Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America

by Setha M. Low

In the last twenty years, thousands upon thousands of the upper and middle classes have retreated into gated communities. In 2002 it is estimated that one in eight Americans will live in these exclusive neighborhoods. What has sparked this alarming trend?
Behind the Gates is Low's revealing account of what life is like inside these suburban fortresses. After years researching and interviewing families in Long Island, New York and San Antonio, Texas, Low provides an inside view of gated communities to help explain why people flee to these enclaves. Parents with children, young married couples, "empty-nesters," and retirees express their need for safety, their secret fears of a more ethnically diverse America, and their desire to recapture the close-knit, picket-fenced communities of their childhood. Ironically, she shows, gated neighborhoods are in fact no safer than other suburbs, and many who move there are disheartened by the insularity and restrictive rules of the community.
Low probes the hopes, dreams, and fears of her subjects to portray the subtle change in American middle-class values marked by the emergence of enclosed communities in the suburbs.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, History, Ethnography, Urban

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2003

Reviews

[Athena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing -- Low doesn't reveal anything new or interesting about why people choose to live in gated communities.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book that should have been left an essay.

[Meghan Niemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person going to school for anthropology I highly recommend this book for an excellent example of conducting research. Many people in the comments say she didn’t relieve anything new, but in a lot of ways she pointed out the contrast between the lack of security gates really provided and the real fears behind the “other”. Politically speaking, this book made me think about the wall President Trump wanted to put in and the negative affects of having a wall separating the US from Mexico and not the US from Canada. This book is really great when traveling too, as I am currently in Guatemala and notice a lot of gating, this is significant because of the chapter on Mexico City and gating. I thought this was a fantastic book for any future cultural anthropology students, especially her breakdown of her methods used and how they were useful.

[Betsy McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever stop to think about what makes you feel safe and what makes you feel in danger?

This is a fantastic book about the social, economic, and psychological concepts of danger. Low has a wonderful, easy-to-read style that is informative without being condescending (rare in Anthropology books!). By showing and explaining the world within and behind the gates, we can begin to understand why we feel concepts of safety and danger, why we flock to those like us and avoid the "others", and the symbolic meanings of the gates and break down those walls, physical and metaphorical. Read it!

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a painful read. Low's account takes a balanced approach yet, ultimately I have to ask myself "what's the point?." There were some specific things that really bothered me about this book. As this was a few years ago, and I haven't slept much since then, I forget...and I'm not pulling it down from the shelf ever again... unless I need to feed a fire.

[Lauren DeLong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, balanced analysis of gated communities and how they're used throughout the world. Some information is of course now dated, but the motivations behind gating yourself off from the rest of society are unlikely to change any time soon. Well worth the read for any urban planner or anyone with a passing interest in it, especially as concerns American suburbia.

[Conner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting content of the book, interesting to think about. The book had way too much dialogue though for my taste.