“[Baumgartner] describes suburbia as a place of ‘a culture of weak ties’ and ‘moral minimalism.’ The surface tranquility of suburban life covers an unwillingness to address real conflicts and tensions. Weak bonding to family and neighbors leads not to discussing and resolving conflicts, but to conflict avoidance and suppression as a major characteristic of suburbia.” (p. 97, discussing M. P. Baumgartner, The Moral Order of a Suburb, Oxford University Press, New York, 1988).

(Palen, J. John. The Suburbs. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995. Print.)