Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-11-08
This Is the tert OF the "Sub,

This Is the teri OF the Sub
urbiG In America" broadcast:
ANNOUNCER: Since the end Of
World War II more and more
people have been moving out of
American cities-attracted by the
idea Of owning their own houses
and having more space In which
to live and raise their children.
Now some one million two hun
dred thousand people move each
year to these communities out
side the cities-communities that
have become known by and typi-
ned by one word: Suburbia. Be-
cause so many people are making
this change in their way of living,
the industries, the customs and
even the appearance of the United
States are changing too. Here.
this phenomenon. Today he will
tell you about the face of
suburbia:
VOICE: 1t was a foggy spring
afternoon several years after the
end Of World War II. Part way
out on Long Island, about 80 miles
from New York City, a frantic
young man with a bag of'groceries
in his arms stumbled along
through strange scene ALI
around him, as far as he could see,
stretched rows and rows of houses.
All were built in exactly the same
style with a peaked roof and a
window at either side of the front
door. All were brand new. AL rose
out Of q huge, nat plain Of mud.
Weary and exhausted, the young
man knocked on the door of one
of the houses and gasped out to
the man who opened it, "Azalea
lane-Number 43. I can't find it.
My wife and baby are there all
alone. We just moved In this
morning and went out to get
some food. I've been trying to find
my way back all afternoon.
A Sympathetic Neighbor
His neighhor was sympathetic
but unhelpful. Like everyone else
he had just moved into his house.
Was there a street sign up yet?
he inquired. "No street signs, no
street lights, no sidewalks" the
young man moaned. my own
house and I'm never going to find
it again!" Just then the neighbours
son spoke up and said that he
had played with a boy who lived
on Azalea lane. II think you fol-
low our road down to the fourth
lane. Then turn Left he said.
Filled with hope, the young
man rushed down four streets,
turned left, counted up three
houses on the right and gave an
excited cry. Standing in the win
dow with her baby in her arms
was his wife, anxiously looking
out for him. He had found mis-
home at last in an entirely new
community, neither city nor
country, where everything was
freshly created and there was no
history nor social tradition. Amer
leans have come to call such
place Suburbia, which-by now
will have a history of perhaps
more than a decade, and decided
set of social traditions.
.Suburbia came into existence
after World War II. Before
then, most American cities nad
suburbs made up of summer homes
or houses for well-to-do families
or in which people retired to live
their later years of life. But when
the war ended, millions of vet
Grams came home, married ard
needed a place to live close by
cities where jobs were plentiful
Because he could earn good wages
and because the Government pro-
vided him with generous loans,
the veteran could think of his first
home, not as a couple of cell-like
rooms in an apartment house, out
in the classic dream of a place of
his own: that is, a house, a piece
of land, trees and room enough to
make a garden. With so many
veterans wanting to buy houses
the problem was where and how
soon could such a quantity be
constructed.
The solution was the mass pro-
duction of homes. Builders de-
signed the simple, functional
houses, suitable for the needs of
young couples just starting fam
lilies. Next they bought land, usu-
ally pastures or other cleared
spaces, located usually about an
hour away by car and train from
the city. Using gigantic construc-
ton equipment, the builders
plowed out roads, installed water