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Research Article
Open Access

Suburbs, Inc.: Exploring Municipal Incorporation as a Mechanism of Racial and Economic Exclusion in Suburban Communities

Kiara Wyndham-Douds
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences February 2023, 9 (2) 226-248; DOI: https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.2.10
Kiara Wyndham-Douds
aAssistant professor of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, United States
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Abstract

This article provides suburban scholars with a starting point for considering how municipal incorporation contributes to suburban inequality. I conduct an exploratory empirical analysis of incorporation in 2010 and find that incorporated suburbs are less racially diverse, Whiter, and have smaller shares of Black, Latinx, and Native American residents than unincorporated suburbs, suggesting that incorporation and its related municipal powers enable greater racial exclusion than strategies available to unincorporated suburbs. However, incorporated suburbs vary, and racial exclusion is most apparent in suburbs incorporated during and after the postwar suburban boom. Further, recently incorporated suburbs are more economically exclusive than unincorporated suburbs. I end by calling for greater integration of incorporation into suburban inequality research.

  • municipal incorporation
  • racial inequality
  • suburban communities
  • © 2023 Russell Sage Foundation. Wyndham-Douds, Kiara. 2023. “Suburbs, Inc.: Exploring Municipal Incorporation as a Mechanism of Racial and Economic Exclusion in Suburban Communities.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 9(2): 226–48. DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2023.9.2.10. I thank the editors, co-contributors, and reviewers of this issue for valuable feedback and Michael Hout for providing advice on the analysis. Direct correspondence to: Kiara Wyndham-Douds, at wyndham-douds{at}wustl.edu, 1 Brookings Drive, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States.

Open Access Policy: RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences is an open access journal. This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: 9 (2)
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
Vol. 9, Issue 2
1 Feb 2023
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Suburbs, Inc.: Exploring Municipal Incorporation as a Mechanism of Racial and Economic Exclusion in Suburban Communities
Kiara Wyndham-Douds
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Feb 2023, 9 (2) 226-248; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2023.9.2.10

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Suburbs, Inc.: Exploring Municipal Incorporation as a Mechanism of Racial and Economic Exclusion in Suburban Communities
Kiara Wyndham-Douds
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Feb 2023, 9 (2) 226-248; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2023.9.2.10
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    • Abstract
    • THEORIZING INCORPORATION
    • THE PURPOSES OF INCORPORATION
    • RESEARCH QUESTIONS
    • DATA AND METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • APPENDIX: DATA SOURCES AND MEASURE CREATION FOR 1970–2000 DATA
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Keywords

  • municipal incorporation
  • racial inequality
  • suburban communities

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