In the post WWII era, Levittown was a poster child for what was to become the suburban sprawl typifying almost every urban area today. William Levitt, himself a Naval Seebee, capitalized on the boom of demand for housing. GI's were returning from the war and taking advantage of FHA-VA loans for houses. He built the first image of cookie-cutter houses forming suburbia.
Many of the typical habits of suburban living, they can be traced back to Levittown. In Levittown, initially the houses were built toward the back of the lot, to maximize the front yard. This quickly changed. Soon houses were being built toward the front of the lot, close to the street, to maximize the back yard space. This also, was the inception of the community swimming pool. It was a cheap amenity. The labor was already there to pour foundations, and the plumbers were already there for the houses as well. Why not put in a pool while they were at it?
In the post-war boom of babies and economic prosperity, there was a need to create some sort of individuality. Out of this post-war utopia also came the wonderful tradition of keeping up with the Jonses'. There was an incessant need to upgrade and expand these 800 square foot houses. After all, famlies were growing! Thus the trend started to trade up in houses and cars alike. Oddly enough, this trend continues today.
The truth is though, I find all of this rather odd. Today I drove to work in a 10 or 11 year old Subaru Outback given to me by my parents a little over a year ago now. It is 10 or 11 years old depending on which half of the car you are talking about. After all it is a 1996 & 1997. My mother bought the car from a couple of guys who bought totaled cars and put them together as one again. It has a salvage title and is worth very little.
Sitting at the stoplight in my 10 or 11 year old car, I looked over at the woman driving her brand spankin' new immaculate Cadillac. I have no clue what the model is, other than it is nothing more than a re-branded Suburban. The differience is this one costs $60,000 and says Cadillac on it. At four dollars per gallon and typically holding just under 50 gallons, this woman gets the added luxury of filling up this beast on a regular basis to the tune of just under $200. This is not to mention the insurance and possible taxes on this creature.
My Subie, I did have to put $3,200 into it after getting it to make it road worthy. Looking over at this black bohemith sitting next to me at the light, I could not help but think, "Wow, the joke is on her." After all, at the end of the day, her Cadillac does the same thing my Subie does, it gets me from point A to point B.
I then wondered, why do people feel so compelled to do this, to chase the golden ring and aspire toward being as astuntacious as possible? It then occurred to me, it is the American Dream still manifesting itself. It is the desire to have a good job, own a house, drive a nice car and be upwardly mobile, distinguishing oneself from the Jonses' by out-upwardly-mobling them with the shiniest and most opulent goodies possible. Personally though, I like my Subie.
