THE NEW BURBS - THE EXURBS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR PLANNING POLICY

The exurbs are currently home to sixty million Americans, and may be h ome to more people than urban, suburban, or rural areas are by early i n the next century. Manners may be unprepared to address the special n eeds and challenges presented by the exurbs, because the tools that pl anners use to manage cities, suburbs, and rural areas may be inappropr iate. Before planners can respond adequately to the challenge of exurb an development, they must first understand who lives there and why. Us ing a case study of the Portland, Oregon area, we find that although e xurbanites have many socio-economic characteristics in common with sub urbanites, they prefer a different lifestyle. This lifestyle includes rural amenities, large house lots, and longer drives to work. We also find substantial differences between exurbanites living in small towns and those living in rural areas.