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90 Minn. L. Rev. 459 (2005-2006)
Unsubsidizing Suburbia

handle is hein.journals/mnlr90 and id is 479 raw text is: Review Essay Unsubsidizing Suburbia The Urban Origins of Suburban Autonomy. By Richardson Dilworth, Harvard University Press, 2005. Reviewed by Nicole Stelle Garnettt In my local government law course, I frequently begin by observing that local governments are both important and un- derappreciated for the same reasons: they pick up trash, fix potholes, and treat sewage. Richardson Dilworth's political his- tory of metropolitan New York City and northern New Jersey' supports my observation-although I continue to doubt that it is the most effective sales pitch to law students. By highlight- ing the connection between public infrastructure and suburban political autonomy, Dilworth's book also provides an important opportunity to consider how infrastructure policies shape met- ropolitan America. Dilworth uses several case studies of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century suburbs to link suburban political autonomy to public investments in water, roads, and sewers. He argues that big cities (here New York City, Jersey City, and Newark) developed infrastructure relatively early and then sought to use the promise of extended public works projects to entice their suburban neighbors to join them. Suburbanites wanted the services that big cities could offer, but worried that annexation meant political corruption and higher taxes. Subur- ban governments which developed infrastructure independ- ently remained autonomous; some which lagged behind sacri- t Lilly Endowment Associate Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School. I thank David Barron, Patricia Bellia, Alejandro Camacho, Lee Anne Fennell, William Fischel, Richard Garnett, Bob Jones, John Nagle, Richard Schragger, and Julian Velasco for helpful comments and suggestions. Krista Steinmetz provided valuable research assistance. 1. RICHARDSON DILWORTH, THE URBAN ORIGINS OF SUBURBAN AUTON- OMY (2005).

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