Discuss the development of suburbs in the U.S. What was the first planned suburb, when was it built, and what did it include? Discuss reasons for the growth of suburbs. What was the effect on cities?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Suburbs developed for many reasons including the availability of the automobile, fears of crime and violence in the cities, the comfort of owning a larger house with a yard, proximity of schools and shops, federal mortgage programs, the interstate highway system, public funds for railroads and schools. The first planned suburb was Levittown NY, built between 1951 and 1958, including houses, shopping areas, churches, and recreation centers.
The mass production of the automobile allowed people to live further away from work. After the Civil War large numbers of Blacks moved from the rural South to northern cities, and whites were concerned about crime and violence; cities were increasingly seen as crime infested, poor, and populated by more "dangerous" minorities. The white middle classes began moving out of the cities ("white flight"), into outlying areas called suburbs. Their houses were separate from the others, with front and back yards, just like upper-class estates, instead of the cramped apartments and townhouses of the cities. The larger homes could have all the new technological amenities, like televisions and barbecue pits. Federal mortgage programs and the creation of the interstate highway system, and public funds for commuter railroads and local schools provided the opportunity to move to the suburbs. Jobs and amenities went to the suburbs as well. Cities were hurt as downtown stores closed as gigantic suburban shopping malls opened. Downtown movie palaces closed as gigantic multiplexes opened next to the shopping malls. Downtown businesses relocated to "business parks" in the suburbs. Because the middle classes and the poor rarely saw each other anymore, they often had enormous misconceptions about each other.