The Suburbanization of American Cities
-
In the 1940s new residential suburbs were constructed outside of Atlanta. This photograph from 1949 shows a new housing subdivision called Northside Heights in Gainesville.
Courtesy of Hall County Library System (Ga.), Hall County Georgia Historical Photograph Collection.
-
After World War II, an increase in automobile ownership initiated the decline of the Atlanta streetcar system. The last streetcar ran in 1949.
Courtesy of Georgia State University. Libraries, Atlanta Area Photographers Collection.
-
This map from 1952 shows land use patterns in Atlanta. These types of documents were used for planning urban renewal and redevelopment projects.
Courtesy of Georgia State University. Libraries, Planning Atlanta: A New City in the Making, 1930s - 1990s.
-
The Kimball House Hotel, pictured in 1942, was a historic hotel in downtown Atlanta that was demolished in 1959 to be replaced by a parking garage.
Courtesy of the Atlanta History Center, Atlanta History Photograph Collection.
Nationally, the postwar period saw a mass exodus of city residents into suburbs and the growth of low-density peripheral areas around cities. This trend was exacerbated by an increase in the use of private automobiles. In Atlanta streetcars operated from 1871 to 1948; the streetcar lines, such as the Nine Mile Trolley, connected several downtown neighborhoods. Changes in transportation in the 1950s, including the end of the streetcar and the rise in automobile ownership, necessitated changes in land-use patterns. Thus, in 1952, the Atlanta City Planning Commission proposed a network of highways that would allow commuters to reside further from the city center than ever before. In addition, the growing suburbanization of Atlanta increased the demand for large structures such as parking garages; to construct these garages, many historic structures downtown were demolished. Notably, most of the residents in Atlanta, and other cities, who migrated from downtown to the suburbs were white. This “white flight” in suburbanization is viewed by historians as an effort to maintain spatial segregation.