The past and future of suburbia

I think suburbia has a unique hold in America for a number of reasons. One simple reason is that we have the space. Densification becomes more of an option and less of a necessity when you have 3.8 million squares miles to work with. Another reason is the rugged individualism so closely associated with American history and culture. We are explorers, pioneers, space walkers. It is nearly ingrained in us to search out our own plot of land—something we can claim as our own—on the frontier of civilization. That frontier mentality just happens to manifest itself in suburban sprawl.

Land ownership holds real cultural significance. America was built on the idea that anyone can be successful here, and historically, that success could be measured in the land you own. The politically powerful owned huge, productive estates—land ownership was even a requirement to vote. The urge to gain land was so powerful, that homesteaders would trudge out into the unknown, with little to no plan of how to support themselves, just to claim a plot of land and increase the status of themselves and their children. That heritage still has a powerful impact on American life. Our logic still works something like this: America is a place where anyone can be successful and that success has been largely measured in land. If you don’t own land that means that you aren’t successful in the easiest place in the world to do so.   

In addition, the American economy is built on the housing market. We need people to buy and maintain houses just to keep the country afloat (as evidenced by the market crash). Suburbia is incentivized by tax credits, low interest rates, and the promise that your house will be worth more tomorrow than what you bought it for today. For most people, a house is the most valuable investment they have, and their entire financial plan circles around it.

Americans tend to view themselves each as the leader of their own small country. As such, we require a castle to be king/queen of. But if there ever was a generation to shift this line of thinking, it might be ours. The housing crisis has left a deep scar in our generation. We have begun to explore other options for living, and other definitions of success and influence. Groups of us choose to live nomadically, or to live debt-free in self-built tiny houses. Wary of the housing market, we invest what little money we have elsewhere. We’re less inclined to get married and have kids. The need for suburbia may be in decline. Right or wrong, good or bad, a shift may be underway.