building suburbia essays

building suburbia essays Building Suburbia: Green fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000 Since World War Two, American cities have gone through enormous changes. Industrial decline, crumbling homes and schools, overcrowded neighborhoods, rigid segregation and racial trauma, rising crime and violence and an alarming revenues have all contributed to a troubled urban landscape. For a short period of time in American developments, large scale government interventions seemed to point the way to urban salvation. But in the wake of massive urban renewal, expressway construction, and public housing projects, cities seem worse off than ever. Meanwhile, many sought refuge in the supposed safety of the vast new suburbs that encircled the old cities. But many found that suburban life brought new kinds of problems, such as auto dependency, increased pollution, and a loss of public life. Today, scholars, journalists, and citizens increasingly realize that urban issues are not confined to inner cities, but are broadly metropolitan and national because they involve everyone in an u rban region and the nation. Growing Suburbia is an excellent historical analysis book about suburbs in America. Dolores Hayden, author and a professor at Yale, clearly demonstrates the origin of the suburb and emphasizes the role of the federal government played in building suburbia in America. Examples Hayden uses in the book include policies to subsidizing suburbia by massively funding highways or providing many generous tax benefits to homeowners. Upon reading various chapters, Hayden gives me the impression that she is not very happy about the overly developments and the increasing social crime rates in the urban region. However, Hayden still holds an optimist mind that many issues concerning various urban experiences will improve over time. It is not surprise to find plenty of women and ethnic issues in the book. She points out many controversial topics such as womens role, class...