The invention of the suburbs- more recent than you may have thought!

I would hazard a broad assumption that to the people of my generation, Generation Y (or whatever they're calling the generation immediately after Generation X) for those who do not have a background nor an interest in architecture, architectural history, history, anthropology, urban planning, etc., have assumed that the suburbs have always existed. Or at least as long as there have been cities.

And for the generation immediately after Generation Y, the Millennium Generation I know that they think there have always been suburbs. I know, it's unfair to blame it on their young age and lack of experience. But look at it this way. If you tell a little one that there was life before cell phones, ipods, and the Internet they will look at you like you are telling them that the moon is made of green cheese.

Even if someone of my generation was born and raised on a farm and knows nothing but farming, I would venture to say that said person also assume that suburbs have always existed.

I expound on this because the suburbs, in the grand scheme of time, are a relatively new concept. Surprisingly yes.

***Again, may I offer a disclaimer that I am still, at this point, self-taught, so if there are errors, that is why the comment section was created.***

From the time the Pilgrims came over and even before that when the Native Americans were the only ones living in the US, people lived in small, agriculturally-based communities. Official towns were soon erected such as Jamestown and Williamsburg. But industrially-based, true cities didn't come to prominence until the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution, like the first man on the moon, is so often taken for granted in the history books that we often forget what a huge impact it had on the world. In addition to causing a reaction against it and in celebration of it in the creative world, (I am still a die-hard art historian at heart) and changing the means of production, amongst other things, it also had a huge impact on where people lived!

This was before the time of the automobile and commuters and even mass transit wasn't truly developed yet. If anything mass transit meant masses of people walking from their "apartments" to their jobs at the factories and stores. One didn't have the luxury of living in a nice quiet suburb, driving into work, putting in your 8-10 hours and then going home to barbeque with the neighbors because there was no Ford Focus to take you home! Some people who lived in the country did ride in on horses, etc., But this did not last for long.

It was not until after World War I that the suburbs began in earnest. This occurred for a number of reasons. Among them: 1) people were able to buy houses under cheap Veterans Administration mortgages and low mortgages set forth by the National Housing Act of 1934, which created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), who insured the mortgages
2) for some businesses as cities became more crowded and transportation of goods became more problematic, said businesses moved out to the suburbs and therefore so did jobs,
3) due to America's new prosperity more people could buy a cars and therefore travel with ease, especially to wherever their job site was
4) which was aided by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, which created more roads, which both businesses and the new commuters took advantage of due to their ease of use
5) it became the American dream to have a picket fence with one's own lawn- a hard proposition in the city where any green space is at a premium
6) crime became a factor for people to seek safer housing opportunities and low crime location (These are NOT listed in order of sociological importance in case anyone is keeping track.)

Then came the baby boom and people settled down in the suburbs and many of their children also decided to stay in the suburbs and raise their own families. And so the cycle continues.

The implications it had for downtown to be discussed.