EZ Content Blueprint
Twentieth Century Suburbs

STANDARDS:

The material in this unit may be used to address the following Social Studies Standards:

H-1D-E2	H-1A-E3	H-1B-M14
H-1A-M4	H-1B-H11

BACKGROUND:

The tendency of wealthy and middle class families to build homes in suburbs rather than in more urban areas continued into the twentieth century.

In the 1920s, suburban growth doubled that seen in center cities; by 1930 seventeen million people lived in American suburbs.

EARLY 20TH CENTURY SUBURBAN DEVELOPMENT PATTERN:

Developers purchased large tracts of land, which they subdivided into lots. They also installed streets and services such as sewers.

Developers rarely built houses themselves. They either sold individual lots to potential homeowners or sold a number of lots to speculative builders who constructed a few houses at a time.

Some individuals who purchased undeveloped lots built architect-designed homes. Others built ready-cut homes from kits or used plans from pattern books, which still remained extremely popular.

More prosperous homeowners purchased multiple lots in order to construct larger homes; others placed smaller houses on relatively small lots.

Speculative builders tended to construct similar (and sometimes identical) homes. Although some of these were inexpensive and poorly built, others have stood the test of time and contribute to the variety and character of their neighborhoods.

IMPACT OF THE AUTOMOBILE:

Once it became available to the middle class, the automobile impacted the suburb in several ways:

RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS AND ZONING:

Restrictive covenants were formal binding agreements written into property deeds. When applied to subdivisions, restrictive covenants specified lot sizes and required that houses meet certain stylistic and quality standards. They often also prohibited certain groups (i.e., ethnic groups and/or lower class working families) from moving into an area. Restrictive covenants were considered normal between the 1920s and 1940s and were advertised by developers as an asset to their communities. Today discriminatory covenants are unlawful.

Zoning controls the use to which a property can be put and generally aims to prevent single family homes from having businesses or light/heavy industrial enterprises as close neighbors. Los Angeles adopted the first zoning law in 1909. Zoning was particularly popular in the 1920s; and by 1930, ordinances existed in 981 communities scattered throughout the country.