Borderland: Origins of the American Suburb, 1820-1939 [Paperback]

Professor John R. Stilgoe (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Suburbia, claims Stilgoe, is a catch-all term that misleadingly lumps together all sorts of regionsscruffy frontier settlements, villages that sprang up along well-traveled roads, planned communities, towns built on their accessibility via horsecar and, later, streetcar. This leisurely foray into the history of U.S. suburbs shows that 19th and early 20th century Americans fled the cities for a wide variety of reasons. For the genteel, Shaker Heights, eight miles east of Cleveland, offered nostalgic appeal combined with natural beauty and urban conve nience. But the railroad and steamboat opened up the hinterlands around New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and elsewhere to the lower and middle classes. Harvard professor Stilgoe concentrates here on visual topographyEnglish-style cottages, commuter platforms, porches, woodlands, antiquing. By combing rural journals, local newspapers, diaries, real estate ads and period drawings, his pleasantly illustrated ramble fills in the historical backdrop of the post-WW II mass exodus from urban decay.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Stilgoe deals with one American ideal, that of living in a carefully arranged natural setting, in the appearance of simple country lifean ideal that only the rich can afford. Winding roads, lots of trees, privacy, and safe homogeneity define these suburbs. Women busy themselves with horticulture, shopping, and village improvement. Men commute to work and play at being gentleman farmers. Stilgoe describes "commuter country" with abundant illustrations. While his book makes pleasant reading, it fails to consider the implications for American society: the effect of such suburbs on cities; and on women and children who don't fit the stereotype. Mary Drake McFeely, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Athens
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 367 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (July 25, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300048661
• ISBN-13: 978-0300048667
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #726,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Stilgoe; draws parallels that witness our current cultural placement, September 15, 2009

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This review is from: Borderland: Origins of the American Suburb, 1820-1939 (Paperback)

There is not a Stilgoe book that should not be read across the board by every segment of our populace. Stilgoe discusses what it means to be part of a lineage which is our country; the united states, but places us in a context that ties us as co-joined twin with our forgotten european family. I am always amazed at what Stilgoe encompasses between the first and last pages. simply amazing...