Suburbia: Not Just in America

 In class today, we discussed the origins of the suburban lifestyle, how it was established here in America, and it is an unique phenomenon to our culture. In this class and others we have also discussed at length about this idea of suburbia and how foreign it can be to non-Americans. I have to admit, I never really saw it as strange because I myself grew up in a suburban area. However, when looking at it from a distance, it can be a strange reality. Everyone wants to be special and have their own little life, but that little life is just like the person living next door. And while it is true that the idea of suburbia originated in America, I feel like the idea of the "American Dream" has now made it's way to other countries as well.

 Below are two images of suburban neighborhoods:

They both look like a view that you would see out of any airplane flying over America, but the second one is actually of an area outside of Sussex, England. It looks almost identical to what we know here in the states. Why is it that other countries are adopting this suburban lifestyle? Is it that want to get the dream job, buy a nice house in a nice neighborhood, raise your children in said neighborhood, etc. has now become a dream that many people want to achieve outside of the US? Or is it the view that "American's strive for it we should too" ideology that inspires others to jump on the suburban bandwagon?