Geography of Nowhere, Chapter 9 Notes & ESSAY II on The End of the Hamptons

Below are lecture notes on Chapter 9. Since tomorrow (Tues. 11/18) will be devoted to hearing about your papers, on Thursday 11/20 we'll pick up with Chapter 10. I plan to condense my notes considerably so as to finish my commentary on the book on that day.

Chapter Nine: A Place Called Home

A. Kunstler opens with an ironic observation about the number of housing starts in 1992, which is usually interpreted as an indicator of progress.
"In 1992, there were 1,200,000 housing starts."
"It's a figure that ought to send chills up the spine of a reflective person because these housing starts do not represent newly minted towns, or anything describable as real coherent communities. Rather, they represent monoculture tract developments of cookie cutter bunkers on half-acre lots in far-flung suburbs, or else houses plopped down in isolation along country roads in what had been cornfields, pastures, or woods. In any case, one can rest assured that they will only add to the problems of our present economy and American civilization. They will relate poorly to other things around them, they will eat up more countryside, and they will increase the public fiscal burden." (p. 147)

1. He then comments that his main complaint against the modern home is not so much what it looks like inside or whether, technically, it is an improvement, but how it relates or fails to relate to a town.

B. He launches into a history of architectural styles of houses going back to colonial times. He makes some interesting observations about styles and materials, but it is not until he gets to the modern, largely mass-produced home that he becomes especially critical.

1. In this context, a key late-19th century innovation was the balloon-frame, wooden home. Notes the devastating consequences this had for Chicago -- the great Chicago fire of 1871. Still, it later became the dominant building method for private homes in the already developing suburbs. See pp. 162-3. Note especially, the following critical observation:
"A far more enduring legacy of the balloon frame was that it transformed the craft of house building into an industry. In so doing it turned houses into commodities, things made above all to be sold at a profit, so that those who ended up living in them were not the same ones who built them, meaning that they were houses built without affection -- merely products whacked together for a mass market." (p. 163)

a.) Sears & Roebuck got into the business of selling mass-produced house kits.

b.) Sheetrock and plywood sheathing also came into wide use, no longer requiring skilled craftsmen to install, like plaster.

2. He mentions Frank Lloyd Wright and one of his designs which inspired the ranch style home. Then, there was the more influential model for the new post-war suburbs -- Downing's ideal of the "villa in the country," which made no pretense to be part of a city. (p. 165)

C. "By the 1920s, with the car on the scene, all the elements were in place for the mass selling of mass-produced houses to the masses of corporate toilers, except easy financing,..." Which the federal FHA and VA programs solved. (p. 166)

D. Kunstler then broadly describes the "American Dream" of postwar America in very critical terms. (See middle two paragraphs p. 166) In this context, he also comments on why American homes lack "charm," suggesting this is not a trivial point. (See middle paragraph, p. 168.)

E. He goes on to note how building codes and zoning ordinances (such as setting houses 25 feet back from the street) contribute to the degradation of housing today.

F. He also takes a whack at the home improvement industry which tries to convince relatively unskilled homeowners that they can make significant changes without much skill. Eg., comments critically on aluminum and vinyl-siding which are supposed to be, but clearly aren't, maintenance-free.

G. Finally, Kunstler comments on the American penchant for mobility, which also contributes to the debasement of our housing. The theme of "the geography of nowhere" comes through here as well. (See last paragraph, p. 173.)


That brings us up to Chapter 10, which is where I'll begin on Thursday and wrap up the rest of this book.

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Sociology 230
Essay II
11/17/08

A. Although the story of the Hamptons is unique in some ways, as Corey Dolgon is at pains to bring out in The End of the Hamptons, it does manifest some of the same problems with suburbia that we have been focusing on in this course, especially those brought out in The Geography of Nowhere. For this essay, I want you to focus on Chapter 2, Houses in Fields, and identify and briefly describe any TWO problems that resemble problems we've already discussed in this class. Also, I want you to highlight ONE feature of this story of the Hamptons that you consider UNIQUE or UNUSUAL.

B. The essay should be roughly 3-4 pages. I believe it would be appropriate to quote some relevant passages from the book, and if you do so, of course, be sure to indicate the page number(s) on which they appeared.

C. This essay is due TUESDAY, DEC. 2ND, which is the first class after the Thanksgiving break. Let me STRONGLY suggest you begin working on this BEFORE the break.

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In terms of reading The End of the Hamptons, I want you to read through the first two chapters, or pp. 1-82.