Blog Exercise Five

The images above depict the means of a shift in the US city system in a post world war II society due to advances in technology as well as a change in government and citizen perspective. This period can be categorized as Borchert’s third transportation epoch and a combination of auto air amenities which revolutionized American’s day to day lives. These innovations along with government policy and changing social expectations allowed for major changes in city structure and the development of true suburbanization and corporate expansion.
By the mid 1900’s technology had developed past that of a reliance on railway systems to the common place use and ownership of car in addition to aviation technology. Both of these advances had far reaching consequences for US economy, structure and culture. The use of automobiles and development of a highway system allowed massive waves of suburbanization in the face of a rapidly growing population as well as demographic and cultural shifts. Cars and the jet engine led to the possibility of very fast reliable transportation and as a result improvements in a struggling economy and revolutionized business interactions. Aviation technology was highly developed by the military during the war and many returning soldiers were already skilled pilots and mechanics allowing allowing a boom in the industry. Business could be conducted face to face without location being a limiting factor. Corporations could have offices or factories in different locations around the country, often where labor was cheaper, while remaining headquarters in the business districts of major cities such as NYC.
Government involvement and legislation played a huge role in contributing to the development of massive suburbs all over the country. The National Housing Act of 1934, which was passed as a part of the New Deal during the Great Depression, provided affordable loans and mortgages to increase home ownership. Other legislation such as the GI bill had a similar effect in promoting the idea of affordable homes for every American and the clearance of slums and public housing. This is when we start to see a major shift from crowded urban centers to the suburbs, a change facilitated by other government action such as Eisenhower’s Interstate system. The development of highways connected suburbs to major cities and major cities to each other which contributed greatly to the development of the suburbs. New Deal projects built infrastructure which facilitated this change by doing things such as providing reliable water sources to these different communities.
The government’s far reaching fear of communist and socialist ideas prompted such growth through an effort to move away from public housing and give citizens a stake in the national economy through home ownership. Changing public perspective and demographics also had a huge effect on the changing city system. Many African Americans in the South moved to Northern cities after the war and the issues of segregation and “white flight” effected both structural and social development for decades. Post world war II society saw the rise of the baby boomer generation in which the population began to grow rapidly. Families were getting bigger and as a result needed bigger houses with more and more stuff. All of these things have contributed to the development of suburbanization as we know it today and have had a profound effect on United States Culture and society. Although these changes had many positive effects on the issues of the time, such as a struggling economy and poor urban conditions, they have left us with numerous challenges in today’s society. We must now work to combat the issues of urban sprawl and the many problems associated with it in order to create sustainable communities in the face of a rapidly growing population and depletion of the natural resources available to us.

All the bairns o' Adam