Next Door, Worlds Away: An Overview of Suburban Segregation in Nassau County

Abstract

This thesis investigates the stark economic and social disparities between towns in Nassau County, Long Island, with a particular focus on the contrasting development trajectories of Garden City and the Village of Hempstead. Despite their close geographic proximity, these communities exhibit dramatically different outcomes in wealth, education, racial composition, and mobility. Through a mixed-methods approach that combines historical analysis, policy critique, and spatial theory, this study traces the roots of inequality by focusing on processes like redlining, exclusionary zoning practices, and blockbusting, demonstrating how these practices have shaped suburban Long Island over time. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from Pierre Bourdieu, Henri Lefebvre, and Gilles Deleuze, the thesis analyzes how space operates symbolically and materially to sustain socioeconomic superiority in one community and precarity in another. This is sustained by a comparative case study between Garden City and the Village of Hempstead that illuminates how built environments reflect and reproduce broader systems of power, while also shaping community identity and mobility. The final chapter evaluates contemporary policy interventions, contrasting top-down strategies with bottom-up programs. Ultimately, the thesis argues that addressing spatial inequality requires a fundamental reimagining of suburban space through inclusive, community-rooted practices aligned with Lefebvre’s concept of differential space.