Stephen J. Dubner over at the Freakonomics blog asked a bunch of “smart people,” What Is the Future of Suburbia?
One of those smart people is Gary Gates, PhD. He thinks the suburbs are going to become very, very gay.
Suburbs, home ownership, and marriage — what’s left but the kids? In 1990, fewer than one in ten same-sex couples had children. Today, it’s more like one in five. In states like Mississippi, South Dakota, Alaska, South Carolina, and Louisiana, it’s one in three. The gay-by boom is alive and well in small town and suburban America. And these new parents are largely non-white. African-American and Latino/a lesbians and gay men are two to three times more likely than their white counterparts to be raising kids.
So back to the question at hand — my vision of suburbia circa 2050. Lesbian and gay families will be a much more visible community fixture. They’ll probably be married, own their homes, be raising a few kids, and will very likely not be white.
Cool.
Ok, but can we have gardens instead of yards and can we have sections in our sub-divisons where children aren’t allowed?