Post-WWII Growth
After WWII, the United States entered a “Golden Age,” as the economy grew substantially and Americans experienced unprecedented prosperity.
After World War II, the United States entered an era of unprecedented economic prosperity. The manufacturing industry boomed, and new loan programs gave many Americans the resources they needed to buy cars and single-family homes. Simultaneously, the rapid expansion of America’s roads through substantial infrastructure investment granted access to previously unreachable areas at the edge of cities. Compared to the inner-city, this new land was cheaper and more spacious. These developments represent the birth of the American suburbs, shifting the United States into an urban metropolis dominated by single-family homes, malls, and cars. This period is the beginning of the vast expanse of cities’ footprints today or urban sprawl.
