Revising The Suburbs

By JENNIFER HOWARD

A new wave of scholars challenges common assumptions about sprawl and urban growth

Sprawl. It's an ugly word.

The term often evokes images that are even uglier: Green space lost to an asphalt desert of strip malls and highways. Citizens trapped in cars and a fast-food lifestyle that leaves them tired, stressed, and overweight. Pollution and global warming devouring habitat and community. Anonymous commuter suburbs where the people and the architecture all look the