The End of Suburbia:

The American dream has become manufactured. Americans have been bred to believe that the American Dream is one that inspires individualistic opportunities and promotes strong family and community values. Suburbia was an idea created that would support the American Values by land use and spirit of individuality. Meaning a community would be built that would ensure people that there communities would be wholesome, friendly, and a great place to raise a family outside of the city.

The idea of Suburbia started after WWII with the Veteran housing project that made sure that returning veterans had a great and clean place to raise there family. In these days, people felt that the city was a place everyone was stuck in and the desire to move out was in great demand. If someone moved out of the city and into the suburbs this is when the “American Dream” was achieved. The standards of the suburbs created a false reality for outsiders. A family in the suburbs must first and foremost be a family. Filled with 2 children, a dog, and free of family quarrels. This was sold to other outsiders who soon believed that this manufactured way of life was a place that would have all there dreams come true. Maybe for some people moving to the suburbs really did resonate a feeling just as that. A feeling of protection, free from worry. Their children had other children to socialize with who shared the same values because they lived in the same environment. However, this film talked about how the suburban lifestyle has become a great detriment to the people in this day in age. The suburbs were designed to move far away from the cities, which created a great demand for cars and a commuter culture, a culture that has guzzled up more oil than we have in supply. A roadway system had to be put in place to cart all the people that moved out of the city back to the city for school, work, shopping, and entertainment.

In the 50’s, suburbia was the ideal way of life, now people are looking to return to the city life. There is a great demand for city communities that have their school, jobs and entertainment within walking distance. Some say that the suburbia values and frame of mind has been lost and people have lost their wholesome white bread American values. I feel that the values that suburbia promised were so manufactured that people could not live up to these values. Hence is why there was an extreme anti-suburbia in the 60’s and 70’s with tremendous amounts of sex and drug use. I think now people have a better grasp on how and where they should raise their own family. I still believe that idea of the “worry-free suburbs” is still alive. We still all have been bred to think once we all have achieved that big house away from the crime that we have “made it.” I think that now we have a better idea on individualism and it is less likely for one to become a part of the Stepford wife society. Some sociologists believe that America has become a mass society, a society that possesses a mass culture on a larger scale. A society where everyone lives in the same place and doesn’t have much in common besides geographical location.

The film focused a lot on the oil crisis and how are actions now will effect our future. Limiting our car use, developing more green activities, or moving back to cities. We rely heavily on outside imports that our country does not produce any goods or services on a local level. In the 40’s there were family owned local markets, washer and dryer stores, bike stores, etc. The 50’s began creating mass shopping centers that took away from the local demand. Because of this we had to perfect our trucking and road system to ensure all these outside good were shipped at our convenience. If people went back to the way of life where we demanded things locally our economy, sense of community, and oil consumption would be better. I agree with that. Hearing my Grandparents talk about how they would have to go to various stores to buy food and goods seems almost to patience demanding in a generation that has the “I want it right now” mentality. I'm not sure if many people would be willing to go back to this lifestyle. Not only based on how much time it would take to shop but I'm not sure if the skill is there anymore. For years baking, cooking, and creating has been things that we have looked to others to do for us. To ask that now would be a mass re-enrollment into Home-Ec.