Abstract

Excerpted From: Mary Jo Wiggins, Black Suburbanization: Potent Hope or Illusory Promise?, 109 Marquette Law Review 935 (Spring 2026) (373 Footnotes) (Full Document)

Suburbs are popular. People like living in them, and scholars like studying them. For the first time, more Americans live in the suburbs than in central cities. Perhaps more noteworthy is that more Black Americans live in the suburbs than ever before. Given these empirical realities, it is not surprising that suburbs have become a laboratory for analyzing a host of political, legal, and economic questions.

In previous scholarship, I examined the complex phenomenon of Black suburbanization through the lens of two modern suburban communities: South DeKalb, Georgia, and Prince George’s County, Maryland. These communities were part of what I called the “third wave” of Black suburbanization. This wave originated in the mid-eighties when new, upscale, majority-Black communities grew on the periphery of major cities. These communities displayed the hallmarks of suburbia in terms of household income, location, density, and physical form. This produced positive results: improved accessibility to Black social and political networks; less fear of unpleasant or dangerous encounters with White neighbors and law enforcement; readily available role models for Black children; a better array of housing choices; and affirmation that the American Dream of suburban living can exist for middle-class Blacks as it exists for other racial and ethnic groups.

Not everyone agreed that the substantial growth of affluent majority-Black suburbs was an unalloyed positive. Integrationists worried that these communities signaled the end of any real effort on the part of Black and Whites to form integrated suburbs. “Black community activists voice[d] concerns over the [possible] dispersion of political and economic power that might accompany [a] mass movement” of Blacks from majority-Black urban areas.

There was an additional concern. Qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed a substantial body of evidence suggesting that modern Black suburbs contained suboptimal levels of commercial investment. My research offered possible explanations: flaws in zoning laws and practices, prior investment decisions, demography, and race. Moreover, it unearthed associated harms: economic impairment and a sense of relative deprivation among middle-class Black suburbanites.

Ultimately, my analysis posited that the persistence of observed disinvestment could cause modern Black suburbs to function in ways that reinforce rather than mitigate racial inequality. I proposed a multi-targeted approach to remedying the problem, including greater attention to the nexus between land-use doctrines and commercial investment, renewed efforts to close the wealth gap between Blacks and Whites, and greater scrutiny of the relationship between racial information and investment decisions.

Today, South DeKalb and Prince George’s County remain solidly middle-class, majority-Black suburban communities that bear many of the traditional trademarks of suburbia. With the benefit of time and additional study, we are in a better position to assess the legal, social, and economic dynamics of these communities. This Article provides this assessment from a land use law and governance perspective.

This Article first provides a general picture of modern suburbia, explaining its origins; current demographics; and its political, economic, and social salience. This explains how suburbs developed; what they look like today; and why they have come to play a central role in debates among citizens, politicians, policymakers, and scholars. It also lays the groundwork for an understanding of the larger social context in which majority-Black suburbs originated and developed over time.

This Article next presents respective land use, local government, and demographic overviews of South DeKalb and Prince George’s County. Each community has a unique historical evolution, along with different land use and governance challenges. At the same time, both communities are predominantly Black, predominantly middle-income, and both are experiencing population growth.

This Article then argues that South DeKalb and Prince George’s County face land use regulation and governance issues that are both similar to and different from those faced by majority-White suburbs. With respect to similarities, both South DeKalb and Prince George’s County embrace innovative planning strategies and confront typical governance controversies. Turning to differences, South DeKalb and Prince George’s County contend with persistently sluggish economic development, suboptimal concentrations of investor-owned single-family homes, and uneven control of blight and other environmental nuisances.

This Article concludes by reflecting on some of the broader implications of this interdisciplinary analysis. One implication is that South DeKalb and Prince George’s County are highly likely to retain much of their current demographic and economic standing over the long term. These communities offer an attractive, stable, and livable option for individuals and families seeking many of the attributes of the suburban lifestyle while still being able to enjoy the benefits of a majority-Black community. Moreover, these suburban residents are behaving similarly to property owners in majority-White suburbs when it comes to embracing norms associated with suburbia. For example, they are seeking to implement land use planning strategies that they believe will enhance their community’s distinctiveness and economic vitality. They are also using conventional zoning strategies to block threats to density and stability. Not every landowner agrees on whether these strategies are the best route to maximize property values or achieve other goals, but that too is quite normal.

At the same time, the macroeconomic growth and vitality of both communities remain uncertain when compared to similarly situated majority-White suburbs. Unfortunately, a comparatively anemic trajectory for robust and sustained economic development and the chronic presence of environmental nuisances appear to contribute to devaluation of the property interests of Black suburbanites in these communities. This appears to suppress long-term wealth formation and has a “push” effect, incentivizing many middle- and upper-middle-class Blacks to leave in an effort to experience more of the benefits of living in a community seemingly closer to the suburban ideal.

These are vital legal and policy questions for several reasons. First, Black migration to the suburbs has long been thought to have the potential to promote transformational racial equality. However, if the challenges faced by majority-Black suburbs are qualitatively different from similarly situated majority-White suburbs, this transformative potential seems smaller than expected. Second, since suburbs are laboratories for the consideration and resolution of many critical issues, it behooves scholars to understand the complexities of modern suburbia rather than assume a monolithic suburban experience. Finally, the issues explored in this Article contribute to our understanding of how land use law and policy operate in a vastly underexplored context. Among other things, this inquiry provides a way to measure the extent to which ostensibly neutral laws and norms function the same way for majority-Black suburbs and majority-White suburbs.

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This Article concludes by reflecting on some of the broader implications of the preceding analysis, particularly how these communities are likely to evolve over time, and what that might mean for land use law and regulation within these communities.

One implication is that South DeKalb and Prince George’s County are highly likely to retain their current demographic and economic profiles over the long term. These communities offer attractive options for individuals and families seeking many of the hallmarks of the suburban lifestyle while still enjoying the benefits of a majority-Black community. Moreover, these residents are behaving similarly to property owners in majority-White suburbs when it comes to embracing norms associated with suburbanization. For example, these residents seek land use planning strategies they believe will enhance their community’s suburban character and feel. They use conventional zoning strategies to preserve low density and economic homogeneity. Not every landowner agrees on whether these strategies are the best route to maximize property values, but community disagreement within suburbs is exceedingly normal.

At the same time, the economic vitality of both communities remains uncertain when compared to similarly situated majority-White suburbs. Unfortunately, an anemic trajectory for robust economic development and the chronic presence of environmental nuisances appear to be leading to a slow, but noticeable devaluation of the property interests of many Black suburbanites. This appears to be suppressing long-term wealth formation, and it also seems to be having a “push” effect, incentivizing some middle- and upper-middle-class Blacks to leave these communities in search of a more optimal suburban experience.

Land use laws and regulations have traditionally protected many of the central characteristics of suburban living. Has this dynamic been operative in majority-Black suburbs? The answer is complicated. Majority-Black suburbs have adopted typical suburban land use norms and practices. However, unique challenges are disrupting the application of these norms, producing dissimilar social and economic returns for many Black suburbanites. This Article illustrates not only how these challenges affect the quality of the lived experience but also how they reinforce current trends in the stratification of suburbia among class and racial lines.

These are complex challenges that avoid tidy solutions. Of course, scholars should continue to gather quantitative and qualitative evidence that will allow for an improved understanding of the relationship between land use law, economic development, and racial dynamics. At the same time, researchers and policymakers should devise legal and economic strategies that allow majority-Black suburbs to sustain the attributes of authentic suburban residential living.

Professor of Law, The University of San Diego School of Law. I would like to thank Anthony Walker, Emily Serleth, Abby Sullivan, Brian Buckley, and Carli Cosenza for excellent research assistance. I would also like to thank the library staff at the University of San Diego School of Law, particularly Sasha Nunez for exemplary cite checking and editing. This Article is dedicated to Wiggins World.