While the suburbs of the 1950s came out of the familiar demographic and economic changes, the first suburbs emerged on the American landscape much earlier and for different reasons. Crabgrass Frontier is written to remind us that as long as there have been modern cities, people have tried to live away from the chaos and confusion found in the urban centers. Jackson understands that Americans are not the only culture to seek residential refuge from its cities, he believes the American ideal of suburban living is unique. Crabgrass Frontier is not only a sweeping history of suburbanization, but it also considers the suburbs impact on the geographical and demographic decentralization of the United States. To offer a definition of the suburb is to attempt the nearly impossible as it requires fluid considerations of time, space, and technology.
Demographers define suburbs based on either residential density or commuting patterns.
According to the United States Bureau of the Census, a suburb is an area from which a large residential population commutes to a nearby city to work. Whatever definition one accepts, there is a risk that a suburb somewhere will be neglected or mislabeled as a city. Furthermore, when comparing suburbs to cities, the task becomes even more difficult. Although surrounded by Los Angeles, Beverly Hills is considered a suburb while all 850 square miles of Jacksonville, Florida are technically urban despite its areas of agriculture, swamps, and open spaces. Instead of fighting semantics, Crabgrass Frontier concentrates on the suburb s different thematic constructions and its evolution through time.