Jackson piece on suburbanization and the impact of the American government’s related policies is an interesting one, and hits close to home to. The phenomena of “suburbanization” was an extremely potent force in American history. It shaped the way America was structured, physically and demographically. Indeed, the story of suburbanization in sown with much of the underlining themes featured in American history including economic advancement, greater civil freedoms, and even racism.
Growing up in suburban Long Island I can very much relate to trend of suburbanization. In fact, moving to an urban environment (New York City) to study for college, open my eyes to the wide divide between an urban and suburban lifestyle. There are good amount of differences between the two environments which effect everything from transportation needs to cultural life. The transition of America from a largely urban society at the beginning of twentieth century to a suburban one by the second half of that same century, was indeed a transformative event which must have changed the very fabric of the American way of life.
Jackson’s detailed analysis in the role of government and its legislative policies in the precipitation of suburbanization was indeed an interesting account. Through, a sociological perspective it is easy to see why both Americans and government prefer a suburban environment. By twentieth century, cities had begun to swell past what many thought was beyond the carrying capacity. Aggressive immigration only accelerated this process. Americans had always fantasized and romanticized the great frontiers of America, and its expansive landscapes. While suburbs did not encompass the same aspects of America’s most far flung reaches, it did provide a welcomed reprieve to the congestion of the cities.
While I do not want to sound conspiratorial in my next assessment for why government prefers suburbs, I do believe there is some validity to it. Cities are breeding grounds for progressive ideologies (think Occupy Wall Street). In truth, suburbs bring out the conformity in most people. With their perfectly manicured lawns and nicely assembled tv dinners, Americans flocked to suburbs in droves. The result was a generally more conservative America, one which did not question the action of the government. Conservatism and mass conformity were two major themes which dominated the 1950s. In fact, the next generation of Americans (baby boomers), would soon question this way of life, and launch the greatest counter-culture movement America would ever know.
While suburbanization did generally bring about a greater quality of life for more Americans, characteristically there were a great number of Americans left out of this revolution. Not surprisingly, many of them were minorities such as African Americans. Jackson’s piece mentions some tactics used by banks and government to limit mortgages to African Americans such as red lining. Indeed, suburbanization accelerated the strong divide between African Americans and Whites. While there were was always an economic, social, and civil disparity between blacks and whites, now they were also separated geographically. Suburbanization goes hand in hand with the phenomena known as “white flight.” As the suburbs were becoming increasingly white, the cities were left increasingly black. This new form of segregation took on a new face to that of de jure segregation. Legally blacks and whites were not separated. But practices such as red lining and codes amongst landowners made it nearly impossible for blacks to move into white neighborhood. Thus, suburbanization was another propellant leading to the fire that was burning in American. The fire which would spark the civil rights movement.
