What are the suburbs? The popular vision of monotonous streets curving into culs-de-sac and emerald lawns unfurling from nearly identical houses would have us believe that suburbia is a boring; homogeneous; and alienating place. But this stereotypical portrayal of the suburbs tells us very little about the lives of the people who actually live there. Making Suburbia offers a diverse collection of essays that examine how the history and landscape of the American suburb is constructed through the everyday actions and experiences of its inhabitants. From home decor and garage rock to modernist shopping malls and holiday parades; contributors explore how suburbanites actively created the spaces of suburbia. The volume is divided into four parts; each of which addresses a distinct aspect of the ways in which suburbia is lived in and made. More than twenty essays range from Becky Nicolaides’s chronicle of cross-racial alliances in Pasadena; to Jodi Rios’s investigation of St. Louis residents’ debates over public space and behavior; to Andrew Friedman’s story of Cold War double agents who used the suburban milieu as a cover for their espionage. Presenting a wide variety of voices; Making Suburbia reveals that suburbs are a constantly evolving landscape for the articulation of American society and are ultimately defined not by planners but by their inhabitants. Contributors: Anna Vemer Andrzejewski; U of Wisconsin–Madison; Heather Bailey; Gretchen Buggeln; Valparaiso U; Charity R. Carney; Western Governors U; Martin Dines; Kingston U London; Andrew Friedman; Haverford College; Beverly K. Grindstaff; San José State U; Dianne Harris; U of Illinois; Urbana–Champaign; Ursula Lang; Matthew Gordon Lasner; Hunter College; Willow Lung-Amam; U of Maryland; College Park; Becky Nicolaides; U of California; Los Angeles; Trecia Pottinger; Oberlin College; Tim Retzloff; Michigan State U; Jodi Rios; Christopher Sellers; Stony Brook U; David Smiley; Columbia U; Stacie Taranto; Ramapo College of New Jersey; Steve Waksman; Smith College; Holley Wlodarczyk; U of Minnesota.
#867671 in eBooks 2016-01-05 2016-01-05File Name: B016GRL4P0
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A work of geniusBy JackWhile written in the style of mid-19th Century discourse. it is a work of genius. revealing the authors amazing breadth of concerns for humanity.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. OlmsteadBy David EngleA rich collection of Olmsteadian thinking!3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Inspiration for Earth Days goal of planting treesBy Robert C RossRead at the New York Society Library.The Earth Day Movement committed us to plant 7.8 billion trees for the Earth by 2020. As a strong believer in supporting the health of our planet. I am committed to help in the effort.That takes research. and a great place to start is with the writings of Frederick Law Olmsted.Central Park gave Olmsted his start. but there were many other projects. The National Association for Olmsted Parks has created a map showing the thousands of projects designed by the Olmsted family over a century-long span. By the early 1880s he had already designed Manhattanrsquo;s Riverside Park. Brooklynrsquo;s Prospect Park. Niagara Falls State Park. Chicagorsquo;s South Park system. and Detroitrsquo;s Belle Isle. Other commissions included numerous college campuses such as Cornell University. University of Berkeleyrsquo;s Piedmont Avenue. and the University of Maine. the management of the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove. and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.Olmsted was devoted to trees all of his life. Olmsted argued ldquo;that both the lsquo;air purifying valuersquo; and the lsquo;decorative motiversquo; of planting trees were subordinate to its paramount object: to offer a restorative. often unconscious. lsquo;solace and comfortrsquo; to town-strained minds.rdquo; See Frederick Law Olmsted: The Passion of a Public Artist (American Social Experience Series) by Melvin Kalfus.This extract from one of the papers in this fascinating collection makes the point even more clearly:There is an association between scenes and objects such as we are apt to call simple and natural. and such as touch us so quietly that we are hardly conscious of them.But this is to be said and said sadly: As a result of the massing of population in cities; of the centering of communication in cities; of the increasing resort to cities for recreation; of the tendency of fashions to rise in and go out from the wealthy class in cities; of the prominence given by the press to the latest matters of interest to the rich and the fashion-setting classes. and of the natural assumption that people of great wealth get that for themselves that is most enjoyablemdash;as a result of all thismdash;the population of our country is being rapidly educated to look for the gratification of taste. to find beauty. and to respect art. in forms not of the simple and natural class; in forms not to be used by the mass domestically. but only as a holiday and costly luxury. and with deference to men standing as a class apart from the mass.All this tends to our impoverishment through the obscuration. supercession and dissipation of tastes which. under our older national habits. and especially under our older village habits. were productive of a great deal of happiness. and a most important source of national wealth.And I submit that. both in the planting of village streets and in the planting of town parks. this tendency is rather to be resistedby sanitarians than to be enthusiastically pursued.***There are many other treasures here.Robert C. RossApril 2016
