The suburb reader / Becky M. Nicolaides and Andrew Wiese, editors ; foreword by Kenneth T. Jackson.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Nicolaides, Becky M.

Wiese, Andrew.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Suburbs--United States--History.

Suburbs.

Housing--United States--History.

Housing.

Suburban life--United States--History.

Suburban life.

History.

United States.

Physical Description:

xxii, 529 pages : illustrations, maps ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, [2006]

Summary:

According to the 2000 Census, over 50 percent of Americans live in suburbs. This mass migration to the suburbs is one of the most fundamental transformations in twentieth-century U.S. history." The Suburb Reader "collects the best writings on suburbs from their origins in the nineteenth century through the present day. "The Rader" is organized chronologically and thematically, and includes scholarly essays, documents, magazine and newspaper articles, and a wealth of reproductions of advertisements and photographs. Like "The City Readers," it stands as the definitive volume on this major historical phenomenon.

Contents:

Part I The Emergence of Suburbia, 1750-1940

Chapter 1 The Transnational Origins of the Elite Suburb 13

Documents

1-1 Ralph Waldo Emerson yyExpresses a Romantic Vision of Nature, 1836 15

1-2 A Suburban Perspective on New York City, 1854 16

1-3 British Horticulturalist J. C. Loudon Lays the Foundation for a Suburban Ideal, 1838 16

1-4 American Horticulturalist Andrew Jackson Downing Details the Virtues and Design of Country Living, 1850 18

1-5 A. J. Davis Presents A Promotional Plan for Llewellyn Park, New Jersey, 1857 22

1-6 Photo Gallery: Llewellyn Park, New Jersey, 1978 23

1-7 An Early "Advertisement" for Riverside, Illinois, 1869 24

Essays

1-1 / Kenneth T. Jackson Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (1985) 26

1-2 / Robert Fishman Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia (1987) 33

1-3 / John Archer "Colonial Suburbs in South Asia, 1700-1850 and the Spaces of Modernity" (1997) 39

Chapter 2 Family and Gender in the Making of Suburbia 45

2-1 Catharine Beecher Outlines the Proper Role for Women, 1865 47

2-2 Catharine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe depict "A Christian House," 1869 50

2-3 Design and Floor Plan of a Suburban Cottage Home, 1887 51

2-4 A Doctor Explains the Virtues of Suburbia for Children, 1910 51

2-5 An Experienced Suburbanite Counsels Young Women about the Problems of Suburbia, 1909 52

2-6 Harriet Beecher Stowe Exhorts Men to Be "Handy," 1869 55

2-7 A Suburban Couple Finds Delight in the Challenge of a Leaky Roof, 1925 55

2-8 Another Take on the Joys of Home Improvement, 1910 59

2-9 "The American Home, Safeguard of American Liberties," 1893 59

2-1 / Gwendolyn Wright Building the Dream: A Social History of Housing in America (1988) 60

2-2 / Margaret Marsh "Suburban Men and Masculine Domesticity, 1870-1915" (1988) 63

Chapter 3 Technology and Decentralization 69

3-1 A Steam Ferry in New York Harbor, 1840 72

3-2 Harper's Magazine Recounts "The Doleful History of the Omnibus Horse," 1860 73

3-3 Horse-Drawn Streetcar, Grand Junction, Colorado, 1887 74

3-4 Oakland Daily Evening Tribune Celebrates the Work of "Our Street Railroads," 1876 75

3-5 Electric Trolley North of Denver, Circa 1910s 76

3-6 Automobile and Man in Deep Snow as Trolley Car Passes, Chicago, 1929 76

3-7 Architectural Pattern Book Introduces the Latest Domestic Technologies, 1887 77

3-8 Suburban Men and Furnace, 1896 79

3-9 Advertisement for Eden Washing Machine, 1923 80

3-10 Frederick Coburn Foresees a "Five-Hundred-Mile City," 1906 81

3-11 Automotive Writer Herbert Towle Explains the Success of the Automobile, 1913 83

3-1 / Henry C. Binford The First Suburbs: Residential Communities on the Boston Periphery, 1815-1860 (1985) 85

3-2 / Gwendolyn Wright Moralism and the Model Home: Domestic Architecture and Cultural Conflict in Chicago, 1873-1913 (1980) 92

Chapter 4 Economic and Class Diversity on the Early Suburban Fringe 99

4-1 Ernest Burgess Outlines the Chicago School's "Concentric Zone Theory," 1929 101

4-2 William Dean Howells Describes a Walk about His Suburban Neighborhood, 1872 103

4-3 Photo Gallery: Social Diversity in Nineteenth-Century Suburbia 106

4-4 Reformer Graham Taylor Documents Early Industrial Suburbs, 1915 108

4-5 Harlan Paul Douglass Surveys Multiple Suburban Types, 1925 110

4-6 Photo Gallery: Varied Suburban Landscapes 113

4-7 Business Week Reports on the Proliferation of Suburban Department Stores, 1930 117

4-8 Photo Gallery: Early Suburban Shopping Centers 118

4-1 / David M. Gordon "Capitalist Development and the History of American Cities" (1978) 119

4-2 / Richard Harris, Robert Lewis "The Geography of North American Cities and Suburbs, 1900-1950: A New Synthesis," (2001) 125

Chapter 5 The Politics of Early Suburbia 135

5-1 Social Scientist Adna Weber Documents the Trend of Suburban Annexations, 1898 137

5-2 A Detroit Suburb Resists Annexation, 1922 138

5-3 Political Scientist Thomas Reed Calls for Consolidated Metropolitan Government, 1933 140

5-4 Political Consensus: Election Reports from Two Los Angeles Suburbs, 1910 143

5-5 Political Acrimony: The Case of South Gate, a Suburb of Los Angeles, 1925 144

5-6 The Municipalities of Los Angeles County, 1940 146

5-1 / Ann Durkin Keating Building Chicago: Suburban Developers and the Creation of a Divided Metropolis (1988) 147

5-2 / Jon C. Teaford Post-Suburbia: Government and Politics in the Edge Cities (1997) 153

Chapter 6 Imagining Suburbia: Visions and Plans from the Turn of the Century 163

6-1 Ebenezer Howard's Garden Cities of To-Morrow, 1902 166

6-2 Housing Reformer Carol Aronovici Calls for Suburban Planning, 1914 169

6-3 A Planned Industrial Suburb: Firestone Park, Ohio, 1919 170

6-4 Suburban Life Profiles Kenilworth, an Exclusive Suburb of Chicago, 1907 172

6-5 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Advertises Suburban Home Ownership, 1926 175

6-6 Architect Clarence Stein Assesses the Planning for Radburn, New Jersey, 1957 176

6-7 Frank Lloyd Wright Imagines "Broadacre City," 1935 181

6-1 / Margaret Crawford Building the Workingman's Paradise: The Design of American Company Towns (1995) 182

6-2 / Mary Corbin Sies "'God's Very Kingdom on the Earth': The Design Program for the American Suburban Home, 1877-1917" (1991) 186

Chanter 7 The Other Suburbanites: Class, Racial, and Ethnic Diversity in Early Suburbia 193

7-1 Developer S. E. Gross Compares European and American Homes, 1890 197

7-2 S. E. Gross Advertises "The Working Man's Reward," 1891 198

7-3 Two Progressive Reformers Critique Working-Class Home Ownership, 1912 199

7-4 Margaret Byington Profiles the Industrial Suburb of Homestead, Pennsylvania, 1910 199

7-5 The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Sells Suburbia to Industrialists, 1927 203

7-6 Mary Helen Ponce Recollects Life in a Mexican-American Suburb, 1993 203

7-7 Hank Aaron Recalls a Childhood in Toulminville, Alabama, 1991 207

7-8 Photo Gallery: Working-Class Suburbia 208

7-1 / Becky Nicolaides My Blue Heaven: Life and Politics in the Working-Class Suburbs of Los Angeles, 1920-1965 (2002) 210

7-2 / Andrew Wiese Places of Their Own: African American Suburbanization in the Twentieth Century (2004) 216

Chapter 8 The Tools of Exclusion: From Local Initiatives to Federal Policy 225

8-1 Suburbanite Frederick Lewis Allen Shares His "Suburban Nightmare," 1925 228

8-2 J. C. Nichols Makes the Case for Suburban Planning, 1923 230

8-3 Restrictive Deed, East San Diego, California, 1911 234

8-4 A Suburbanite Defends Racial Exclusion in Court, 1933 235

8-5 Weimer and Hoyt Outline the Principles of Urban Real Estate, 1939 237

8-6 White House Panel of Experts Depicts the Ideal Home, 1932 239

8-7 Home Owners Loan Corporation Appraises Los Angeles, 1939 240

8-1 / Marc A. Weiss The Rise of the Community Builders: The American Real Estate Industry and Urban Land Planning (1987) 244

8-2 / Kenneth T. Jackson "Race, Ethnicity and Real Estate Appraisal: The Home Owners Loan Corporation and the Federal Housing Administration" (1980) 247

Part II Postwar Suburbia, 1940-1970

Chapter 9 Postwar America: Suburban Apotheosis 257

9-1 Kelvinator Advertises the Dream of a Suburban Home, 1944 260

9-2 Hundreds Line up to Buy a Levittown Home, 1949 261

9-3 Photo Gallery: Advertisements for Postwar Suburbs 263

9-4 Photo Gallery: Postwar Suburbia 266

9-5 A Levittown Housewife Describes How She Keeps House, 1949 268

9-6 A Day in the Life of a Suburban Carpool Mother, 1955 270

9-7 D. J. Waldie Recollects Life on the Grid, 1996 271

9-1 / Dolores Hayden "Building the American Way: Public Subsidy, Private Space" (2004) 273

9-2 / Adam Rome The Bulldozer in the Countryside: Suburban Sprawl and the Rise of American Environmentalism (2001) 281

9-3 / Barbara M.

Kelly Expanding the American Dream (1993) 284

Chapter 10 Critiques of Postwar Suburbia 291

10-1 Folksinger Malvina Reynolds Critiques Suburbia in Song, 1962 294

10-2 William Whyte Describes the "Organization Man" in Suburbia, 1956 295

10-3 The Commuters of Park Forest, Illinois, 1953 298

10-4 Lewis Mumford Points to the Failures of Modern Suburbia, 1961 299

10-5 / Betty Friedan The Feminine Mystique, 1963 300

10-6 The Trapped Suburban Mother, 1961 303

10-7 Suburban Women in Great Neck, New York, Explore Feminism, 1973 304

10-8 John Cheever's Short Story, "O Youth and Beauty!" 1953 305

10-9 Peter Blake Portrays Suburbia as God's Own Junkyard, 1964 310

10-10 Mad Magazine Satirizes Suburbia, 1974 312

10-11 Sociologist Bennett Berger Challenges the "Myth of Suburbia," 1961 312

10-12 Sociologist Herbert Gans Explores Life in Levittown, 1967 326

Chapter 11 Postwar Suburbs and the Construction of Race 321

11-1 The Chicago Defender Celebrates the Supreme Court's Ruling on Restrictive Covenants, 1948 324

11-2 U.S. News & World Report Reviews Strategies to Preserve Segregation, 1948 325

11-3 The New York Times Reports on Racial Exclusion at Levittown, 1949 327

11-4 Charles Abrams Attacks Housing Discrimination, 1955 328

11-5 Jackie Robinson Testifies to Discriminatory "Beanballs" in Housing, 1959 330

11-6 Civil Rights Advocate Ralph Guzman Reveals Discrimination's "New Look," 1956 331

11-7 Atlanta Housing Council Proposes "Negro Expansion Areas," 1947 333

11-8 Whites React to Fears of Black Encroachment in West Atlanta, 1950s 336

11-9 Redbook Examines Integration Efforts in Teaneck, New Jersey, 1957 337

11-10 Norman Rockwell Depicts Suburban Integration, 1967 340

11-1 / George Lipsitz "The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: Racialized Social Democracy and the 'White' Problem in American Studies" (1995) 341

11-2 / Bruce Haynes Red Lines, Black Spaces: The Politics of Race and Space in a Black Middle-Class Suburb (2001) 343

Chapter 12 The City-Suburb Divide 349

12-1 William Laas Promotes Consolidation as the Cure for "Suburbitis," 1950 352

12-2 The Wall Street Journal Highlights Industry, Thrift and Racial Homogeneity in a "Model Municipality," 1966 353

12-3 U.S. Civil Rights Commission Describes Suburbia as a "White Noose," 1961 355

12-4 The Kerner Commission Predicts "Two Societies," 1968 356

12-5 Jonathan Kozol Describes Inequality in Urban and Suburban Schools, 1991 358

12-1 / Peter O. Muller The Outer City: The Geographical Consequences of the Urbanization of the Suburbs (1976) 362

12-2 / Robert O. Self American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Oakland (2003) 368

Part III Recent Suburbia, 1970 to the Present

Chapter 13 The Political Culture of Suburbia 379

13-1 Californians Air Their Opinions on Prop. 13, 1978 382

13-2 UCLA Business Professor Argues that Prop. 13 Would Reduce Bloated Government, 1978 383

13-3 Commonweal Criticizes Prop. 13, 1978 383

13-4 The Los Angeles Times Reflects on Prop. 13's Impact Two Decades Later, 1998 384

13-5 Political Scientist Robert Wood Characterizes Suburban Politics, 1958 387

13-6 Political Analyst Kevin Phillips Documents Suburbia's Role in the Republican Ascendancy, 1969 389

13-7 The Atlantic Monthly Heralds The Suburban Century, 1992 391

13-8 George W. Bush Wins with Critical Support from Suburban Fringe, 2004 393

13-1 / Sylvie Murray The Progressive Housewife: Community Activism in Suburban Queens, 1945-1965 (2003) 395

13-2 / Lisa McGirr Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right (2001) 397

13-3 / Matthew D. Lassiter "Suburban Strategies: The Volatile Center in Postwar American Politics" (2003) 402

Chapter 14 Recent Suburban Transformations, 1970-2000 409

14-1 The New York Times Magazine Spotlights Black Suburbanization, 1992 412

14-2 Aaron McGruder Shakes up Suburbia on the Comic Page, 1999 415

14-3 A Reporter Documents Ethnic Diversity in Atlanta's Suburbs, 1999 415

14-4 Donna Gaines Surveys Suburbia's "Teenage Wasteland," 1991 416

14-5 Christopher Caldwell Links Teen Alienation to the Environment of New Suburbia, 1999 419

14-6 Suburbs Outgrow Long-Time Residents, 2000 420

14-7 Myron Orfield Outlines the New Diversity in American Suburbia, 2003 422

14-8 Photo Gallery: "Have" and "Have Not" Suburbia, 1989 and 1995 425

14-1 / Timothy P. Fong The First Suburban Chinatown: The Remaking of Monterey Park, California (1994) 427

14-2 / Sarah J. Mahler American Dreaming: Immigrant Life on the Margins (1995) 433

Chapter 15 Our Town: Inclusion and Exclusion in Recent Suburbia 439

15-1 Legal Activists Paul Davidoff and Neil Gold Attack "Exclusionary Zoning," 1970 442

15-2 The New Jersey Supreme Court Rejects Exclusionary Zoning in its Developing Suburbs, 1975 444

15-3 South Jersey Residents Stand in Line for Affordable Suburban Housing, 2003 445

15-4 Residents of Mount Laurel, New Jersey Enjoy Fair Share Housing, 2002 447

15-5 The Philadelphia Inquirer Examines CC&Rs, 1991 447

15-6 A Black Suburb Debates Privacy, 1996 449

15-7 Commentator David Boaz Explains the Virtues of Gated Communities, 1996 450

15-8 Planner Edward Blakely Criticizes "Fortress America," 1998 452

15-9 Photo Gallery: Contemporary Gated Communities 454

15-1 / Evan McKenzie Privatopia: Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government (1994) 455

15-2 / Setha Low Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America (2003) 460

Chapter 16 The Future of Suburbia 469

16-1 Journalist Joel Garreau Names and Defines the Edge City, 1991 472

16-2 James Howard Kunstler Condemns Suburban Sprawl, 1994 475

16-3 Historian Dolores Hayden Considers, "What Is Sprawl?" 2004 476

16-4 Inner-Suburb Mayor Proposes "Sprawl Warning," 2003 477

16-5 Photo Gallery: Recent Suburban Development, Denver, Colorado 478

16-6 Urban Experts Discuss the Future of Sprawl, 1996 481

16-7 Myron Orfield Proposes a Regional Approach to Metropolitan Problems, 2003 482

16-8 Charter of the Congress for the New Urbanism, 1996 485

16-9 Photo Gallery: New Urbanist Suburbia: Kentlands, Maryland 487

16-10 Urban Scholar Robert Bruegmann Critiques the "Antisprawl" Movement, 2000 488

16-11 Robert Putnam Connects Suburbanization to the Demise of Community, 2000 495

16-12 Journalist Charles McGrath Offers a Coda for the Suburban Dream, 2000 495

Copyright Information 499.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0415945933

0415945941

OCLC:

62324925

Publisher Number:

9780415945936

9780415945943

9780415945933

9780415945941

9780415945946