Moving to Suburbia, or am I...?

    One of the last discussions we had in class was the topic of suburbia and what is its current state. Margaret Crawford highlighted in her text “Little Boxes,” that the suburban housing market exploded after WW2, where buying a home in suburbia was a reality for white and blue collar workers. Later on, in 1968 the Fair Housing Act was passed which opened up the possibility for those outside of the middle class to purchase homes. Domesticity was commercialized, where billboards and commercials glamorized the back yard BBQ and new trend of having the latest technology in the home. Even the famous Charles and Ray Eames had their part in bringing to life the happiness that could be achieved in suburbia by taking pictures of themselves loving life in their new home.

  

    After the initial boom there started an outcry of the isolation people experience in suburbia. All of a sudden, working individuals spent all their time either at work or at home, and their presence in the world around them seemed to vanish. Movies like Revolutionary Road and American Beauty highlighted the slippery slope isolation could lead to, and blamed suburbia for the depression the families in the films experienced. I would even argue that this knew phenomenon of “putting your house on display for the world to see,” would lead to a glass-house scenario where everyone around you is now aware of your flaws.  

    So, as a young adult about to begin their first job after college and in the market for moving into a new home, do I buy a house in the suburbs?