Commuter town

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Many municipalities in the US state of New Jersey can be considered commuter towns. Here, riders wait in Maplewood for a train bound for New York City during the morning rush hour. Commuters in Maplewood NJ.jpg
Many municipalities in the US state of New Jersey can be considered commuter towns. Here, riders wait in Maplewood for a train bound for New York City during the morning rush hour.
Hervanta in Tampere, Finland, is mostly known for its residential tower blocks, but there are also some commercial services, a university campus and several high-tech companies. Hervanta1.jpg
Hervanta in Tampere, Finland, is mostly known for its residential tower blocks, but there are also some commercial services, a university campus and several high-tech companies.
Cidade Tiradentes is a heavily populated area in the outskirts of Sao Paulo consisting mainly of public housing projects. On average, its inhabitants spend 2 hours and 45 minutes a day commuting between home and work. Cidade Tiradentes - Sao Paulo City.jpg
Cidade Tiradentes is a heavily populated area in the outskirts of São Paulo consisting mainly of public housing projects. On average, its inhabitants spend 2 hours and 45 minutes a day commuting between home and work.

A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many other terms: "bedroom community" (Canada and northeastern US),[ citation needed ] "bedroom town", "bedroom suburb" (US), "dormitory town", or "dormitory suburb" (Britain/Commonwealth/Ireland).[ citation needed ] In Japan, a commuter town may be referred to by the wasei-eigo coinage "bed town" (ベッドタウン, beddotaun). [2] The term "exurb" was used from the 1950s, but since 2006, is generally used for areas beyond suburbs and specifically less densely built than the suburbs to which the exurbs' residents commute. [3]

Contents

Causes

Often commuter towns form when workers in a region cannot afford to live where they work and must seek residency in another town with a lower cost of living. The late 20th century, the dot-com bubble and United States housing bubble drove housing costs in Californian metropolitan areas to historic highs, spawning exurban growth in adjacent counties.[ citation needed ]As of 2003, over 80% of the workforce of Tracy, California, was employed in the San Francisco Bay Area.[ citation needed ]

In some cases, commuter towns can result from changing economic conditions. Steubenville, Ohio along with neighboring Weirton, West Virginia had an independent regional identity until the collapse of the steel industry in the 1980s. Steubenville Pike and the Parkway West also created easier access to the much larger city of Pittsburgh. In 2013, Jefferson County, Ohio (where Steubenville is located) was added to the Pittsburgh metropolitan area as part of its larger Combined Statistical Area. [4]

In Japan, most of the national railway network was privatized by the 1980s but unlike in the UK, both the national railway's tracks, trains, stations and real estate were included in the privatization agreements. Japan's privately operated railroads view real estate investment and development of commuter towns as central to their business model. These railroads continuously develop new residential and commercial areas alongside their existing and new routes and stations and adjust their train schedules in order to provide existing and prospective commuters with convenient work-commute routines. [5] This is quite different from North American commuter towns that are almost exclusively the result of transportation by car.

Effects

Where commuters are wealthier and small town housing markets are weaker than city housing markets, the development of a bedroom community may raise local housing prices and attract upscale service businesses in a process akin to gentrification. Long-time residents may be displaced by new commuter residents due to rising house prices. This can also be influenced by zoning restrictions in urbanized areas that prevent the construction of suitably cheap housing closer to places of employment.

The number of commuter towns increased in the US and the UK during the 20th century because of a trend for people to move out of the cities into the surrounding green belt. In the United States, it is common for commuter towns to create disparities in municipal tax rates. When a commuter town collects few business taxes, residents must pay the brunt of the public operating budget in higher property or income taxes. Such municipalities may scramble to encourage commercial growth once an established residential base has been reached.

In the UK, commuter towns were developed by railway companies to create demand for their lines. One 1920s pioneer of this form of development was the Metropolitan Railway (now part of London Underground) which marketed its Metro-land developments. This initiative encouraged many to move out of central and inner-city London to suburbs such as Harrow, or out of London itself, to commuter villages in Buckinghamshire or Hertfordshire.[ citation needed ] Commuter towns have more recently been built ahead of adequate transportation infrastructure, thus spurring the development of roads and public transportation systems. These can take the form of light rail lines extending from the city center to new streetcar suburbs and new or expanded highways, whose construction and traffic can lead to the community becoming part of a larger conurbation.

A 2014 study by the British Office for National Statistics found that commuting also affects wellbeing. Commuters are more likely to be anxious, dissatisfied and have the sense that their daily activities lack meaning than those who don't have to travel to work, even if they are paid more. [6]

Exurb

The term exurb (a portmanteau of "extra & urban") was coined by Auguste Comte Spectorsky, in his 1955 book The Exurbanites to describe the ring of prosperous communities beyond the suburbs that are commuter towns for an urban area. [7] However, since a landmark report by the Brookings Institution in 2006, the term is generally used for areas beyond suburbs and specifically less densely built than the suburbs to which the exurbs' residents commute. [3]

Comparatively low density towns often featuring large lots and large homes create heavy motor vehicle dependency.

"They begin as embryonic subdivisions of a few hundred homes at the far edge of beyond, surrounded by scrub. Then, they grow first gradually, but soon with explosive force attracting stores, creating jobs and struggling to keep pace with the need for more schools, more roads, more everything. And eventually, when no more land is available and home prices have skyrocketed, the whole cycle starts again, another 15 minutes down the turnpike."

Rick Lyman, The New York Times [8]

Others argue that exurban environments, such as those that have emerged in Oregon over the last 40 years as a result of the state's unique land use laws, have helped to protect local agriculture and local businesses by creating strict urban growth boundaries that encourage greater population densities in centralized towns, while slowing or greatly reducing urban and suburban sprawl into agricultural, timber land, and natural areas. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commuter rail</span> Passenger rail transport services primarily within metropolitan areas

Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Commuter rail systems are considered heavy rail, using electric or diesel trains. Distance charges or zone pricing may be used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suburb</span> Human settlement that is part of or close to a larger city or town

A suburb is an area within a metropolitan area which has a higher or lower population density and sometimes less detached housing. In many metropolitan areas suburbs rise in population during the day and are where most jobs are located; being major commercial and job hubs, many suburbs also exist as separate residential communities within commuting distance of a larger city. Suburbs can have their own political or legal jurisdiction, especially in the United States, but this is not always the case, especially in the United Kingdom, where most suburbs are located within the administrative boundaries of cities. In most English-speaking countries, suburban areas are defined in contrast to central city or inner city areas, but in Australian English and South African English, suburb has become largely synonymous with what is called a "neighborhood" in the U.S., but it is used in contrast with inner city areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan area</span> Administrative unit of a dense urban core and its satellite cities

A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metropolitan area usually comprises multiple principal cities, jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships, boroughs, cities, towns, exurbs, suburbs, counties, districts and even states and nations in areas like the eurodistricts. As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exurb</span> Area of lower population density than suburbs

An exurb is an area outside the typically denser inner suburban area, at the edge of a metropolitan area, which has some economic and commuting connection to the metro area, low housing density, and growth. It shapes an interface between urban and rural landscapes holding a limited urban nature for its functional, economic, and social interaction with the urban center, due to its dominant residential character. Exurbs consist of "agglomerations of housing and jobs outside the municipal boundaries of a primary city" and beyond the surrounding suburbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commuting</span> Periodically recurring travel between ones place of residence and place of work, or study

Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. Regarding occupation, it is also colloquially called the journey to work. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular or often repeated travel between locations, even when not work-related. The modes of travel, time taken and distance traveled in commuting varies widely across the globe. Most people in least-developed countries continue to walk to work. The cheapest method of commuting after walking is usually by bicycle, so this is common in low-income countries but is also increasingly practised by people in wealthier countries for environmental and health reasons. In middle-income countries, motorcycle commuting is very common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Tokyo Area</span> Metropolitan area in Japan

The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan as well as the prefecture of Yamanashi of the neighboring Chūbu region. In Japanese, it is referred to by various terms, one of the most common being Capital Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London metropolitan area</span> Region of England

The London metropolitan area is the metropolitan area of London, England. It has several definitions, including the London Travel to Work Area, and usually consists of the London urban area, settlements that share London's infrastructure, and places from which it is practicable to commute to work in London. It is also known as the London commuter belt, or Southeast metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rush hour</span> Time of day with peak traffic congestion

A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: once in the morning and once in the afternoon or evening, the times during which most people commute. The term is often used for a period of peak congestion that may last for more than one hour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satellite city</span> Smaller municipality that is adjacent to a larger major city

A satellite city or satellite town is a smaller municipality or settlement that is part of a larger metropolitan area and serves as a regional population and employment center. It differs from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that it has employment bases sufficient to support its residential population, and conceptually, could be a self-sufficient community outside of its larger metropolitan area. However, it functions as part of a metropolis and experiences high levels of cross-commuting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban sprawl</span> Expansion of auto-oriented, low-density development in suburbs

Urban sprawl is defined as "the spreading of urban developments on undeveloped land near a more or less densely populated city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for very dense urban planning. Sometimes the urban areas described as the most "sprawling" are the most densely populated. In addition to describing a special form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development. In modern times some suburban areas described as "sprawl" have less detached housing and higher density than the nearby core city. Medieval suburbs suffered from the loss of protection of city walls, before the advent of industrial warfare. Modern disadvantages and costs include increased travel time, transport costs, pollution, and destruction of the countryside. The revenue for building and maintaining urban infrastructure in these areas are gained mostly through property and sales taxes. As most jobs in the US are now located in suburbs generating much of the revenue, although a lack of growth will require higher tax rates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Helsinki</span> Metropolitan area in Uusimaa, Finland

Greater Helsinki is the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It includes the smaller Capital Region urban area.

A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when the introduction of the electric trolley or streetcar allowed the nation’s burgeoning middle class to move beyond the central city’s borders. Early suburbs were served by horsecars, but by the late 19th century cable cars and electric streetcars, or trams, were used, allowing residences to be built farther away from the urban core of a city. Streetcar suburbs, usually called additions or extensions at the time, were the forerunner of today's suburbs in the United States and Canada. San Francisco's Western Addition is one of the best examples of streetcar suburbs before westward and southward expansion occurred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suburbs of Johannesburg</span>

The suburbs of Johannesburg are officially demarcated areas within the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. As in other Commonwealth countries, the term suburb refers to a "neighbourhood", although in South Africa most "suburbs" have legally recognised borders and often separate postal codes. The municipal functions for the area, such as municipal policing and social services, are still managed by the city government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suburbanization</span> Population shift from central urban areas into suburbs

Suburbanization (AE), or suburbanisation (BE), is a population shift from historic core cities or rural areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses away from city centers, low-density, peripheral urban areas grow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater London Built-up Area</span> Conurbation in south-east England

The Greater London Built-up Area, or Greater London Urban Area, is a conurbation in south-east England that constitutes the continuous urban sprawl of London, and includes surrounding adjacent urban towns as defined by the Office for National Statistics. It is the largest urban area in the United Kingdom with a population of 9,787,426 in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thessaloniki metropolitan area</span>

The Thessaloniki metropolitan area or larger urban zone (LUZ) is the complete area covered and directly influenced by Thessaloniki. The metropolitan area traditionally consisted of the municipality of Thessaloniki and its immediate surroundings, what is today referred to as the Thessaloniki urban area. However, since the mid to late 1990s, the areas surrounding the urban area, have succumbed to urban sprawl and what used to be agrarian communities are rapidly urbanizing and being developed into suburbs or exurbs. This is creating new problems for a region already facing issues such as pollution, traffic congestion and social ills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inner suburb</span> Suburbs central to a metropolis

An inner suburb is a suburban community central to a large city, or at the inner city and central business district. The urban density is usually lower than the inner city or central business district but higher than that of the city's rural-urban fringe or exurbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Green Belt</span> Statutory green belt around London, England

The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a small area in Copthorne, Sussex. As of 2017/18, Government statistics show the planning designation covered 513,860 hectares of land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in Northern Virginia</span> Overview of transportation in Northern Virginia

The Northern Virginia region is served by numerous mediums of transit. Transportation in the region is overseen by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vilnius urban area</span> Urban area in Lithuania

The Vilnius urban area is the urban area of Vilnius. The urban area covers several municipalities in the Vilnius County.

References

  1. "Mobilidade: paulistano leva uma hora e meia para ir e voltar do trabalho". Cidade de São Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  2. "ベッドタウンの英語・英訳 - 英和辞典・和英辞典 Weblio辞書" ["Beddo Tawn" - English Translation, English-Japanese Dictionary, Weblio Dictionary] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  3. 1 2 Berube, Alan (2006). Finding Exurbia: America's Fast-Growing Communities at the Metropolitan Fringe (PDF). Brookings Institution. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Office of Management and Budget . Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-01-21. Retrieved 2014-08-31 via National Archives.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Harding, Robin (2019-01-28). "Rail privatisation: the UK looks for secrets of Japan's success". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  6. "Commuting and Personal Well-being, 2014". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  7. Spectorsky, Auguste C. (1955). The Exurbanites. Lippincott, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. OCLC   476943.
  8. Rick (December 18, 2005). "In Exurbs, Life Framed by Hours Spent in the Car". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  9. Wuerthner, George (March 19, 2007). "The Oregon Example: Statewide Planning Works". Bozeman New West. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2011.