Diefendorf, Jeffry “I Love That City, But Which City?”
"From Theory to Practice: Race, Property Values, and Suburban America in the Post-War Years"
ABSTRACT: While scholarship on the relationship between race and the built environment is new, "theories" about this question are very old. During much of the 20th century, the most prevalent understanding of the relationship was that racial minorities, particularly African-Americans, had a negative impact on "property values." This theory, while the result of little empirical study, shaped private and public policies towards the built environment in substantial and long-lasting ways. This paper explores the post-WWII debates over race and property values by examining the implementation of this theory in large-scale suburban developments and the efforts of scholars and activists to present an alternative approach. To illuminate the question, the paper discusses two related developments in the Philadelphia suburb of Bucks County. The question of the relationship between race and property values provides an important framework for understanding the intersection of race and the built environment.
Session II: Reconsidering Race in the Built Environment