Westchester The American Suburb

Today, more than half of Americans live in suburbs. A far cry from the crabgrass frontier of modest bedroom communities built for urban strivers, todays sprawling, self-contained suburbs define our cultural landscape.This fascinating book chroniclesin word and imagesthe history, development, and character of suburban America with an illuminating account of one of its signature places: Westchester, New York.Designed as a companion to a major exhibition at The Hudson River Museum, the book brings together original essays by leading historians and other experts, and a rich selection of photographs, paintings, maps, ephemera, and other images that track more than century of growth, development, and change. The essays explore key themes that run through Westchesters legacy: the new transportation grids that make all suburbs possible, the suburban house as a new focal point for family life, the creation of a new domesticity, consumerism and community, architecture and nature. Also covered is the representation of suburban life in film, literature, art, photography, and the media. From Washington Irvings Sunnyside home built in 1830 to the virtual New Rochelle home of The Dick Van Dyke Shows Rob and Laura Petrie, Westchester has been the iconic American suburbloved and hated, desired and abandoned. Like the exhibition whose name it shares, this book is not just a testimony to a time gone bybut a vivid and provocative encounter with the porches, patios, and parkways that define the American dream.Jackson, Kenneth T. is the author of 'Westchester The American Suburb', published 2006 under ISBN 9780823225934 and ISBN 0823225933.