Suburbanization has been a trend in the United States since the fifties where people relocate from central cities to live in the suburbs. These communities are the “municipalities and places in metropolitan areas outside of the political boundaries of the large central cities.” (Baldassare 487) The lifestyles of modern suburbanites are at odds with the original idea of neighborhood values. As suburbanites continue to use up resources, the environmental conditions are continually getting worse. The consumerism mentality that the residents follow is reflected in the set-up of the suburbs, themselves. This has perpetuated the destruction of the environment by fostering the consumption of expensive cars, large homes, and other large multinational retail corporations.
The popularity of personal vehicles is higher in the suburbs because the layout of the land. Because land is cheap in the suburbs, economic activity is spread out. The suburbs are set up in such a way that residential homes and places of work are built with large distances between them. (Kahn 584) Al Gore voiced that “In the last fifty years, we've built flat, not tall: because the land is cheaper the further out it lies, new office buildings, roads, and malls go farther and farther out, lengthening commutes and adding to pollution.” (1998) Modern day transportation has made this possible because although work places used to be confined to walking distances, technology with automobiles has created opportunities to work much farther from home. As a result, suburbanites have become much more dependent on personal vehicles, both adding to environmental problems and diminishing the personal encounters that happen with walking or public transportation. As traffic worsens, commuters need to leave earlier for work and get home later, making the time spent with family less and less.
More energy is now needed to commute for daily activities than is needed for people who live in cities because the distances traveled. The longer commutes mean that more fuel is consumed, which leads to more hydrocarbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. The unnecessary and excessive use of personal vehicles in the suburbs can cause excessive greenhouse gas emissions. [“Automobile use is clearly the most significant contributing factor to transportation impacts for both high-density and low-density development…because of the much higher car dependence…traveled by residents of the outer suburbs…per capita transportation [greenhouse gas] emissions and energy use associated with low-density development are found to be 3.7 times higher than those associated with high-density development.”] (Deese 17)
As long as suburb consumers continue to use personal vehicles to the extreme they do now, the environmental conditions will get worse. The problem of the emissions is not just to be blamed on the fuel inefficiency of vehicles, but the high amount of personal vehicles being used, and their miles driven. People do not take into consideration the land they are using and the species they are harming in order to commute places. They are too caught up in the hustle and bustle of working and selfish desires to be concerned that they are following a destructive path, that will eventually harm humans as well.
Because cars are useful tools for suburbanites, companies have glorified the possession of cars in their advertisements. This has made cars a more ideal form of transportation than public transit. Because public transportation is not something the majority of people use, there is not as much effort to improve that system as there is in making cars more luxurious. There is even a large SUV named after this lifestyle, called “Suburban.” Consumers may buy this car thinking it's a suburb necessity, while neglecting what negative aspects suburbs are really representing. Robert Paehlke's idea of what he refers to as economism explains this phenomenon: “greed and commercialization of everyday life in the most "advanced" countries where advertisement makes everything a commodity.” (Deese 96) Suburb residents start to buy cars for reasons other than just necessity.
Galpin Motors general manager Joe Ferezy says, “A lot of people who live in the suburbs are buying SUVs or pick-up trucks as second cars…most of them do not use the cars for their actual purpose.” (2007) These large fuel inefficient vehicles have become expensive toys for suburban residents. Pick-up trucks used to have no heating, little interior, and no power locks and windows. The vehicles have changed from items that are utilized for working to accessories in addition to another car. People are valuing objects over the world in which they live in because these material things are societal symbols of success and happiness. When a society as a whole views consumer goods as symbols of success, people start to place that as their priority, above taking care of the environment.
