A little bit of history...
In the 1950s, suburban communities started booming. The first mass-produced suburb - Levittown, New York - was built in 1951. The houses made in these suburbs were built quickly and cheaply, so they were affordable. After the GI Bill was passed in 1944, many young couples across the country were able to buy a home. Mass production of these houses resulted in uniformity of the design and "homogenous" suburban neighborhoods. Additionally, the decade after World War II had ended included a "baby boom," where millions of Americans began having families. New forms of media - in particular, the television - promoted a consumer culture, which created pressure to "keep up with the Joneses" with material purchases of items such as cars and appliances. This new media also created a new suburban ideal with the television show Leave it to Beaver: the white, nuclear family with specific gender roles.
