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Picture Windows: How the Suburbs Happened
Picture Windows How the Suburbs Happened Author:Rosalyn Fraad Baxandall, Elizabeth Ewen, Rosalyn Baxandell A clear and engaging portrait of that uniquely American twentieth century phenomenon-the suburb: where it came from and where it is going Stereotypes of American suburbs as centers of monotonous architecture, social conservatism, and shopping-mall conformity have become iconic in American consciousness. In Picture Windows, Rosalyn Baxandall and... more » Elizabeth Ewen dispel such common assumptions and place the suburbs in the context of American life from the turn of the century to the present. They chronicle the transformation of rural lands into mass-produced suburban developments that promised to provide the benefits of postwar prosperity and safe surroundings for people previously excluded from home ownership. In interviews with hundreds of residents of three Long Island suburbs, Baxandall and Ewen weave a story of communities past and present. They conclude with a discussion of new trends in suburban living and the important role suburbia will play in the next century.« less