FROM CITIES TO SUBURBIA AND BACK (PART 1) RICK TOBIN
The high fertility rates after World War II helped
fuel the suburban housing boom as larger families
needed larger suburban homes. America’s fertility
rate peaked at 3.77 children per married household
in 1957. The suburban location provided them with
a home, garden, car, and the model American
family lifestyle as seen on television.
The overall U.S. suburban population increased
from almost 27 percent in 1950 to almost 50
percent here in the 21st Century. Homeownership
rates increased from 43 percent in 1940 to over
65% to 70% in the early years of the 21st Century.
The increased number of home mortgages, credit
cards, roads, freeways, jobs, the size of families,
and the overall U.S. population all led to the
demand for more suburban communities around
the nation.
television shows, which glorified the suburban
Suburban communities began in the northeast with
placed like Levittown, NY and Allentown, PA.
Franchised businesses, theme parks, movies and
lifestyle, began or were created in Southern
California. As the 1950s progressed, these a ɕ