The Suburb Reader (ISBN 0415945941)

The American experience in the cities:
The book documents the history of the suburb in America. For a century, it was the growth of suburbs relative to the core of the cities that defined much of the urban American experience. Interwoven in the narrative is an examination of the role of race and class. Your personal urban experience would have been strongly influenced by these factors, throughout much of the preceding century. The authors explain that the reasons for home ownership varied. For working class people, this meant some financial security, especially before the New Deal and the rise of a welfare state. The text also has excerpts from documents and essays spanning several decades, that give multiple views of suburbia. Some might be from magazines or newspapers. The book is quite readable, and a reader living in a major city might find references to it and its major suburbs. Helping to give a perspective on how your area developed, and a sense of history.