“Suburban gentrification” of inner-ring, postwar suburbs is an emerging phenomenon that has the potential to transform the spatial structure of American metropolitan regions. It may foreshadow shifts in household location patterns and changes in the socio-economic composition of neighborhoods similar to examples of classical gentrification found in central cities. Yet, aside from journalistic accounts, little is known about this transformation of postwar suburbs. Suburban gentrification is most visible through “teardowns”—the incremental redevelopment process in which older single-family housing is demolished and replaced with larger single-family housing. Preliminary evidence indicates that suburban teardowns are widespread; however, the teardown phenomenon is not ubiquitous. Using an original database of demolition permits as a proxy for teardown activity, this study examines single-family residential teardowns in the postwar suburbs of Chicago, Illinois between 1997 and 2007. Beginning with an empirical analysis describing the spatial and temporal aspects of the teardown phenomenon within the metropolitan area and followed by regression modeling to examine the determinants of teardown activity, the study concludes by revealing the corresponding socio-economic changes associated with teardown activity in postwar suburban neighborhoods.