Suburban Life In United States Essays Examples

THE RISE AND FALL OF SUBURBIA IN UNITED STATES

Suburbs grew rapidly in United States after the end of World War II. In the world war, United States emerged as a super power. The restrictions on public spending during war were lifted off and common people had purchasing power in their hands. Also, the soldiers who fought the war wanted to live a peaceful life. The cities were cramped and also costly. Hence, there was a huge movement of population in the places, away from the urban centers so that they can live in spacious houses. [1] This facilitated in the formation of suburbia in the post-war era. The growth of suburbia was further boosted by the more number of highways at that time so that people could reach their workplaces without many hassles. William Levitt was a key person who played an important role in the growth of suburbs. Levitt applied mass production techniques to build houses on the farmland he had purchased. His way of mass production increased the availability of homes as well reduced the prices of the homes. Around this time the blacks from the south also migrated to the north thereby displacing a majority of white population in the urban areas to suburbs. As a result, the life in suburbs became desirable to almost every household.
Life and the way of living have completely changed with the growth of suburbs. As a result of growth of suburbs, shops also sprang up very quickly. The land in suburbs was cheaper than in cities. Hence, there were a lot of discount stores opened in suburbs which meant that the people living in suburbs enjoyed a great life with a comparatively low cost of living. Malls also sprang up in suburbia. [2] It also caused isolation of families which resulted in the fragmentation of society. The houses were built for a family comprising of two adults and two children. As they had everything within, they did not have to bother about the society around them. The mentality of buyers has changed completely. They started preferring homes they can readily shift into rather than renovating their homes. But it is noted here that if a person moves into a new suburbia and the city continues to grow, then the suburbia would soon get outdated. This is one reason why much suburbia has begun to decline.

“The New American Dream Is Living in a City, Not Owning a House in the Suburbs”

-TIME magazine, April 25, 2014
The suburbs were designed for families. The increasing numbers of bachelors prefer cities than suburbs as it would save a lot of travelling time. They are inconvenient with the social isolation in suburbs. As a result the urban centers have once again started to grow. In 2010, it was observed that the growth rate of cities were higher than the suburbs. So in short the suburbs are declining. But it is very premature to say that it is the end of suburbs. They may spring back into life once again people get tired of cities.

References

Jackson, K. (1985). Crabgrass frontier: The suburbanization of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press.
Beauregard, R. (2006). When America became suburban. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.