The American Dream: to have a nice house in the suburbs, with a white picket fence, a big backyard and a safe neighborhood for your family. Whatever one's opinion of the 'burbs, Americans overwhelmingly want to live there, and there are real attractions to doing so. Unfortunately, life in the suburbs is becoming increasing difficult to sustain, and as sprawl increases the suburbs themselves lose the community charm they once had.

This project seeks to take what is good about the American suburbs and translate it into a more sustainable situation. Instead of sprawling outwards, Vertical Suburbia stretches upwards. Residential communities are shaped around floors rather than cul-de-sacs, Main Street becomes walkable again, and families can keep their picket fences. Vertical Suburbia is not about subverting the suburban way of life, but restoring its ideals by a simply changing the orientation.

Entry for Evolo Skyscraper Competition 2011, with Jeffrey Sullivan: boards