Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States

Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States by Kenneth T. Jackson 

(Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crabgrass_Frontier)

The United States began a gradual process towards suburbanization. Initially, the country was primarily rural, with minimal urban population. As cities grew, in part due to the industrial revolution, all tended to live close together. Trains and other transportation enabled people to move out from the crowded cities to suburban area. These cities were usually "dots" on the rail line, with houses built within walking distance of the train line. Other forms of transportation, such as cable cars, horse cars and ferries expanded the areas where people could live. However, even the suburbs would mirror urban living, but at a distance. Grid patterns were the common layout pattern.

The "city beautiful" movement started launching suburbs that would have "curved lines" and be integrated more into nature. Soon the car came about and suburbs were built with the expectation of automobile use. Uses were segregated. There was a "home zone" and a "work zone". 

The most depressing part of housing development was the government involvement. It went into high gear during the Great Depression. The government helped encourage loans. However, the devil was in the details. They wanted to ensure loans were rapid, so they mapped neighborhoods by category. To be in the ideal category, the neighborhood had to be white and suburban. Cities ended paying to subsidize racist car-centric suburbs.

Even worse was the government's attempts to provide public housing. A requirement for funding was that an equivalent amount of slums were cleared. A local housing authority must also be set up to provide the housing. While it would have been easy to build vast amounts of public housing in greenfield suburbs, the suburban areas did not want it, leaving most in the cities. Initially the housing was meant to be primarily temporary abodes for the working poor. However, restrictions were lifted, leaving the housing primarily the abode of the most impoverished. In the end, poverty was concentrated in central cities with no real increase in housing stock. The huge amount that the US government spent on mortgage tax breaks has probably been a net loss. 

The government spent huge amounts of money building the interstate highway system, while expecting mass transit and railroads to mostly pay their way.  Zoning regulations also come to enforce separation of responsibility and benefit cars.  The author presents the facts of government government and then tries to divert the blame, saying that people had wanted it. However, the facts show a policy that could hardly have been planed better to destroy cities, favor suburban sprawl and force people into cars. Other countries marvel at the lack of public housing and the dedication of gas tax revenue to highway constructions. Alas, the US government has got what it deserved. 

In the end, the author made a few predictions that seemed somewhat prescient. One prediction was that working from home was not really feasible. When this was written in the mid-1980s, the technology for working from home was crude at best. Internet connectivity would primarily be via a modem with speeds in bits per seconds. Coworker interaction would be with a telephone. Even today, with always-on gigabit home internet, video conference and chat, companies are still pushing for in-person presence. Remote work is now more possible, but there is still a desire for in-person connectivity. Another prediction is that there would be a greater desire for urban living. This seems to have played out as expected. Many cities reversed years of population decline to see population gains in the 2000s. Even suburbs have become more urban in character. While there still are new sprawl subdivisions, there is a much more balanced makeup of new development. There are concerns about energy use, and an acknowledgement that dense housing, non-car transit and other features help in reducing excess energy use and carbon emissions.