ABSTRACT
Suburbia was created by millions of Americans who wanted to pursue an economic endeavor or lifestyle incompatible with the policies or development patterns of the central city. The American suburb is a prime example of the nation's tradition of expansive freedom and mobility. In 1890 George Westinghouse relocated his electrical manufacturing works from Pittsburgh to a suburban site where he created the town of Wilmerding to house his workers. By 1899, 55 percent of the production workers in the metropolitan district of Pittsburgh were employed in the suburbs; the central city accounted for a minority of the area's manufacturing employment. Development of new modes of transportation had induced a diverse pattern of sprawl. Some suburbs were upper-middle-class bucolic refuges where affluent Americans could maintain a model family life free from the evils of alcohol. In the Detroit metropolitan area the rise of the automobile very directly spurred the growth of suburbia.
