A huge draw to the suburban lifestyle is the ownership of large single-family homes. Because land is cheaper the farther away it is from the central city, much larger homes can be built for the same price. “[Sprawl] is driven largely by the American dream of a detached home in the middle of a grassy lawn.”(Clark 31) Suburbanites want the luxury that is much beyond what is necessary. They have an image of a life that they want, and are ruthless in their attempt to obtain it, consuming anything they need to get there. The suburban society has instilled an image of a big house as happiness. People are brainwashed into thinking that luxurious homes will solve their problems. Even those who cannot obtain it are harmful to the environment in their attempts by continuing this belief and passing it to those who can. “The idea of "sprawl" conjures up images of concrete roads and parking lots replacing farmlands.” (Kahn 575)
The residents care more about their nonessential riches than they do about consuming the land and the implications of doing so. These suburbanites are consuming more land than city dwellers by almost double. (Kahn 575) The value of material goods in the suburbs and neglect for everything around them are causing them to build bigger homes than those in cities. Wilson suggests that, “areas that experienced more growth were less efficient consumers of rural land,” and that, “conversions of rural land cover to [suburban] development…may have such negative environmental consequences as alteration of surface and subsurface hydrology, changes in atmosphere or surface energy exchange, loss and fragmentation of wildlife habitat, and reduced air and water quality.” (Wilson 159) The consumption of land for suburbs is deteriorating the environment because the suburban values lie in big materialistic goods, and have no concern in the environment.
In addition to the poor use of the land, the actual construction of the houses can have harmful effects on the environment. “On a per capita basis, low-density developments compromising single-detached dwellings used 1.8 times more energy for building operation than did high density apartment developments.” (Norman 17) The amount of energy needed to make suburban homes is almost twice as high because the there is a pressure put on the people to make large homes that look a certain way. These “cookie-cutter” homes are a status symbol. Because of the size and construction of the homes, large amounts of energy are consumed in their upkeep. “Single family houses use approximately twice as much energy as multiunit buildings…this trend is also expected due to the increased exterior wall surface area that increases the required heating and cooling loads in low-density.” (Norman 17) The larger houses take more energy to keep at a comfortable temperature. The idea of a family sitting around a fireplace is no longer relevant as people leave their thermostats running all day.
As large homes keep being built in one area, the suburbs become denser and then people choose to sprawl farther and farther out. Homes on the outside are less expensive, have more space, and more privacy, meeting accommodations of suburbanites. As this cycle of “wants” continues and the population increases, people will continue to relocate in an outward direction, making the environmental problems progressively worse.
Large multinational corporations, such as Wal-Mart, plant their oversized superstores in suburban towns, driving residents to consume cheap, environmentally unfriendly products. These stores are stuck on the edges of the suburbs, drawing people to them for the convenient and cost efficient products. “Retail development transforms roads into "sellscapes" and are frequently spurred on by discount retailers.” (Clark 32) This is another example of how suburbs are land consumptive and have a poor use of natural land. The consumption of land is literally turned into a place where people can consume. Downtown shopping areas become abandoned and those people commute to Wal-Mart instead. Again, this increases miles driven and draws people to the suburbs. (Hansen 13) “The stores become prime drivers of suburban sprawl, critics maintain, because they usually locate on the outskirts of communities where land is cheap enough to provide abundant parking.” (Hansen 13) Suburbanites can comfortably go to one place to buy all the products they want for a small amount of money. At the same time, smaller local businesses with more personal service are run out of business. Most of Wal-Marts products are imported, and the energy needed to make the import the products is much higher than products produced close to home, like at “Mom and Pop shops”. (Hansen 14) Although there are other companies that contribute to these problems, Wal-Mart is a prime example to use because it is the world's largest wholesale buyer and the world's largest private employer. (Hansen 3) These suburbanites value the ease of shopping at these places because products cost less, allowing them to use money for luxurious items, such as cars and homes. Also, people do not have as much time to go to multiple stores because they are caught up in their own selfish lives.
More and more people today are following the trend of suburbanization, moving farther and farther away from the central city. People are drawn to the suburbs by the desire to consume cheaper land, buy larger homes, and have convenient shopping. With this pursuit of comfort, families can directly affect the environment by destroying land and adding to pollution. The way that the suburbs are constructed encourages the use of large personal vehicles, convenient shopping at large corporations, and the ownership of large homes. As the consumerism mind-set of the suburban dwellers parallels the set up of the land, a cycle of destruction to the environment is in motion. This country has truly “paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” (Joni Mitchell)
