where they perceive safety, cleanliness, and congenial neighbors, traits that most white people consciously or unconsciously associate with whiteness.
...
What is also interesting is how Benjamin’s descriptions of these Whitopias really fit into recent events, and go a long way to explaining what the conservative movement is all about. Whitopians live in a bubble world, and it’s been well-established that so much of the conservative movement is based on fantasies and paranoias, from creationism (mega-churches are huge in Whitopia) to the fantasies about ACORN and “death panels”. For the non-nutty looking at this, it’s hard to believe people can get that deluded and become so impervious to reason. But as Benjamin aptly describes, Whitopians have very little input coming in from the real world. They live in Whitopias that are constructed to their liking, rarely meet people that don’t share their delusions, and even then sequester themselves off in their gated communities and enormous houses. They don’t even really like sidewalks, a symbolic blow against connectivity to the rest of the world. No wonder their delusions run unchecked. White flight isn’t just bad for the cities that are seeing so much of their tax base up and leave; they’re bad for the country as a whole and frankly, for the rest of the world.
http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/bamboo_review_searching_for_whitopia/
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