Revenge of the Suburbs

Big companies began to build landscaped suburban campuses. Factories also moved out of cities to suburbs, taking jobs with them. The steady shift of white city dwellers into the suburbs, known as white flight, reduced the tax base of cities, prompting city governments to cut back on infrastructure, services, and schools in a cycle of urban decline.

People like living in suburbs. At the moment, it means being dependent on a car to do almost anything, but that is widely considered a price worth paying for a bit more space and privacy, and the opportunity to own your own home. Millions of suburban dwellers have voted with their feet—or, it is more accurate to say, with their cars.

Byrne is pointing to a change in the American landscape where postindustrial work can be done anywhere, and so places like Virgil must invent completely new reasons for people to stay. As you may have already guessed, small towns will turn to services, mass consumption, and cultural amenities as a new source of both tax revenue and a reason for exi