| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.4

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 176 words from this article are provided below; about 370 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820–2000. By Dolores Hayden. (New York: Pantheon, 2003. xiv, 318 pp. $26.00, ISBN 0-375-42128-9.)

Almost as noteworthy as the massive suburban development of the twentieth century has been the massive amount of literature critical of that development. Especially since 1945, suburbia has been a favorite target for academic authors, many of whom, such as Dolores Hayden, live in the suburbs. Look-alike houses, highway-oriented fast-food and motel franchises, soulless malls and office parks, gridlocked traffic, enslavement to the automobile, and the bulldozing of nature are all much-noted signs of the malady that supposedly has decimated metropolitan America in the second half of the twentieth century. Yet amid all the academic criticism, Americans have invested in ever-larger suburban houses, flocked to the Mall of America, made big-box Wal-Mart the nation's largest retailer, and not only eschewed the streetcar and the bus but also traded in their fuel-efficient compact cars for oversized sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Academic rhetoric and consumer cash have headed in opposite directions.

. . .

There are about 370 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.