Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States Book

All across the nation, Americans are "forting up"--retreating from their neighbors by locking themselves behind security-controlled walls, gates, and barriers. An estimated 8 million Americans live in gated communities today. These communities are most popular in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, Houston, New York, and Miami. This trend has become popular in both new suburban developments and older inner-city areas as residents seek refuge from the problems of urbanization. But what does it mean for the nation?

Fortress America is the first sweeping study of the development and social impact of this rapidly growing phenomenon. While early gated communities were restricted to retirement villages and the compounds of the super-rich, today the majority are for the middle to upper-middle class. But even existing modest income neighborhoods are using barricades and gates to seal themselves off.

The book looks at the three main categories of gated communities and the reasons for their popularity: lifestyle communities, including retirement communities, golf and country club leisure developments, and suburban new towns; prestige communities, where the gates symbolize distinction and stature, including enclaves of the rich and famous, developments for high-level professionals, and executive home developments for the middle class; and security zones, where fear of crime and outsiders is the main motivation for fortifications.

Blakely and Snyder examine the social, political, and governance dilemmas posed when millions of Americans opt out of the local governance system by privatizing their environment. They address such essential issues as: Do these gated communities and walled cities point to a widespread "fortress mentality" in America? Do gated communities reduce crime or increase fear? What does it say about the nation when divisions between neighborhoods require armed patrols and electric fencing to keep out other citizens? What are the policy consequences? At the local level, what is the impact of private communities on citizens' voting behavior? And when public services and local government are privatized and community responsibility stops at the front gate, what happens to the functioning and the very idea of democracy? They argue that gating does nothing to address the problems it is a response to. They propose alternatives, such as more emphasis on crime prevention, better traffic control in neighborhoods, designing new developments to encourage sustainable communities, and creating metropolitan regional planning governance.

According to Blakely and Snyder, this splintering and fragmenting of the nation's neighborhoods behind boundaries and gates represents an increasing and threatening polarization of the nation. They ask, "Can there be a social contract without social contact?" While these barriers may protect, they also escalate the paranoia that many people associate with urban life.