Suburbia in Flagstaffia

The automobile is the enabling factor that allows for the businesses and homes to exist on University Avenue. As you walk west along the street there are businesses on the right side with the exception of Harkins Theater and houses, condos, and apartments on the other side of the street. There are two major breaks or changes while walking along the street; commercial to residential complexes and residential complexes to single family homes. Although, this is because of zoning regulations, but it leads to significant breaks in the landscape and geography.

As you walk along the businesses it is apparent that many of them are vacant, because of the economic downfall and the location of these businesses is not in a central location of Flagstaff. Surprisingly though, the dentist office has survived this economic downward spiral. In Phoenix many dentists are seeing fewer patients and treating less due to the cost of each visit and treatment, because of this some offices have been forced to file bankruptcy. Shopping centers have moved to peripheral areas as suburbs become more popular. Retail changes have been affluent with the movement to the suburbs. However, what does it mean when a business condo complex is merely empty, such as the ones below?

Decentralization from American cities is the leading factor of growth in suburban communities. Suburban communities offer private property, space, and the idea of upper class. These are the ideas of the “American Dream.” Therefore it is not surprising that the city is expanding westward on old Route 66 and University Avenue.