HISTORIAN, SUBURBAN SCHOLAR, EDITOR, CONSULTANT, SPEAKER
I'm a Los Angeles-based historian specializing in American suburbs, cities and metro areas.
My current project explores the history of suburban life in Los Angeles from 1945-2000, and how social
and civic engagement evolved. Almost everywhere, suburbia was transforming as Latinos, Asian Americans, African Americans, and
immigrants from all over the globe made the LA 'burbs their home - sometimes alongside whites, sometimes in their wake.
My book tells the story of what happened next.
My current project explores the history of suburban life in Los Angeles from 1945-2000, and how social
and civic engagement evolved. Almost everywhere, suburbia was transforming as Latinos, Asian Americans, African Americans, and
immigrants from all over the globe made the LA 'burbs their home - sometimes alongside whites, sometimes in their wake.
My book tells the story of what happened next.
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RECENT WORK
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"From Resourceful to Illegal: The Racialized History Garage Housing in Los Angeles"
Boom California, January 31, 2019 This piece traces the strange, bumpy history of garage housing in Los Angeles. Once welcomed and accepted, especially during the WWII-era housing shortage, by the 1980s and beyond everything changed. This story matters since informal housing like this might hold a key to helping alleviate LA's current, strangling housing crisis. |
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"Design Assimilation in Suburbia: Asian Americans, Built Landscapes, and Suburban Advantage in LA's San Gabriel Valley since 1970."
with James Zarsadiaz Journal of Urban History (2017) This piece explores the phenomenon of immigrant suburbs that look All-American - without an ethnic trace in sight. These were the inverse ethnoburbs. We explore the history of these suburbs, answering how and why they came to be. * 2015 Arnold Hirsch Prize of the Urban History Association * 2018 Bishir Prize of the Vernacular Architecture Forum |
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"Suburbanization in the United States after 1945" with Andy Wiese Online Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History (2017) Everything you always wanted to know about American suburbia. A far-ranging, cutting-edge look at the history of American suburbs over the past 70 years. A lot packed in this one. |
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"Suburban Metamorphosis"
UCLA Center for the Study of Women blogsite, and HippoReads (2016) "Little did I anticipate when I chose to study the history of suburban life in Los Angeles, 1945-2000, that it would resonate so clearly with political events unfolding around us. In the wake of Donald Trump’s campaign and victory, I’m convinced more than ever that the suburbs of Los Angeles have a lot to teach us..." |
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"Suburban Disequilibrium" with Andy Wiese New York Times Opinion page (2013) "Today’s suburbs provide a map not just to the different worlds of the rich and the poor, which have always been with us, but to the increase in inequality between economic and social classes." |
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CONTACT
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