What does suburbia mean? This is the question we have been trying to answer all year in Honors 159J, American Suburbia. We have studied everything from the roles of the front lawn in suburbia to the values of suburbanites. In studying such topics concerning suburbia, I have come to more completely understand what suburbia is all about.
I do not live in suburbia myself, but I did when I was young. I liked living there pretty well, but I definitely prefer life in rural America, which is where I have lived for the past twelve years. Before this class, though, I had never really thought about the differences that separate rural areas, the city, and suburbia. There is something alluring and intriguing about suburbia, especially to Americans. For decades it has been the ultimate dream for many of them. Why? What is so wonderful about suburbia? Well, there are many places to find the answers to that question.
One good place to look for answers is the media. Ever since the era of "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," America has had a standard by which to judge family life. Ozzie and Harriet Nelson were the definition of a perfect suburban family. They lived in a comfortable, quiet home in a generic suburban neighborhood. Harriet, the mother, stayed home and kept house while Ozzie, the father, went off to "the office" every day at nine o'clock and returned promptly at five. The children, David and Ricky, spent their time between school, sports, family, and friends. They seemed to have no serious problems and they were always happy. With this image being beamed into American homes once a week on TV, who wouldn't want to live in suburbia? Nowadays, the squeaky clean images of Ozzie and Harriet are not so prevalent on television, but Americans still seem to want to live in the suburbs.
Somewhere else to find answers is with suburbanites themselves. Why have they chosen to live and raise families in suburbia? The positive features of suburbia are abundant, and many suburbanites will attest to that. There is less crime and more safety in suburbia. It's a protected environment in which raising children is most beneficial. Also, it is more aesthetically pleasing than the city. The lawns are big and green, there are gardens with flowers, houses are well kept and painted nicely, and suburbanites work hard to protect these aesthetics. One major factor that influences people to move to suburbia is its ideal location. Suburbs are close enough to the city to enjoy what the city has to offer, but far enough away to escape from the crime and pollution without being in the boondocks. Many people who live in suburbia work in the cities, and they like to come home to a clean, pretty house that is their own. Suburbia stands for achievement for many Americans. When people make the move to suburbia, they have finally attained their own home through hard work. These reasons are all extremely good answers to what makes suburbia great. But another question begs to be answered here. Is there anything wrong with suburbia?
The answer to that question is yes, and we in Honors 159J have attacked the question with a vengeance. We have come up with many faults of suburbia. Exclusion of people of different races, religions, and values, materialism, ignorance, and superficiality are all characteristics of suburbia. This is not to say that these do not exist in the city or in rural America, but because suburbia is touted as "perfect" and "the ultimate American dream" these problems' existence in suburbia says that there is something severely wrong with it. Why would people want to live in a place with such negative characteristics? I believe that many suburbanites are not particularly bothered by these problems. Suburbanites have justified exclusion for years by saying that they are protecting property values by excluding certain races. Unfortunately, particular races are often associated with crime and the inner city, and suburbia believes that these races don't belong in the quiet, safe suburbs of America. Greenbelt is a perfect example of this exclusion. When it was established, no black families were allowed to move in, despite the fact that without the manpower of many black men, the town could not have been built. Religions and "extended" families have also been excluded from suburbia. Only seven percent of Greenbelt was Jewish when it was established, and even then the Jewish women were not permitted to join the Woman's Club. Divorced and single men and women who are raising families often face exclusion because their family portrait doesn't fit the norm. Materialism is rampant in the suburbs. Many suburbanites feel like they must "keep up with the Joneses" by owning the latest in lawn care equipment, entertainment systems, automobiles, etc. This pressure on suburbanites is extremely intense, and as we saw in Elaine Tyler May's "Hanging Together" and Joan Didion's "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream," the pressures to fit in and provide for a family are often so much that suburbanites can't handle it anymore. Ignorance is also a major problem. Many suburbanites feel like things like murder, drug abuse, and child abuse don't happen in suburbia, only in the city. Families are often blind to abuse of drugs and alcohol in the family, and if they are aware of it, much of their time is spent trying to cover everything up and maintain the facade of perfection to the rest of the suburb. In creating such facades, suburbia becomes superficial, and people are judged on how much money they make and what kinds of people they associate with. When issues like race relations, crime, and materialism come up in the city, no big deals are made about them. This is because the city is supposed to be crime ridden and unpredictable. Suburbia is supposed to be different, but the way I see it, it is worse. The pressures associated with much of suburban life are too much for me. I'll take rural semi-isolation or urban immersion, but I have a hard time settling for what lies in between.