Philadelphia journalist Benjamin Herold interviews 5 suburban families on life in U.S. suburbs in his new book “Disillusioned,” writes Michaela Althouse for PhillyVoice.

The former WHYY reporter was inspired to write the book after reading about the struggles residents were facing in his hometown of Penn Hills, a suburb of Pittsburgh.

In the last few years, his former school district has been facing paying off $172 million in debt which has led to teacher layoffs. At the same time, property taxes were rising, but home values weren’t.

Residents have been left with a higher cost of living, expensive infrastructure repairs, and fewer educational opportunities for their children than earlier generations experienced.

In his book for which he interviewed families living in Penn Hills as well as in towns outside of Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles, Herold depicts how the first few generations living in these towns mismanaged and depleted local resources without replenishing them for future generations.

The New York Times Book Review referred to it as a “cleareyed account of suburban boom and bust.”

Herold said that he thinks people living in towns like Cheltenham, Pennridge, Quakertown, and Neshaminy will see some of their own experiences reflected in his book.

Read more about Benjamin Herold’s new book, “Disillusioned” at PhillyVoice.

____________