Main entry:

Harris, Richard, 1952-

Title & Author:

Unplanned suburbs : Toronto's American tragedy, 1900 to 1950 / Richard Harris.

Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

Description:

xvi, 356 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Series:

Creating the North American landscape

Notes:
"Published in cooperation with the Center for American Places, Harrisonburg, Virginia"--Preliminary page.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-348) and index.
Ch. 1. Introduction -- Ch. 2. The Rise of Metropolitan Suburbs -- Ch. 3. Did the Factory Lead the Way? -- Ch. 4. A City of Homes -- Ch. 5. The End Justified the Means -- Ch. 6. Civic Efficiency and Suburban Freedom -- Ch. 7. The Rhetoric and Reality of Community Building -- Ch. 8. A Romance of Common Life -- Ch. 9. The Fall of the Unplanned Suburb -- Ch. 10. Conclusion -- Appendix A: Property Assessment Records -- Appendix B: Social Class and the Classification of Occupations.
Also issued online.

Summary:

It is widely believed that only the growth of mass suburbs after World War II brought suburban living within reach of blue-collar workers, immigrants, and racial minorities. But in this original and intensive study of Toronto, Richard Harris shows that even prewar suburbs were socially and ethnically diverse, with a significant number of lower-income North American families making their homes on the urban fringe. As early as 1900, Harris explains, the decentralization of blue-collar employment encouraged working-class families to leave the city, many of them taking advantage of lax enforcement of suburban regulations to build their homes themselves. In the short run, the advantages were obvious: a home of one's own, a garden, access to the surrounding countryside. But the unplanned - and therefore scattered - developments led to dramatic increases in the cost of needed services. Inevitably, property taxes rose, in many cases beyond the ability of working-class families to pay.
Harris concludes that even minimal planning might have helped retain the advantages of owner-built housing while reducing public costs, citing the success of European experiments in aided self-help for homebuilders. But in the United States and Canada, the lack of planning set the stage for a uniquely North American tragedy.

Resources:
Book review (H-Net)
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description

ISBN:

0801851424 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
9780801851421 (hardcover ; alk. paper)

Subject:

Schweiz Eidgenössischer Vorort
Suburbs Ontario Toronto History.
Banlieues Ontario Toronto Histoire.
Suburbs.
Soziale Situation
Stadtentwicklung
Vorort
Toronto Suburban Area (Ont.) History.
Toronto, Banlieue de (Ont.) Histoire.
Ontario Toronto.
Ontario Toronto Suburban Area.
Toronto
Suburbs Sociology
Ontario

Form/genre:

History.

Added entries:

Center for American Places.
Creating the North American landscape.

Holdings:

Location: Library main canada 113744
Call No.: ID HT352.C3 T6 CAN; ID:96-B239
Status: Available