Lesson 7 Cities and Suburbs Are Trading Places1
Young Singles, Other ‘Non-Families' Taking Over Outer Areas, Study Shows
By D'Vera Cohn
A role reversal between cities and suburbs is rewriting a demographic script2that has dominated American life for decades.
Young singles, elderly widows and other such “non-family households”3now outnumber married-with-children homes in the nation's suburbs, creating changes in demand for housing, entertainment and services in the communities where most Americans live.
At the same time, the married-with-children families often thought of as typically suburban are increasing in many growing cities of the South and West, according to a study based on the 2000 Census to be released today by the Brookings Institution4.
In suburbs, the demand for social services is rising even as nightclubs are springing up in shopping malls to serve affluent singles5. In some cities, school buildings are crowded again, and small commercial districts are rising from the dead6.
In the Washington area, non-families7have outnumbered married-with-children households in most of the region's biggest suburbs for more than a decade, and the trend intensified in the 1990s. In the region's outer suburbs8, married couples with children still dominate.
The transformation of the suburbs reflects the arrival of a more diverse population and changes in the lives of people already living there. There is a growing singles scene of young people who want to live near suburban workplaces9, an increasing number of unmarried couples buying houses, and more homes being rented to groups, including immigrants. At the same time, there also are more elderly individuals—once in a couple, now widowed—who want to remain in the neighborhoods where they raised their children.
“The suburbs increasingly are becoming a microcosm of America10, ”said demographer William H. Frey, the report's co-author. “All the problems we associate with America and even urban America are suburban problems ... housing affordability at the low end, senior services at the high end11.”
The growing power of single suburbanites of all ages could foreshadow political struggles.“They may be able to outvote the households with children who need school and playgrounds12, ”said regional economist Stephen Fuller, who teaches at George Mason University.
There are now 12.8 million non-family households in the suburbs of the nation's 102 largest metropolitan areas, according to Frey's analysis, and 11.7 million households in the married-with-children category. In 1990, the situation was reversed.
In 32 older northern metropolitan areas, non-family households accounted for most of the suburban household growth in the 1990s, Frey said. They included Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh and metropolitan areas—Cleveland; Gary, Ind.; and St. Louis13—the number of married-with-children households in the suburbs actually dropped.
In Anne Arundel County, where non-family households out-numbered married-with-children homes for the first time in 2000, county demographer Sandy Speer said most are people living alone. Some were longtime county residents who got divorced or were widowed.
The 40 percent increase over the decade in the county's non-family households was “an enormous growth rate, ”Speer said. “That is a surprise.”
The nation's broadened suburban diversity, which includes hefty increases in minority and immigrant households, is powered by a growing job market. Most new employment is in the suburbs, ranging from well-paid management work in office parks, to minimum-wage14jobs cleaning those buildings. If they can afford it, most people want to live near work..
“From the point of view of commuting, commuting from Dupont Circle to Herndon is not a welcome prospect, especially at 6:45 in the morning, ”said Alan Berube, a senior research analyst at Brookings who co-authored the report, “City Families and Suburban Singles.”
The story for cities also changed in the 1990s, when central cities grew more than they had in three decades. Fast-growing cities in the South and West attracted married couples with children;cities in the North and Midwest that were growing slowly or declining did not.
Some of the growth cities are attractive because they “have more of a suburban feel than the cities of the Northeast, ”Frey said. They are not densely built up, the housing is new, and the crime rate is low.
Some, such as Denver, are growing mainly because they are attracting new families from other parts of the United States. Others, such as Anaheim15, Calif, are filling up mainly with immigrant families.
Cities drawing immigrant families are likely to continue to do so, Frey said. But he said some other cities attracting families may find that their appeal wanes as they become crowded and their housing ages. They may end up losing families just as older cities of the Northeast and Midwest have done, he said.
The growth of families in cities is “creating vitality”in the form of revived commercial districts, neighborhood stability and a larger population of workers and consumers16, Frey said. But it will test the adequacy of city school systems, he said, and could put new stresses on social services, such as infant day care.
From The Washington Post, February 6, 2002
I. New Words
affluent [ˈæfluənt] adj. having a lot of money
affordability [əˌfɔːdəˈbiliti] n. 支付得起
commute [kəˈmjuːt] v. 每天（乘火车）往返于住所与上班地点的通勤
demographic [deməˈgræfik] adj. having to do with population statistics
foreshadow [fɔːˈʃædəu] v. 预示
hefty [ˈhefti] adj. large in size, weight or amount
mall [mɔːl] n. AmE a large area where there are a lot of shops
metropolitan [metrəˈpɔlit(ə)n] adj. 大都市的
microcosm [ˈmaikrəkɔz(ə)m] n. a small, representative system
nightclub [ˈnaitklʌb] n. 夜总会
outvote [autˈvəut] v. to defeat (an opponent or a proposal) in voting.
reversal [riˈvəːsəl] n. a change to an opposite arrangement, process or course of action
suburbanite [səˈbəːbənait] n. one who lives in a suburb
transformation [ˌtrænsfəˈmeiʃən] n. the act or an instance of changing
wane [wein] v. to decrease gradually in size, amount, or degree
II. Background Information
城郊变化
19世纪初，美国3/4劳力从事农业生产，乡村人口比例大大高于城市。然而工业化（industrialization）彻底改变了人口布局。工商业发展带来了人口城市化（urbanization），促进大批农村人口流向工业城市。
从20世纪开始，美国人口又出现了一种新的趋势：人口由市中心向郊区或由大城市向小城镇流动的趋势。社会学家认为造成这种流动趋势既有大城市、市中心区的排斥因素，也有小城镇、市郊的吸引因素。
大城市、市中心区的车辆堵塞，环境污染，治安较差，教育质量较低构成了推力（push factors）；而市郊和小城镇的房价较低，环境安静，空气清新，治安较好，教育质量较高构成了拉力（pull factors）。通讯技术的发展，电脑、移动电话和传真机的广泛采用促使了电子联勤族（telecommuters）的增加，同时也更加稳定了郊区化（suburbanization）的趋势。
美国社会学者威廉·施奈德在题为《郊区化的世纪》（The Century of Suburbanization）一文中勾勒出郊区化的过程：1950年美国郊区人口约占全国总人口的1/4,1960年比例增加到1/3,1990年又进一步增加到1/2。
英语中suburb（市郊）这个词是由sub（附属）与urb（城市）两个成分组成。不言而喻，原意为“城市的附属部分”。许多学者认为：今日的美国市郊不再是“城市的附属”（no longer the sub to the urb），市郊在美国政治、经济、教育、文化各个方面发挥着更加重要的作用。“郊区已经能比棒球、摩天大楼和苹果馅饼更能象征美国。”
从人口布局来看，郊区多数为已婚有孩子家庭、中产阶级家庭，市区多数为单身或较为贫困的家庭。
人口与就业的郊区化，给市区造成了很大的危害：市区人口减少，资产贬值，税收减少，财政困难，市政设施破坏，生活质量下降。
最近十多年，随着美国经济的持续发展，高科技的进步和城市有效复兴计划的实施，许多城市的已婚有孩子家庭、白种人口、中产阶级家庭有所增加。
20世纪90年代美国经济得以持续发展，许多城市创建高科技公司，带来市区再度繁荣。与此同时，地方政府提供了若干城市经济复兴的优惠政策，兴建漂亮、舒适的住宅小区，购物中心和文化设施，改善城市交通，提供停车方便，美化优化生活环境，改进社会治安，从而增加了市区的吸引力，促进市区人口的上升和人口组成的变化。
本文报道了美国城郊人口组成近些年的变化以及这些变化所造成的影响。
III. Notes to the Text
1. Cities and Suburbs Are Trading Places—城市和郊区之间正在转换彼此位置（trade—to give in exchange for something else）
2. rewriting a demographic script—changing the population composition
3. non-family households—a household made up of just one person or some people unrelated to each other
4. The Brookings Institution—布鲁金斯学会（美国一家设在华盛顿市的非牟利性的政治学与经济研究机构，带有自由主义色彩）
5. affluent singles—rich unmarried people
6. small commercial districts are rising from the dead—小型商业区正在恢复生机
7. non-families—referring to non-family households
8. outer suburbs—远郊（outer—further from the center）
9. There is growing singles scene of young people who want to live near workplace—More and more young singles want to live near workplaces, and they create a “scene”or neighborhood with the restaurants, shops, theaters, bars that appeal to them.
10. The suburbs increasingly are becoming a microcosm of America—郊区越来越成为美国的缩影（referring to the fact that all the problems associated with America are becoming the suburbs'problems）
11. ... housing affordability at the low end, senior services at the high end—从低端的购房能力到高端的老年人照料不同层次的问题（① housing affordability—ability to buy or rent a house without skimping on other necessities; ②senior services—services for elderly people）
12. They may be able to outvote the households with children who need school and playgrounds—他们会以多数票否决有孩子的家庭关于建设学校和运动场的提议。（outvote—to defeat a group by voting against them）
13. Buffalo ... St. Louis—① Buffalo—the second largest city in New York, noted for the manufacturing of transportation equipment and the production of iron and steel; ②Cleveland—the largest city in Ohio and the sixth greatest manufacturing center in the U.S.; ③Gary—a city in northwestern Indiana and one of the world's largest steel centers; ④Saint Louis—the most populous municipality in Missouri, a major commercial, educational and cultural center; ⑤Detroit—the most populous city in Michigan and the fifth populous city in the U.S., noted for the manufacturing of automobiles; ⑥Pittsburg—a city in southwestern Pennsylvania, one of the world's largest steel centers.
14. minimum-wage—the lowest amount of money that can legally be paid per hour to a worker. (The U.S. federal minimum wage in 2007 was $6.55 per hour).
15. Anaheim—阿纳翰（美国加利福尼亚南部城市，在洛杉矶东南部，迪斯尼乐园坐落在这里, 1955年对外开放，现在人口约35万）
16. The growth of families ... a larger population of workers and consumers—城市家庭的增加可以复兴商业区，增加社区稳定和提供更多的劳工和消费者，为城市创造活力。
IV. Language Features
前置定语
本文多处使用前置定语（premodification），例如：married-with-children household, fast-growing cities, well-paid management jobs, non-family households。前置定语不仅可以替代短语，还可以替代定语从句，是精炼句式的十分有效手段。
例如：an all-male club（a club whose members are all male）男子俱乐部
once-poor farmers（farmers who were once poor）曾经贫穷的农民
mosquito-breeding place（place where mosquitoes breed）蚊虫滋生场所
在现代英语中，前置定语使用频率日趋增加。由于它可以浓缩结构，节约篇幅，因而深得新闻写作人员青睐。《美国新闻与世界报道》专栏作家约翰·利奥（John Leo）曾在一篇新闻语言评论文章中称前置定语为“新闻语言的基本成分”。
从结构上看，新闻英语的前置定语大致可分六类：
（1）名词短语作前置定语
mom-and-pop stores 夫妻店
a dead-end job 没有奔头的工作
waste-to-energy power plant 垃圾发电厂
carrot-and-stick policy 胡萝卜加大棒政策
rags-to-riches success stories 乞丐成富翁的成功故事
（2）动词短语作前置定语
a stand-up meeting 站着开的会议
start-up costs 启动费用
drive-by shooting 开车射击
do-it-yourself repair 自己动手修理
kill-for-a-fix crime 为搞毒品过瘾的犯罪
（3）形容词短语作前置定语
war-weary citizens 厌倦战争的公民
fire-proof materials 耐火材料
fail-safe system 具有安全保障的装置
power-hungry politicians 权欲熏心的政客
sugar-free drink 不含糖饮料
（4）前置短语作前置定语
on-the-job problems 工作时出的问题
on-site service 现场服务
on-the-spot investigation 现场调查
under-the-counter dealings 台下交易
on-duty officer 值班军官
（5）分词短语作前置定语
turned-on audience 激动的观众
sexually-transmitted disease 性渠道传染的疾病
land-based missile 陆基导弹
flood-stricken region 洪水袭击的地区
full-blown case 爆发性疾病
（6）句子作前置定语
a seeing-is-believing attitude 眼见为实的态度
the three-strikes-and-you're-out law “事不过三”法（犯罪三次，终身监禁）
V. Analysis of Content
1. The term “non-family”does Not cover___.
A. young singles
B. elderly widows
C. unmarried couples
D. married couples with children
2. Before 1990, families considered as typically suburban were___.
A. married-with-children families
B. elderly widows
C. young singles
D. unmarried couples
3. Married couples with children dominate in___of present-day America.
A. the suburbs
B. the outer suburbs
C. all the cities
D. both cities and suburbs
4. The driving force for broadened diversity of suburban families is___.
A. a better public transport system
B. better communication
C. a good job market
D. a high sense of safety
5. The attraction of some growth cities is their___.
A. suburban feel
B. good locations
C. lower taxes
D. good social order
VI. Questions on the Article
1. What change has taken place in the demographic composition of America's suburbs?
2. What impact has the change produced on American life?
3. What did William H. Frey mean by saying “The suburbs increasingly are becoming a microcosm of America”?
4. Tell something about the demographic changes in America's 102 largest metropolitan areas.
5. How would the increase of single suburbanites of all ages affect political struggles?
6. What is the main reason for the growth of cities like Denver?
7. What impacts is the growth of families in cities producing?
VII. Topics for Discussion
1. Is it good to develop metropolises?
2. Which do you prefer, city life or country life?