American Population Boom’s “Suburbanization Begins”
Positive or Negative
After reading “The New
urban sociology,” specifically chapter 6 on suburbanization. Globalization, and
the emergence of the multi center region. I begin to become exceptionally fascinated
with the cause of suburbanization of middle class Caucasian Americans Post World
War II in the 1930’s, which is best known as the era of the baby boom. As the
chapter states growth beyond city borders was a common feature of industrialized
societies as early as the nineteenth century. Though this facts remains it
drove me to do a little investigation on my own concerning the major push out
of urban communities and into suburban areas.
According to article “Baby
Boom” After World War II had drawn to a close, the United States experienced
unprecedented population growth that to this day has shaped the social and
political landscape of the country, and changed how and where many Americans
live. Known as the "baby boom," this population expansion took place
between the years 1946 and 1964, with the peak occurring in 1957. The elevated
birthrate, unparalleled in American history, added more than 50 million babies
by the end of the 1950s.
There is a clear coloration
between the populations boom in American suburbanization as shown in the graphs
below, but another question of mine that surfaced was how did the effect of
massive suburbanization effect the inner larger cites. I am beginning to
believe that this massive change has played a key role in current poverty and lack
of resource within inner cities such as Detroit.
When people
leave areas in massive quantities the only things that they leave behind aren’t
their homes. Evacuated cities suffer from lack of property taxes that directly hinder
funding for public education, job opportunities, and local resource not to
mention the lack of people to work at corporations to maintain production. When
all of these resources leave simultaneously there is no surprise that the
results are increase in crime rate within those areas, job loss ending in forms
of ghettos and massive impoverished zones.
Meanwhile
the demographics of lower class America which is dominantly minorities are
suffering not only from a racist society now there fighting against the effects
of what is known as “White Flight”. The effects of resources and major being
limited and communities getting worse begins to push middle class whites out
while boxing lower class demographics in.
In the mid-twentieth century United States,
suburbanization was caused by federal governmental incentives to encourage
suburban growth and a phenomenon dubbed "white flight" where white
residents sought to distance themselves from racial minorities in urban areas.
Push factors are those that push people out of urban
areas while pull factors are those that entice individuals to leave urban zones
for the suburbs.
Pull factors are those that attract people to suburbs
in particular (like more land or bigger homes).
White flight refers to the large-scale migration of
whites from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogenous suburban
areas.
So I in this with the question was suburbanization the
next step to innovating building within society? Or was it a way to systematically
promote segregation by class, income, and race? Even more important with the current
shifts of white flight reverting from suburban areas back to inner city of Chicago
and relocating minority family’s is all of this things conspiracy or coincidence.
Which end in Blockbusting which refers to the practice
of introducing African American homeowners into previously all white
neighborhoods in order to spark rapid white flight and housing price decline.
Source: Boundless. “Suburbanization.” Boundless
Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 13 Feb. 2016 from
https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/population-and-urbanization-17/urban-problems-and-policy-125/suburbanization-707-10233/
http://eyeonhousing.org/2016/02/boomers-prefer-suburbs-and-cul-de-sacs/https://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/baby-boom/
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