What “inner suburbs” means
The inner suburbs of a city are the older communities that sit right next to it, as opposed to the newer and more spread-out suburbs farther away. In Camden County, this ring generally includes boroughs and townships that developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when rail and trolley lines made it practical to live outside the city and travel in for work.
There is no single official list. People use the phrase loosely, so this article describes the general pattern rather than drawing a firm boundary.
How they developed
In the nineteenth century, railroads running east from the Delaware waterfront opened the countryside to settlement. Communities grew up around stations, often on land that had been farms. The article on farms and market gardens of early South Jersey describes the landscape that came before.
Towns such as Haddonfield, which has colonial roots and a historic commercial district, and Collingswood, Haddon Heights and Audubon, which grew largely with the railroad era, are often cited as examples of older communities of this type. Other places in the ring, like Oaklyn and Merchantville, have similar histories on a smaller scale. Haddonfield also has a well-known place in American science: in 1858 the partial skeleton of the dinosaur Hadrosaurus foulkii was found there, one of the earliest relatively complete dinosaur skeletons found in North America.
After World War Two, the pattern changed. Highways, mortgages and car ownership pushed development farther out, and the communities beyond the first ring grew rapidly. The broader process is described in the pieces on suburban flight and population change.
Typical physical character
Inner suburbs often share several features, though there are plenty of exceptions:
- Street grids and sidewalks. Many were laid out before widespread car use, so blocks are relatively compact and walkable.
- Older housing. Early twentieth-century houses, such as porch-front styles, sit alongside postwar construction.
- Small downtowns. Main streets near a train or light rail stop often hold shops and restaurants.
- Mixed density. Apartment buildings, twin houses and single-family homes may sit within a few blocks.
Light rail and PATCO stations in the county connect some of these communities with Camden and Philadelphia, as explained in the discussion of light rail and the PATCO Speedline.
How they relate to the city
Camden and its inner suburbs are separate municipalities with their own governments, budgets and school systems. Yet they are tied together in many ways.
Shared infrastructure. Roads, rail lines, water systems and drainage cross municipal lines. A storm drain in one town may empty into a creek that flows through another, a point also relevant to the Cooper River corridor.
Work and services. Many residents of nearby towns work at jobs, hospitals, universities and offices in Camden, and many Camden residents work in the suburbs. Higher education and medical institutions in the region draw people from many places.
Economic contrast. Median incomes, property values and tax bases have differed noticeably between the city and many of its older suburbs. The reasons are historical, involving industrial decline, migration and housing policy, and they are discussed in articles on redlining history and municipal distress. These contrasts should not be read as a judgment on any community’s residents.
Shared challenges. Aging infrastructure, flooding, traffic and the cost of services affect city and suburb alike, though in different degrees.
Change in the suburbs
Older suburbs are not static. Housing costs have risen in several of them, and some have seen renovation and new apartment construction near transit. Others face the same pressures as the city, including aging housing and tight municipal budgets. Different residents see these changes differently, and it is best to look at each town’s own planning documents and public meetings for current plans.
Reading the ring responsibly
It is tempting to treat the ring of suburbs as a measure of Camden: better, worse, richer, poorer. A more useful approach is to see the region as a system. People, money and public services move across borders, and decisions in one place affect others. Neighboring municipalities and their boundaries are covered in the article on neighboring towns.
For specific, current details such as taxes, schools and services, consult each municipality’s official website rather than relying on general descriptions.