Suburbia: immediately, rows of monotonous, white-picket fenced homes with cars parked in the driveway and families sitting around dinner tables appear in the reader’s mind. Why does this image instantaneously come to mind upon hearing the word suburbia? The media, arguably, holds the power to alter how people view the world around them, both, present and past; it is the media that has painted this image repeatedly over a six, perhaps longer, decade time span on television and in films causing it to become synonymously associated with suburbia. Both, Lívia Szélpál’s “Images of the American Suburbia” (2012) and Timotheus Vermeulen’s “Introduction: Scenes from the Suburbs” (2014) examine suburbia in film. Although both articles observe how the …show more content…
Through the analysis of various American films, Szélpál attempts to differentiate between suburbia in reality and the accepted perception of suburbia, which she believes is molded by the media (Szélpál). She describes American Beauty as a “caricature of suburban life” and states that Stepford Wives “satirizes” suburbia (Szélpál). The theatricality in both of these movies significantly alters one’s perception of the suburbs. However, Vermeulen refutes this claim in his argument that historical scholars –a category, I believe, he would classify Szélpál under—find suburbia cliché because of their linear, “selective” view; that such studies “do not fundamentally deepen our understanding. They are not concerned with demonstrating that the standard view is also reductive” (Vermeulen 2). I disagree with his belief that directors should not be expected to forsake artistic freedom for the sake of historical accuracy. In my opinion, true artistry is painting a picture that no one has seen before; not plagiarizing by adding a different story to the same underlying theme, and titling it as one’s own artistic vision. Neither “caricaturizing” nor “satirizing” deepens one’s understanding of
This major development, as described in Lynn Spiegel's article "The Suburban Home Companion", was largely driven by the concept of suburbia as a safe, clean environment (free from "undesirables" such as blacks and lower-income families) in which families could experience both an increased private and community life. This separation, Spiegel says, is what opened the opportunity for TV success. As nuclear suburban families desired to experience the "outside" world (including travel, unusual voyages etc.), they were also trapped in a homogenous communities where life was mundane, and immense pressure was put on each family in these "fair tale" towns to keep up with, and out-do, next door neighbours, and produce a consistently stable and satisfied appearance.
Several works we have read thus far have criticized the prosperity of American suburbia. Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus, and an excerpt from Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poem "A Coney Island of the Mind" all pass judgement on the denizens of the middle-class and the materialism in which they surround themselves. However, each work does not make the same analysis, as the stories are told from different viewpoints.
Hollywood is not simply a point on a map; it is a representation of the human experience. As with any other location, though, Hollywood’s history can be traced and analyzed up to present day. In 1887, Harvey Henderson Wilcox established a 120-acre ranch in an area northwest of Los Angeles, naming it “Hollywood” (Basinger 15). From then on, Hollywood grew from one man’s family to over 5,000 people in 1910. By then, residents around the ranch incorporated it as a municipality, using the name Hollywood for their village. While they voted to become part of the Los Angeles district, their village was also attracting motion-picture companies drawn in by the diverse geography of the mountains and oceanside (15). The Los Angeles area continues to flourish, now containing over nine million people, an overwhelming statistic compared to Wilcox’s original, family unit (U.S. Census Bureau 1). However, these facts only s...
America experienced an explosive period of suburbanization after World War II. The suburban “home represents a source of meaning and security” (May 24) for those seeking refuge and comfort after a tumultuous time of war. Among those migrating from the cities to the suburbs were middle-class African Americans, who sought a suburban life that both “express[ed] and reinforce[d] their newly won social position.” (Wiese 101) However, this middle-class migration from urban areas left behind working class African Americans such as the Younger family of Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play “A Raisin in the Sun.”
“When the Movies Moved to the Suburbs.” The New York Times. Janet Maslin, 29 Oct. 2011.
This investigation is based on the assumption that gentrification with all its troubles can’t be prevented and is an inherent part of every city. What are the negative impacts of gentrification? What are the underlying mechanisms that feed these impacts? What drives these mechanisms? What would be an alternative scenario?
Suburbanization, roots of the “American dream.” A house occupied by a man and woman and their three kids; the man is the breadwinner, and the woman is the stay-at-home wife. The husband would leave the house to go to work while the wife happily stay at home to cook, clean, and care for the kids. This was the imagine that were painted for consumers after World War II. This was how success was defined. However, at the other end of rainbow was not a pot of gold. Women were angry and frustrated from being confined in their homes all day. Furthermore, African Americans were excluded from this “picture perfect” dream when the government created “red lining” and made it impossible for people of color to get a house loan. The impact of suburban growth
Spigel, Lynn. 2001 Welcome to the dreamhouse : popular media and postwar suburbs / Lynn Spigel Duke University Press, Durham, N.C. :
In “The End of Suburbia”, the main purpose of the documentary is to explain the oil crisis as we are nearing the oil peak, and had reach the maximum oil supply in the world. That suburbs will likely fail because of this crisis. The documentary the main point they are trying to state, is that people in America cannot continue living the way, they do in Suburbs. The cost of maintaining that life style, is extremely expensive and not energy efficient, using far too much oil to be considered maintainable.
There are many examples of cities reforming itself over time, one significant example is Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. More than a hundred years after the discovery of gold that drew thousands of migrants to Vancouver, the city has changed a lot, and so does one of its oldest community: Downtown Eastside. Began as a small town for workers that migrants frequently, after these workers moved away with all the money they have made, Downtown Eastside faced many hardships and changes. As a city, Vancouver gave much support to improve the area’s living quality and economics, known as a process called gentrification. But is this process really benefiting everyone living in Downtown Eastside? The answer is no. Gentrification towards DTES(Downtown Eastside) did not benefit the all the inhabitants of the area. Reasons are the new rent price of the area is much higher than before the gentrification, new businesses are not community-minded, and the old culture and lifestyle of the DTES is getting erased by the new residents.
Despite general declining rates of morbidity and mortality in the United States over the past century, African-Americans still find themselves at a health disadvantage and account for more than 40% of diagnosed cases of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, obesity and cancer . Studies within the fields of sociology and public health have directed their focus towards individual-level determinants of health such as socio-economic status and individual health behaviors. However, there has been insufficient attention to how and why place and neighborhood contribute to racial/ethnic health disparities. This analysis examines the health implication of racial segregation as a result of gentrification on African Americans, explores systems of segregation measurement, and proposes ways to move beyond traditional public health and health care approaches to impact relevant policy.
The Suburbanization of the United States. New York. Oxford University Press, 1985. Lemann, Nicholas. The.. The Promised Land.
In believing that “today’s cities play a different economic role than they did in the past,” Kotkin argues that “At best, Jacobs’s compelling portrait from 1961 is something of an anachronism,” meaning that her lessons are out of place in the current era (Kotkin). Kotkin pulls in details from researcher Gary Evans saying, “Families in urban apartments today… generally have far weaker networks of neighbors than their suburban counterpart, a generally more stressful home life, and significantly less ‘social support’” (Kotkin). Kotkin further implies that Jacobs is outdated when quoting her mentioning how suburbs are not a good place to bring up children (Kotkin). Today the general consensus is that cities are not a safe place to raise a family and that the city is just as stepping stone towards career advancement that will eventually lead a person to a domesticated suburbia lifestyle (Kotkin). “Jacobs… instinctively hated where families were in fact headed: the suburbs” claiming that “neighborhoods like her own... [were] ideal places where locals watched out for each other” (Kotkin). Many families flee cities in hopes of finding a safer community for their children. “[I]n 2011 children 5-14 constitute about seven percent in core districts… [which is] roughly half the level
Gentrification is a highly important topic that has not only been occurring all over the United States, but especially closer than we may have thought. San Francisco is home to hundreds of thousands of people who have been a part of how amazing this city has become. San Francisco is one of the most visited places in the world with many of its famous landmarks, endless opportunities not only for daytime fun but also has an amazing nightlife that people cannot get enough of. People come for a great time and could not be done without the help of the people who have grown up to experience and love this city for what it truly is. The cost of living in such an important city has definitely had its affect of lower income San Francisco residents. For decades we have seen changes occurring in parts of San Francisco where minorities live. We have seen this in Chinatown, SOMA, Fillmore district, and especially the Mission district.
Of the many problems affecting urban communities, both locally and abroad, there is one issue in particular, that has been victimizing the impoverished within urban communities for nearly a century; that would be the problem of gentrification. Gentrification is a word used to describe the process by which urban communities are coerced into adopting improvements respective to housing, businesses, and general presentation. Usually hidden behind less abrasive, or less stigmatized terms such as; “urban renewal” or “community revitalization” what the process of gentrification attempts to do, is remove all undesirable elements from a particular community or neighborhood, in favor of commercial and residential enhancements designed to improve both the function and aesthetic appeal of that particular community. The purpose of this paper is to make the reader aware about the significance of process of gentrification and its underlying impact over the community and the community participation.