Neotraditionalism in the suburban landscape: Cultural geographies of exclusion in vancouver, canada

During the 1990s, urban geographers have become fascinated with what are termed “neotraditional landscapes,” yet have ignored the broader cultural contexts of neotraditionalism. In this paper, I use a more encompassing and culturally based conception of neotraditionalism to demonstrate a salience of neotraditionalism in the suburban landscape beyond strict neotraditional developments. My argument is that neotraditionalist beliefs are transforming “ordinary” suburban landscapes in subtle but distinctive ways beyond the presence of neotraditional developments. This different reading of suburban neotraditionalism is filtered through qualitative material collected during in-depth interviews in two suburban neighborhoods in Vancouver, Canada. Though the research is suggestive rather than definitive, I suggest that it has important implications for rethinking geographies of suburban exclusion.