Picture Windows: How the Suburbs Happened

Rating:
Summary: We're living here in Levittown.
Review: "Picture Windows" is a unique analysis of the suburban phenomenon, to be sure. Knowing that it was written by two New York city professors, I approached it with mild trepidation, expecting the familiar attitude of New Yorkers toward Long Islanders. And although that attitude - that Long Islaners, and suburbanites at large, are cretinous, culturally void ciphers - is pretty well suppressed here, Baxandall and Ewen fail to entirely conceal their snobbery, even as they admit to it. In many of the extracts from their interviews of Long Islanders, and in their analyses of these people's thoughts, one detects the faintest smirk of condescension.

Nonetheless, "Picture Windows" is an interesting read. In particular, the chapters about suburban life in the 1950s and the struggles surrounding integration are thoughtful and well written. The first sections cover, in sometimes excruciating detail, the political battles that arose pre- and postwar about who should house the unhoused. Baxandall and Ewen's coverage of the politics of housing can, at times, encourage faster page turning, as the desire to skip over long sections about congressional hearings grows. Perhaps one chapter on this would have sufficed. But the book does pick up speed and reawaken the reader's interest once this background material is exhausted.

For the most part, "Picture Windows" is a worthwhile book. The snobbery the authors question and seemingly decry is not absent, though it is cleverly hidden. One pictures Levittown, enclosed in an enormous glass cage, and the authors, standing at a safe distance taking notes and wondering what it is that makes these suburbanites tick. And some sections read like the phone book and could stand some trimming. Otherwise, for urbanites and suburbanites alike, "Picture Windows" is a useful study.

One final note: Either this book didn't pass through any kind of copy editing and proofreading stages at all, or those doing the jobs were watching the game and having a Bud at the time. It seemed not a page went by without some glaring grammatical or typographical error. Hopefully, the problems will be corrected in future printings.

Rating:
Summary: Basically a good read.
Review: Is living in the suburbs, the nice green lawns, the big houses, the picture perfect family life that seems to be accepted norm? Picture Windows may paint a completely different outlook and you might be surprise to read what they have to say.

Thinking the book was another liberal based, social agenda book, I discovered that the book details how suburbs have evolved over the lat 100 years and how stereo typical attitudes have perpetuated the myths I have come to accept.

The authors' breakdown the essence of the suburbia lifestyles showing you the evolution of the growth of communities away from the big city. They also explain how racial segregation, women's' liberation, integration and immigration have all played a part in the growth of suburbs.

The Authors' provide convincing arguments, and while I may not agree with some of the points, I found that they had provided facts to back up their claims. The book is an easy read and most enjoyable. You can check out Basic Books web site for more information.

Rating:
Summary: worth reading, but deeply flawed
Review: This book is interesting and worth reading because its subject is interesting. For too long, the suburbs have been treated largely as an object of satire or contempt. Baxandall and Ewen do a good job of contesting this stale perspective, but the book's focus on Long Island - and Levittown in particular, seems unnecessarily narrow, even parochial. They appear to be totally unaware of the similar Levitt developments - also named Levittown - in Pennyslvania and New Jersey. Surely, these might have provided the basis for some useful comparisons. Likewise, the authors appear oblivious to the landmark NJ Supreme Court "Mount Laurel" decisions of the 1970s and 1980s, (chronicled in David Kirp's much better book "Our Town"') which have had national implications for housing policy and which offers a direct challenge to Baxandall and Ewen's claim that developers have shown no interest in low income housing. The authors don't even make very good use of the apparently extensive interviews they conducted with Levittown residents of the 1940s-1960s era. They fail to convey any real sense of the rhythms and rituals of suburban life in this period. In short, this is not a bad book; just a very disappointing one.