Since the 1920s, the United States has seen a dramatic reversal in living patterns, with a majority of Americans now residing in suburbs. This mass emigration from cities is one of the most fundamental social and geographical transformations in recent US history. Suburbanization has not only produced a distinct physical environment it has become a major defining force in the construction of twentieth-century American culture.

Employing over 200 primary sources, illustrations, and critical essays, The Suburb Reader documents the rise of North American...