Trouble In Exurbia

Warren County Ohio - recently the subject of national attention for the pivotal role it played in the 2004 election - is back in the spotlight. The forces of white flight, rapid growth, big-box retailing, and inescapable social ills have collided.

The problem? They have too many criminals. So there's talk of building a jail in a Wal-Mart that will soon be abandoned. Officials claim that the facility would house nonviolent offenders. But residents of a nearby subdevelopment are nevertheless aghast. Many of them relocated to leave these unpleasantries back in the city.

Mothers like Ashley Gifford understand the need, but having a big store as a neighbor is one thing, a jail is another.

"When we moved here, that's not what we would've anticipated," Gifford said.

The rise of the American exurbs is the result of many factors - notably our deep cultural appreciation for wide-open spaces and the end of the era of centralized industry. But there's also some denial at work among the transplants - as if discomforting pathologies (that are so visibly on display in city life) can be neatly swept under the rug.

County officials should have asked about turning over the management of the jail to Wal-Mart directly. Their superstores already offer almost everything. Why not jail space too? That way, when your card is rejected at the register as you attempt to buy a product manufactured overseas, the clerk can simply lead you to a cell in the back of the store - thereby "closing the loop" on high speed, debt-fueled consumer capitalism.