Historically, as more people poured into cities from farms to find work, the quality of city life often diminished. I presume that this led people with means in the Western World to prefer to live outside the city. They could acquire more "elbow room" by moving away from the city core, but they could still travel into town to do business or enjoy various cultural offerings.
After industrialization, extensive mass production encouraged a lifestyle of heavy consumerism, and the improvement of rail and road transportation facilitated the creation of great swatches of land for suburban housing. This planning concept was a step up, a way for middle-class and aspiring middle-class folks to acquire their own houses--so instrumental to raising a family and enjoying the fruits of a consumer society.
Ironically, living in the suburbs became far less appealing with so many look-alike houses built and sold by large companies and the dissolution of community identity through different lifestyle trends shaped by television and then the internet.
"(S)uburbia" is a work that points to a conceptual shift regarding these neighborhoods: from a place to find your dreams to where your dreams may die if you don't get out.
Suppose, just suppose, we could someday afford to live someplace nice in the heart of the city!
