Transforming Race and Class in Suburbia: Decline in Metropolitan Baltimore

Just as the nation witnessed the widespread decay of urban centers, there is a mounting suburban crisis in first-tier suburbs--the early suburbs to develop in metropolitan America. These places, once the bastion of a large middle class, have matured and experienced three decades of social and economic decline. In the first comprehensive analysis of suburban decline for an entire region, Vicino uses Baltimore as an illustrative case to chronicle how first-tier suburbs experienced widespread decline while outer suburbs flourished since the 1970s. At the brink of the twenty-first century, Vicino illustrates how the processes of deindustrialization, racial diversity, and class segregation have shaped the evolution of suburban decline.

Thomas J. Vicino is Assistant Professor of Urban Affairs at University of Texas at Arlington. He was formerly a researcher at the UMBC Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education. He is a recognized expert on the political economy of suburban decline and urban policy. His recent work appears in peer-reviewed journals such as Urban Studies, Urban Geography, The International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, and Geography Compass, as well as the Encyclopedia of American Urban History and several book chapters. He holds a Ph.D. in public policy from University of Maryland Graduate School, Baltimore.