So Long City, Hello Suburbs!
Photo of women and kids from the National Archives of Canada Collection.
Suburban living: 'It's perfect'
Broadcast Date: April 14, 1963
With cheap mortgages and country air, three Canadian housewives can't find much wrong with living in the suburbs. In this 1963 CBC Radio clip, few complaints are heard about the row-housed living: "You've got room for the children to play without having to worry about the traffic. And a large backyard." There's just one concern: A mother says she's always having to taxi her children around. But besides the transportation issue, "it's perfect."Suburban living: 'It's perfect'
• In 1954, John Gray, writing in Maclean's, referred to suburban "strawberry boxes and ranch-style bungalows." He also told an absurd story about a suburbanite repainting a vacationing neighbour's house because he didn't think the nearby residence went well with the rest of the houses on the block.
• Don Mills developer E.P. Taylor enforced his own colour restrictions. For example, he banned the use of blue shingles.
• Other postwar building regulations included the use of drywall, concrete and siding.
• These regulations were employed not because they were better, but because they were cheaper.
• Open-concept houses also became the norm in suburbia. This style of housing led to the birth of the breakfast nook and eat-in kitchen.
• Because suburban husbands often drove the family car to work, suburban women spent more time in the house. As a result, home developers began marketing to women.
• For the first time, builders displayed gussied-up model kitchens because they thought women were accustomed to bright and fancy department stores displays.
• The "Do It Yourself" (DIY) trend, a term coined in 1952 by Time magazine, took root during the suburban boom.
• In his book Creeping Conformity Richard Harris talks about DIY "shell" houses. With this type of housing, just the bare interior was finished. Frugal home buyers purchased cheaper shell houses and finished the interior themselves. Builders also benefited from this trend; according to Harris, shell housing expanded the client base of Canadian builders.
Suburban living: 'It's perfect'
Medium: Radio
Program: Citizens' Forum
Broadcast Date: April 14, 1963
Guest(s): Mrs. Boyd, Mrs. Lord, Mrs. Muddyman
Reporter: Neil Harris
Duration: 3:12
Photo: National Archives of Canada Collection
Last updated:
May 21, 2008
Suburban living: 'It's perfect'.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: May 21, 2008.
[Page consulted on Feb. 14, 2012.]