After World War Two the United States emerged as the only country to profit from the war. There were millions of soldiers returning home and the depression and war had stopped all home building in the 30’s and 40’s. There was a housing crisis which the government had to address. The U.S. Housing Act of 1949 allowed builders and developers to profit from large developments; in 1950 more than one million new homes were started (Ford 1974, p.162). The new developers took over all aspects of building these new developments, everything from streets and other infrastructure to the supplies themselves. The most famous of these developments was Levittown on Long Island, New York, built by William Levitt & Sons. 17,000 homes were built in this mass development with a total of 82,000 residents (Jackson 1985, p.235). These massive new suburbs were not connected with existing towns or cities; they needed to have the infrastructure and needs of the community built into them. They were very much an artificial town removed and sheltered from the rest of the world. Other suburbs would be built nearer to the center of the city and therefore more dependent on its services. Automobiles would become very important to suburbanites, for those close to the city and its services they were less important, for those in the new massive developments it was a necessity.

            Excess income lead to greater automobile ownership, which helped fuel the growth of suburbs. Along with housing there was a boom in auto sales, “In 1946 over 2 million cars were built; by 1953 over 6 million cars were built – a growth of 200%. Production remained between 5 and 7 million from 1953 through 1964, when another large boom occurred” (Schwartz 1976, p.107). The Interstate Highway Act was passed in 1956, so initially most suburbs were still within eight to ten miles of the city center (Ford 1974, p.166). Nonetheless, the automobile was critical for those that lived in the suburbs to reach their jobs, as well as shopping centers and other city services.

            A consumer driven economy based on the automobile industry would develop in the 1950’s. This type of economy helped fuel a movement towards an automobile dependent society. Rail traffic for both passenger and freight declined steadily since the introduction of the automobile. People wanted the freedom that a car gave them, they could travel wherever and whenever they chose to and could do so in private, “In Los Angeles most commuters go directly from their home to the company parking lot, and the majority travel alone; more than 70 percent of all weekday automobile trips are taken by a single driver” (Warner Jr. 2000, p.73). What was not understood at the time is that the car is an inefficient source of transportation. People did not realize that traffic congestion was going to be a huge problem in the future. In suburban areas people are required to drive, “In modern suburbia, where pedestrians, bicycles, and public transportation are rarely an option, the average household currently generates thirteen car trips per day” (Duany, Zyberk, Speck 2000, p.22). The car soon becomes such a dominant figure and the American public becomes so dependent on it that many aspects of the urban environment are then designed with the automobile in mind. The most efficient, and so-called safe, ways to direct traffic is not safe or convenient for pedestrians. Many places like the Franklin Arterial, which was built with the car in mind, become vacant of everything but automobile traffic. There is no sense of place. This affects the lives of every individual in the United States. People no longer walk to places for recreation, business or shopping and the suburban family finds itself secluded from the rest of society.   

The U.S. Housing Act of 1949 not only allowed developers to build inexpensively, but also provided for federally funded urban redevelopment. The Act reads, “To establish a national housing objective and the policy to be followed in the attainment thereof, to provide Federal aid to assist slum-clearance projects and low-rent public housing projects initiated by local agencies, to provide for financial assistance by the Secretary of Agriculture for farm housing, and for other purposes…” (Chudacoff 1994, p.352). This is the beginning of Urban renewal in America. Urban renewal was not without its problems though. The legislation and administration of urban renewal was complex, with many different organizations involved. The Urban Renewal Administration was under control of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, therefore making it difficult to execute necessary decisions. Also other departments that affected urban renewal were not subject to either the URA or the HHFA, “The Bureau of Public Roads, the Veterans Administration, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare all carry on activities with a direct impact on urban development, and the programs of a number of other federal agencies have a lesser degree of impact on it…” (Chudacoff 1994, p.362). The lack of coordination of the administration of urban renewal was not the greatest problem though. Urban renewal did not take into consideration of the community as a whole, “The crux of the matter is that urban renewal cannot properly be considered as affecting only a community, a neighborhood or a locality, in other words, parts of much larger wholes. The effects of slum clearance and urban redevelopment-and of conservation and rehabilitation-reach far beyond the renewal area themselves and touch the entire urban region of which they are a part. The impact of slums and redeveloped areas on the flight to the suburbs is manifestly a direct one. The economics of the whole urban complex are involved in every renewal project” (Chudacoff 1994, p.362). The difficulties and lack of success in urban renewal helps precipitate movement towards the suburbs, so there is not only a pull factor, that being the attraction of new inexpensive single-family homes, but a push factor, that being urban decay and higher prices. It was cheaper to purchase a new home in the suburbs than it was to renovate an old one.