The Work Blog: Part One of My First Series

The Suburbs and the American Experience: Origins

“Little boxes on the hillside,

Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,

Little boxes on the hillside,

Little boxes all the same.

There’s a green one and a pink one

And a blue one and a yellow one,

And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky

And they all look just the same.”

- From the song “Little Boxes” by Malvina Reynolds, 1962

John Archer included these lyrics in his essay in Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes.  In his book, Architecture and Suburbia: From English Villa to American Dream House, 1690-2000, he expounds upon the tripartite desire that propels the popularity of the suburban house: the longing for privacy, property, and selfhood.

This root desire can be added to a list of the more tangible benefits one finds when living in a suburban area. What draws the American people to the suburbs? Here’s a short list:

Community

Cleanliness

Order

Safety

Convenience

Space

Beauty

(Increased) Affordability

In the late 1800’s, great American minds began to envision communities just beyond the overcrowded cities – communities that contained the exact opposite of the noisy, dirty, dangerous cities. Instead of strangers, these communities would be filled with neighbors; instead of dirty streets and coal-filled air, these communities would have bright cobblestone pathways to the market and clean water available to all; instead of crime, there would be order and safety, complete with manicured lawns for children, pets and parties.

What began as a great idea in the early 1900s had developed into an ideal world in the 1950s (with the help of the FHA), but quickly became a mockery and the focus of derision in later decades. In the 1960’s, disillusioned youth found themselves at odds with traditional value systems and what seemed to be a ceaseless, unchanging existence. Looking for a place to form their own communities, young Americans flocked to the cities as well as undeveloped areas to create communes and supportive environments for alternative or progressive lifestyles.

While many young people left the suburbs, many stayed behind and continued to build lives within the increasingly generic suburban model. Suburban sprawl continued to affect sustainable communities, and Americans realized that the original model for the suburban lifestyle needed reformation. Even now, despite the flaws, a recent study shows that suburban areas are continuing to expand.

Is it possible, despite surburbia’s broken system, that the suburban model best fills the American desire for privacy, property, and selfhood? A bit of personal reflection:

1. Privacy.  As I write this post from my city apartment – one of three in an attached home – I am looking from my backyard into the yards of four of my neighbors. In the short time that I have lived here, I have become accustomed to strangers’ voices, pests, and problems filtering in through my window screen and my walls. And they have also become aware of my own voice, my footsteps, and my daily routine. The desire to separate one’s personal life from one’s public life can sometimes be overwhelming, and the privacy provided by a free-standing dwelling is always appreciated.

2. Property. For the American, land ownership is a major part of the dream that developed during the days of colonization and continued as Americans began settling West. For my grandparents, the children of immigrants who arrived in the United States in the early 1900s, land ownership meant you had endured and overcome the struggles of relocation and assimilation. My grandparents’ home in a small suburb of Boston had fruit trees, grape vines, a large screened porch and a large yard for the grandchildren. This home was a huge accomplishment for my grandfather, a man with an eighth-grade education, and for my grandmother, who spent her early years in boarding houses sharing a single toilet with a floor of strangers.

3. Selfhood – Like my grandfather, my father also purchased land. As the first college graduate in his family, he earned additional degrees and then began his own pursuit of the dream. For many in my father’s generation, the question was no longer if one would purchase a home but where one would purchase it! For the American, the journey to self-actualization includes the purchase of the right home in the correct zip code. Of course, after the purchase of the first home, comes the second home, a place in the mountains or by the sea, perfect for relaxation and reflection. Again, property becomes a medium we use to better understand ourselves and to delineate our place in society.

Looking at my family’s experience, I see a strong correlation between the suburbs and the American dream. What about your family? The suburban landscape allows us to achieve a better life for our families and acts as a public record of our financial success. And though we mock the suburban lifestyle, there is something comforting about what it offers. We respond not only to its familiarity, but also to its benefits. Despite the flaws in the suburban landscape we also find critical aspects of the American dream.  And though we must dig to find it, excavating underneath the Super Walmarts, the identical shopping malls, and the rows of identical houses, a better model of the suburban lifestyle lies dormant, waiting to be rediscovered and reinterpreted by a new generation.

In later weeks, I will be sharing contemporary efforts to redeem the suburban lifestyle – efforts to silence the critics and create not a sub-urban, but an optim-rur-urban* community that allows us to participate in the best aspects of the country and city life. Stayed tuned!

*This is a bad joke:

Optim – best

Rur – country

Urb - city