Commonplaces—David Humman (1990)

 

Community Preference Research

  1. People tend to prefer the type of community in which they already reside
  2. American community preferences, taken all together, are somewhat “antiurban”
  3. People’s community preferences are shaped, not only by their residence but also by their social position.

 

Symbolic Landscapes

  1. Small-Town Ideology
    1. Quiet
    2. Real neighbors
    3. Safer
    4. The “Un-city” and the “Invisible” Suburbs
  2. Urban Ideology
    1. “City of Light”

                                                               i.      diversity, opportunity, excitement

                                                             ii.      liberal, open-minded, tolerant

                                                            iii.      personal freedom

    1. The “provincial town” and the “vanilla suburb”
  1. Suburban Ideology
    1. “Middle landscape”

                                                               i.      clean, quiet, natural place

                                                             ii.      domesticity (family, home, children)

                                                            iii.      safety

    1. White Flight & racism

 

The Uses of Community Ideology

  1. Community Apologetics:  Accounting for differences
  2. Community Identity:  Beyond placelessness