The McMansionization of Suburbia: Size, Status, and the American Dream of Homeownership Public
Black, Jacqueline Michelle (2010)
Published
Abstract
The American Dream is exemplified by the dream of homeownership.
To own a
home in America means the homeowner has achieved a certain economic
and social
standing. Suburbanization contributed to this dream, and a home in
the suburbs
signified the suburbanite was truly wealthy. Exclusive enclaves
represented this
wealth in the mid-nineteenth century. As more American's moved to
the suburbs
after World War II, however, residents looked for new ways to
demonstrate status.
The development of Levittown and other communities like it brought
about a newly
emerged middle-class who felt successful solely on the basis of
owning a home.
Today, with more than half of the country living in the suburbs,
the affluent are
looking for new means to demonstrate their wealth, class, and
status. The
McMansion has permeated the American suburban landscape.
In this thesis, I look at how this history has led to the
McMansion
phenomenon and how square footage has become the primary indicator
of an affluent
suburbanite's wealth.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Upper class Enclaves
"Bourgeois Utopia"
"Catalog Castles"
Modernism
Levittown
The McMansion
Representing Social Class
Conclusion
About this Honors Thesis
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