Prepublication Praise

The Rise of Recreation Exurbs & The Demise of Community

In this unique exploration, Kahn ventures beyond the well-trodden paths of mountain towns in the West to include vibrant oceanside, desert, and lake communities. His focus on the often-overlooked “exurbs” sets this book apart, offering fresh insights into the gilding of amenity-rich locales. An essential read.
Dr. Justin FarrellAuthor “Billionaire Wilderness” and Professor of Sociology, Yale University, School of the Environment
… opens new avenues to understand … America’s new recreation exurbs. … provides insight [into] the role that the dramatic increase in the wealth gap plays in their emergence and impact … how class and ethnic segregation develop. … maps the characteristics of these environmentally pristine, awe-inspiring, localities that an extremely wealthy segment of Americans seek for recreation and leisure activities. He … identifies an important mechanism of wealth accumulation involving real estate and tax laws that allow the one-percenters to establish influence and power, while minimizing opportunities for the remaining ninety-nine percent to access affordable housing, public services, and build true and diverse community in these recreation exurbs. In Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent, Isabel Wilkerson defines caste as “the granting or withholding of respect, status, honor, attention, privileges, resources…on the basis of… rank or standing in the hierarchy.” Kahn shows that in the recreation exurbs and nearby towns where support and service workers live, two communities are emerging, separate and unequal, defined by their caste status.
Cedric D. Page, PhDProfessor Emeritus of Geography, University of New Mexico, Los Alamos
… chronicles the recent evolution of four so-called “recreation exurbs,” small towns located in beautiful locales that at first attracted young people seeking an alternative lifestyle, then moved to year-round tourism and now draw in the uber-wealthy. Finding a common thread of increased wealth influencing the places, short-term rentals (STRs) making it harder for workers to find places to live, and documenting the disappearance of genuine small town community values, Kahn hits on why places like Martha’s Vineyard, Lake Tahoe, Sedona and Crested Butte, Colorado are struggling to maintain a sense of deep community. … a sometimes-bleak analysis of how these towns … changed … Kahn ends with the hope that courageous action can be taken in such places to help reestablish values that provide the foundations of small-town community.
Mark ReamanEditor / Publisher, Crested Butte News
Anyone who’s lived on Martha’s Vineyard for more than a few years can give you anecdotes about the island’s demographics, and its culture, changing. Roger Kahn gathers those anecdotes, defining and exploring the changes as he goes, but also provides some much-needed economic and sociological context for them. Every community fondly imagines itself to be unique, and Kahn shows that the Vineyard has more in common with places like Crested Butte, Sedona, and Lake Tahoe than most of us who live here would ever have dreamed.
A. Bowdoin Van RiperResearch Librarian, Martha’s Vineyard Museum
… brilliantly explores and identifies the reasons behind the formation of recreation exurbs in the United States, the genesis of which began in the early 1980’s, only to be accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kahn also discusses in detail the plight of four emerging recreation exurbs and possible remedies to offset the negative impacts on affordable housing and the loss of a sense of community these tourist towns are experiencing.
John O’BrienFormer Community Development Director, City of Sedona, Arizona

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