Evolution Of The Suburbs

For those only weakly committed to city living, particularly middle-class people who have serious difficulty with social diversity and who have clear housing alternatives, the "problem-free" suburbs become tempting. After an incident such as a car break-in or a bicycle theft, a "last straw" can make them leave. (249)

Originally, suburbia was supposed to be a form of country living in proximity to the city. The first suburban communities in the U.S. were just small towns located just outside of the city center and many of them were connected to the downtown core with light rail transit ways. They were very similar to any other rural town. The little shops created a small town atmosphere and I assume that some of these suburbs even had their own municipal councils. They must have been great places to live in, but only the upper middle class could afford to live in these quaint communities.

During the “Baby Boomer” era, following WWII, America underwent one of the largest demographic shifts and population growths in history. Huge amounts of home construction on the outskirts of America’s largest cities, known as “levittowns” became the new staple of the American dream, with the houses sporting two car garages, and white picket fences. These low density, predominantly middle class residential districts, were America’s first true suburbs. These suburbs were constructed mainly in response to the new postwar consumerism that enveloped the parents of the baby boomers. With the new economy, affordable housing, and most families becoming single income dependent, families grew bigger and bigger. The 1947 passing of the bill that lead to the interstate highway system, only added fuel to the fire of suburbanization. With the new interstate highway system, more affordable and fuel efficient automobiles, and the government aiding in the financing of new suburban homes, the choice seemed elementary. All of these factors pushing to the suburban movement, only spurred the baby boomers on, and between 1940-50, there was an 835% percent increase in living births with nearly 4 million children being born every year. In 1940, 19.5% of the United States population lived in what would be considered to be suburban areas outside of large metropolitan areas, however, by 1960; the number was pushing nearly 40%. The postwar suburbanization of America during the baby boomer

Since working on the land wasn’t the most guaranteed way to make money families quickly uprooted and left with what they could to the surrounding areas of textile mills and other forms of factories. After some time with the general consensus being that working in the factories was a stable way to make money more and more people moved out to these areas causing the population to grow higher and higher by the minute, giving birth to what we now know as cities. Not only did America progressing heart those located in rural areas here, but on a global

Due to house shortages on the inner city, a massive pop up of suburban housing grew on the edge of the city limits. increase d vehicle production, federal highway system expansions, and veteran mortgage programs encouraged the newly created middle to buy larger family homes on the outskirts of the city.

Before diving into the relevant action steps, it is important to understand the history that led to this crisis. Thompson (2010), states that after World War II, cities were highly valued and popular until conflict, poverty, and distress led to the demise of these cities; thus increasing the value of suburban

Industrialization and urbanization went hand in hand. Cities offered large numbers of workers for new factories, and as more factories were built, more workers, both native –born and immigrant, moved to cities looking for jobs. Cities provided transportation for raw materials and manufactured goods, as well as markets for the consumption of finished products. By 1930 more than half of all Americans; including one million African Americans that had moved from the rural South to Western and Northern cities in search of jobs and to escape Jim Crow laws, lived in cities. The shift from rural life to urban life had both positive and negative effects. Some of the negative effects of urbanization included crowded, unsanitary living conditions for workers, and corrupt municipal, or city politics. The construction of decent housing was far below the fast paced growth of city populations, the cities were not prepared for that. The city housing primarily consisted of multifamily buildings called tenements. These tenements were usually deteriorated, located in poor working class neighborhoods, severely overcrowded, and inundated with violent crime. Cities also lacked adequate sanitation and water facilities. Poor families that lived in the slums could not afford

In the communities I grew up in, there were frequent changing circumstances that actually left my family not really as part of the community. From dingy, cheap and tiny places for rent, there has been significant points brought to the attention of the reader in this book that could attribute to the failure and success of neighborhoods. In Suburban Nation, the opening pages give a lot of insight on the issues that can come from these big and fancy, new housing developments.

Due to economic security, the baby boom, and the "American Dream" suburbs grew in the 1950's. Our economy was the largest in the world at the time and we were becoming a largely consumerism based country. We even had enough money that the government helped pay half the loans of American Veterans through the GI Bill of Rights. That security was sure, the government would not offer to pay back so much money if they thought it would be necessary for every person (Doc 1). Home ownership rates went up by over 10% the first 10 years after WW2 (Doc 4). This was caused by a great rush of babies being born also known as the baby boom. These many children needed space to live, and suddenly, suburbs are born! With the money needed families could take

Abraham Levitt bought acres of farmland in Long Island with a plan to build houses with his two sons, Alfred and William. The land was transformed into Levittown which would end up housing thousands of people, many were WW2 veterans. Since it was such a huge success he would go onto build two more in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This became the start of Suburbia, or affordable housing in communities which fueled the American dream as well as racism and segregation.

By the 1960s many of these urban areas, with the loss of capital, jobs, and so on; began to deteriorate, and property values fell. Currently with the higher costs of property in the suburbs and other communities, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to invest small and gain a big profit; thus, making the once "undesirable" urban properties with their low property values and costs, more "desirable."

Another key point is commuting. People who live in the urban community have better access to public transportation. Citizens can easily get around by walking, taking a bus, and riding the train at a lower cost. In contrast, owning a home in suburb can be costly for many people. Not only do people have to keep up with their mortgages, but they sometimes have to pay a yard maintenance fee and their Home Owners Association (HOA) dues for the up-keeping of the neighborhood which can be very costly. Besides the home cost, people who live in suburban neighborhoods do have the convenience of traveling in the comfort of their own vehicle, and they do not deal with the concerns of public transportation. However, they still have to deal with the cost for long commuting and the wear and tear of the vehicle.

As the city 's center becomes older and less desirable, the value goes down. This then attracts people who want to be centrally located, and now in the 21st century people tend to believe that the suburbs have less “character” and that most cities are considered to be “edgy” and “urban”, which is another reason as to why young, wealthy, white workers want to be located in the inner-city. Our pop culture is heavily influenced by black culture, so young people want to live where it’s hip, as well as reasonable.

After World War II, the United States of America became a much wealthier nation. As America gained wealth and the populations in urban cities and transportation technology increased, many Americans spread out, away from the urban cities, to fulfill the common dream of having a piece of land to call their own. The landscape constructed became known as the suburbs, exclusive residential areas within commuting distance of a city. The popularity and success of the suburban landscape caused suburbs to sprawl across the United States, from the east coast to the west coast and along the borders between Canada and Mexico. By the 1990s, many suburbs surrounding major urban cities developed into being more than merely exclusive residential areas.

An emerging issue is that of urban sprawl. While some aspects of urban sprawl has been seen since ancient times, this phenomenon has started gaining the most momentum in the past century, aided by the advancement of technology, especially with the rise of mass produced automobiles, houses and highway systems. Many people unknowingly contribute to this environmental problem, as is the nature of it. Urban sprawl deals with the growth of the suburbs, the area between the urban and rural areas of a city. Most of America’s largest cities and states, in terms of population, are prime examples of urban sprawl. Opponents of urban sprawl usually cite the government as a major cause of sprawl. The government may be a major catalyst of