The Birth of the Suburbs Timeline

1. The Birth of the Suburbs Timeline RAISE A FAMILY END OF WW II CARS AND ROADS FORMATION of SUBDIVISIONS GI BILL SOURCES Click for Questions

2. ENDOFWAR • After WW2 the depression was something of the past. War-time industry allowed Americans , with money, to travel out of crowded cities and find other land to build homes. • In order to meet the demands of a growing economic boom, the state made up the GI Bill of Rights. • Funding for new highways in America were put on hold during World War II. After the war , Congress started funding for highways from cities to suburbs

3. GI BILL • GI Bill: a bill that provided college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans as well as one year of unemployment compensation. It also provided many different types of loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses. • Most importantly, the GI Bill was created because of a needed educated class of people to think of new atomic weapons and scientific advances to be ahead of the Soviets during the Cold War. • With loans that the veterans got from the bill, many moved out of cities to the booming creation of the suburbs.

4. Cars and roads • With the invention of the automobile, people could live in suburbs and still keep their jobs in the city. • Interstate Highway System greatly expanded the nation’s highway systems. (click hyperlink to learn more about the Interstate Highway System) http://ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1394&nm=Interstate-Highway-Act-of-1956 • The sub-urbanization allowed freeway development. Freeway construction also enabled for a transfer of production particularly in agriculture, because produce could be shipped with greater efficiency state- and nationwide. 

5. Formation of subdivisions • William Levitt had an idea to build communities that represented little towns. • It was ideal because people owned their own home, cooked with their own appliances, and mowed their own lawn. • Wasn’t expensive either, it took $100 to put a down payment on a Levittown home. • Middle class could afford the houses but lower class people such as: African Americans had to stay in the cities where it was cheaper. Click picture to watch a video on: A CITY IS BORN LEVITTOWN, PA 1953 BUILDING OF A HOUSE IN 40 seconds

6. RAISE FAMILY • With the creation of suburbs, couples had a good surrounding to start a family. • Houses had backyards for kids to play in and parents didn’t have to worry as much about their kids running off in a big city. • Communities began to grow in suburbs and everyone knew everyone. Locking your doors became a habit only for people living in cities. • Families who owned businesses in the cities moved their family and business to suburbs. This was convenient because people didn’t have to travel to the city whenever they needed something.

7. Questions Birth of the Suburbs

8. Works Cited "Interstate Highway System: Later Road Development: Wisconsin History Explorer of the." Wisconsin Historical Society. Web. 18 Feb. 2010. <http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/archstories/late_roads/interstate_system.asp>. "1951: Levittown." The Capital Century -- 100 stories of New Jersey history. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. <http://www.capitalcentury.com/1951.html>. "California during the 1950s and 1960s - Life in the 1950." Fifties Sixties Fashion, TV, Movies, Hair, Food, Cars, 50's 60's Facts and History about 1950's and 1960's - Clip Art and Information. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. <http://www.loti.com/fifties_history/social_and_economic_shifts.htm>. "Interstate Highway Act of 1956 - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio Historical Society." Ohio History Central - An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History - Ohio Historical Society. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. <http://ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1394&nm=Interstate-Highway-Act-of-1956>.