Questions for Class Discussion

1. To what extent was the migration to suburbia a flight from the city and its problems, and to what extent was it a flight to a vision of a new pastoral way of life?
   
   
2. Were the new problems that accompanied the early growth of suburbia, e.g., traffic congestion, pollution, racial segregation, and the confinement of women to domestic roles a result of the suburban migration itself? Or would they have come to the fore even if most postwar Americans had continued to live in central cities?
   
   

Suggested Student Exercises

• Examine the maps of four or five major metropolitan areas of the United States to discover the geographical relations of central cities to suburbs. Looking at maps over the course of several decades (e.g., from 1950, 1965, 1980, and 1995), examine the growth of suburban settlement patterns, and consider their relation to patterns of railroads, highways, and mass transit in areas where it has a prominent role (e.g., Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco).
  
  
• Select a dozen or more major American corporations, and determine the location of their corporate headquarters in relation to central cities and suburbs. Consider the extent to which the traditional pattern of live in the suburbs, work in the city has been altered in some metropolitan areas, and to what extent it remains in place.