by such social characteristics as a polarization of a
city’s various communities, racial tensions, urban
decay, and a growing crime rate. In tandem with
these social patterns, American cities saw trends
that included depopulation, deterioration of cen-
tral housing stock, and a migration of people and
jobs out of central business districts.
Background Postwar America saw much social
change. As soldiers returned home from the battle-
front, America had a newfound wealth. Two major
social shifts in postwar America directly affected fu-
ture urban change: The first was America’s increas-
ing dependence on the automobile, and the second
was suburbanization.
Postwar America demanded more cars, often-
times more than one vehicle per family—something
theretofore unheard of. Further, white America was
increasingly moving out of center cities and into new
communities outside the boundaries of cities, creat-
ing suburbs. While there had indeed been suburbs
previous to this time, they were not a norm. Thus
America became at once more separated in living
patterns along racial and ethnic lines and more sep-
arated along lines of accessibility to resources, with
transportation being one point of access to these re-
sources.
Suburban lifestyle and community structures were
different in several ways from lifestyles and commu-
nity structures that America had known previously.
There was an increasing reliance not only on the au-
tomobile but also on a lifestyle that revolved around
the convenience of the car. In part this included ar-
chitecture and how new communities were planned.
Suburbs saw the genesis of services that were all
done from the convenience of the car, including eat-
ing, banking, watching movies, and dry-cleaning
clothes.
This suburban lifestyle stood in stark contrast to
the urban lifestyle, which in many core ways remained
unchanged. Those living in city centers tended to still
rely on public transportation or to walk. They also
tended to live in more densely packed habitations,
such as in tenement buildings or apartment build-
ings, which differed from the increasing suburban
norm of two people or a family living to one house
with a yard and a garage for the car.
City governments and the federal government of
the 1940’s to the early 1970’s responded to these tre-
mendous changes by implementing various urban
renewal programs. The federal government enacted
the Housing Act of 1949, which began a process of
wholesale demolition of urban neighborhoods that
were deemed “slums.” Slum removal was also known
under the popular moniker “urban renewal.” Slums
were increasing in number and size: They were char-
acterized by an increasing concentration of poor
nonwhites and deterioration of this central-city hous-
ing stock.
The Housing Act of 1949 and urban renewal were
accompanied by the growth of the interstate high-
way system. With Americans’ increasing reliance on
the car, the federal government spent millions of
dollars on the development of highway systems that
cut through cities and traversed states, connecting
America from coast to coast, from north to south.
Most of the country’s interstate highway system was
completed between 1960 and 1990.The Situation in the 1980’s By the 1980’s, American
city centers had changed drastically from their pre-
war population density, demographics, and commu-
nity structures. Many city centers suffered from de-
caying neighborhoods, eroded tax bases, increasing
crime rates, and decreasing city services. The polar-
ization of city and suburb along lines of race and
class was often a constant across urban centers. City
governments, community groups, and private com-
panies struggled to grapple with these realities of ur-
ban America. One of the most common strategies
for dealing with the situation became the gentrifica-
tion of central-city neighborhoods. Numerous gen-
trification projects were undertaken during the de-
cade, and much of urban America was reimagined.
Gentrification relies on changing the character
of city centers and changing the use of land and
properties. It also, by nature, includes shifts in ur-
ban populations within neighborhoods. These same
neighborhoods often are adjacent to the financial
heart of many cities, thus making them attractive for
redevelopment.
One of the goals of gentrification projects is the
revitalization of commercial and housing stock, thus
increasing its value and resale price. In the process
of gentrification, central business districts replace
their declining manufacturing and retail sectors with
all-new service sectors that usually cater to white-
collar workers. Gentrification projects tend to in-
volve major commercial restoration of historic down-
town neighborhoods and sites. These projects areThe Eighties in America Gentrification 409