Playing Both "Inside" and "Outside Games"? Evidence From Expert Interviews in Mature Suburbs in Ohio

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In recent years, concern has arisen about decline in mature suburbs, and has been addressed primarily by research that has concentrated on quantitative analyses. Only a few works have used qualitative data to explore policies and tools in mature suburbs. We use expert interviews and Rusk's (1999) "inside game/outside game" framework to explore decline and the status of advocacy among select mature suburbs in three study communities in Ohio. We find a lack of awareness of the "inside game." We attribute this to funding streams that continue to favor suburbs and do not require explicit, repeated appropriations from Washington. On the other hand, we find attention being paid to the "outside game." We conclude that mature suburbs seem to be playing both "inside" and "outside" games, depending on the policy domain and the particular funding stream they require.