Urban Renewal was a post-World War II effort by local and national governments to revitalize American cities based on new living patterns and with the hope of improving economic conditions. For many cities this meant demolishing buildings and clearing out areas considered to be in decay. This included government subsidized construction of public housing units for low-income families. Participating cities would receive federal funding for some of these improvements as the localities constructed more modern residential and commercial buildings, changing the face of American cities.
The postwar era was a boom time for suburbia. America’s birth rate rose, and millions of young families with children abandoned the crowded cities and invested in suburban homes [1]. Also during this time, car ownership was increasing as the automobile was becoming king. The increased ease in ability to commute from one area to another led to increased development of highways. With improved transportation, as well as the growth of consumerism, the construction of shopping plazas grew [2]. This was aided by planning authorities who decided to demolish some buildings to create parking lots which provided easier access for consumers to stores. Increased automobile use, new highways and changes in downtown areas also led many American during this time to leave cities and move to homes in growing suburban areas [3].
- Jon Teaford, “Suburbia Triumphant,” in The Twentieth Century American City, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986), 98.
- Teaford, “Suburbia Triumphant.”
- Teaford, “Suburbia Triumphant.”