Crabgrass Frontier The Suburbanization Of The United States Summary

A foreign visitor to the United States might be intrigued by the different look of the American landscape as compared to those of Europe, Asia, or South America. With their works, Kenneth T. Jackson and Dolores Hayden both shed clarity on the look of American tracts, malls, and highways with Crabgrass Frontier and Building Suburbia, respectively. Kenneth T. Jackson write’s Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States to answer the question: Why are American suburbs different from those in other countries? He investigates the dynamics of land use, process of city growth through history, and the ways in which Americans coming taught in metropolitan areas have arranged their activities. Jackson attempts to discover the true meaning

Jackson most strongly argues that the trolley “had a greater impact on the American city between the Civil War and World War I” than any other invention. Stemming outward from the crowded business districts, trolley tracks opened up a vast suburban ring. Trolleys connected “an area triple the territory of the older walking city.” Along with the trolley, Jackson points to affordable housing as another reason for urbanization in American cities. With a quick trolley ride to urban housing areas, cheaper land than in cities, and the balloon-frame home construction method, American suburbs offered city dwellers a “safe and sanitary environment” in which was preferable over city life. After the trolley, Jackson points out that automobiles, along with better roads, and abundant fuel, gave many city dwellers better access to suburban areas. “The automobile made it infinitely easier to commute in directions perpendicular to the trolley tracks.” In short, cities began to “come apart” from the center because of the better transportation automobiles offered. Automobiles freed their owners to travel routes of their own choosing, to come and go wherever they pleased, and for a fraction of the cost of the