Accessing the property in the remote suburban area: after enthusiasm, disillusionment

Based on several research carried out in the remote peri-urban area of a regional metropolis in northeastern France (Nancy), the article aims to capture the aspirations of residents who are concerned about getting access to property ownership of a house. More specifically, the purpose is to understand the dynamics of residential choices and the record of rationales accompanying them. By extension, the article identifies the logics of social integration of families deeply attached to a residential ideal embodied by the figure of the house. The empirical investigations showed that beyond the positive residential narratives, the families we met expressed some weariness in front of endless works, constraining daily mobilities and sociability that does not materialize. In the end, the article raises the question of whether a new territory emerges on the periphery of densified peri-urban areas.