The Oil Drum: Local

The WWII generation chose affordable housing, quiet streets, comfort, good schools, open space

I disagree -- what they were after was something different -- something we are still striving for. The goal of the post-WW2 generation was Star Trek. It was total automation through technology in a sterile environment. Have you ever seen stairs on Star Trek? Does Spock ever go on walk down a quiet street after a few beers?

Similarities between suburbs/post-WW2 and Startrek:

• Alcohol: StarTrek has synthahol. Suburbs are void of dive bars.
• Travel: StarTrek has beaming up and down. And turbolifts. Suburbs have driving up and down and expressways.
• Entertainment: StarTrek has the Halodeck. Suburbs have TV. Society pretends that neither are used for anything more beyond than PG-13.
• Militarism: StarTrek presents us with an extremely militarized society -- everyone has ranks and all ships are well-armed. You see an arms race between the Klingons and Starfleet. The Klingons are just war-mongers, and our real goal is science. Kind of like the pretense of the cold war, eh?
• Personal space: Cushy, all furniture has rounded corners. And everyone has the exact same stuff. (This goes for both.)
• Identity through consumption: Captain Pickard likes Earle Grey. I like double-mocha-latte. Go to Wal-mart/replicator and get yourself something that says, "I'm Ricker and I'm kind of wild."

I'm being somewhat facetious here, but my point is real. How often do we think of Star Trek has being dystopian and bad? But really, the goals of the surburbs are the same goals as Star Trek -- and they are largely REALIZED goals.

Open space? Unless unreasonably sized yards is open space, you don't see that in the burbs? Affordable housing and good schools? Debatable. The real goal of suburbia is total automation of the human experience.