Bourgeois Nightmares: Suburbia, 1870-1930

by Robert M. Fogelson

The quintessential American suburbs, with their gracious single-family homes, large green lawns, and leaf-shaded streets, reflected not only residents’ dreams but nightmares, not only hopes but fears: fear of others, of racial minorities and lowincome groups, fear of themselves, fear of the market, and, above all, fear of change. These fears, and the restrictive covenants that embodied them, are the subject of Robert M. Fogelson’s fascinating new book.As Fogelson reveals, suburban subdividers attempted to cope with the deep-seated fears of unwanted change, especially the encroachment of “undesirable” people and activities, by imposing a wide range of restrictions on the lots. These restrictions ranged from mandating minimum costs and architectural styles for the houses to forbidding the owners to sell or lease their property to any member of a host of racial, ethnic, and religious groups. These restrictions, many of which are still commonly employed, tell us as much about the complexities of American society today as about its complexities a century ago.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Sociology

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

A specialist in urban American history, Robert M. Fogelson is professor emeritus in history and urban studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he taught from 1968 until his retirement. He earned a B.A. from Columbia University in 1958 and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1964.

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fogelson argued that American suburbs developed as a way for professional middle classes to tightly control the neighborhoods they lived in order to escape industrial urbanism that they had helped create. In order to accomplish this, over the course of the 19th century into the early 20th century, copied English landed aristocracy in subdividing up land and placing high restrictions on class, race, ethnicity, and aesthetics of who and how one could live in these new developments. People were restricted from selling to “undesirables”, a constant refrain. Though the restrictions began to loosen in the 20th century, after WWI they tightened again in response to the moving of black Americans to cities. The behavior of the owners was tightly controlled, in that commercial and industrial enterprises were explicitly banned, and pet restriction, trash, blight, noise, or even the wrong color paint was and is restricted, even as racial barriers are now illegal.

Key Themes and Concepts
-Suburban dwellers sought a measure of permanence, where the American Dream would be a nice picket fence and a suburban home, and in so sought to exclude others historically and place restrictions on what could happen in suburban developments.
-Restrictions were based on class, race, ethnicity, and aesthetics of architecture.

[Aaron Ambrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

The psychology of home and place is one of my supersweet spots, so I was eager to read this one. It satisfies up to a point, exploring a topic that doesn't get much attention - namely, exclusionary rules in planned housing communities, and what they reveal about class fears. Fogelson is thorough and authoritative, and he's good at placing all this information in context. The struggle for me was the repetition - each specific restriction illustrated X times from the literature of X different developers. Better discipline, or skillful editing, could easily tighten this book by 20-30%, which would make it more impactful and enjoyable. As it is, I found myself skimming over too many laundry-list style paragraphs.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Americans have a fear of impermanence. In the residential developments that were the first suburbs, this fear was manifest in restrictive covenants that attempted to hold the neighborhood at a certain state forever. This meant "protection" from people paint their homes the "wrong" color, forbidding people of the "wrong" color to move in, and much more.

This is a fascinating book and a breeze to read. Although Fogelson provides tremendous detail, his narratives flow beautifully.

Oh, and I helped pick out the cover image!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the story of American suburbs via their restrictive covenants. By focusing on the types of activities and people that suburban residents wanted to keep out, the author tries to divine their inner thoughts and fears. It is somewhat interesting, but there isn't really enough material for a stand alone book, and I found it to be quite repetitive.