Bedroom Communities

History of Bedroom Communities

Most bedroom communities were intentionally planned, originating as outgrowths of the suburban movements of the mid-nineteenth century in the United States, Great Britain, and other industrialized countries. As parts of the industrial economy grew and many cities became increasingly dense and polluted, the middleand upper-income classes sought to separate their work lives from their home lives. At that time, suburban areas such as Brooklyn Heights in Brooklyn, New York, provided residents with more space—and less dirt and noise—in more bucolic settings while still affording easy access to the jobs, businesses, and other amenities of the central city. As transit options progressed from horse to train to car, people could more easily live farther and farther away from the city's central core and still maintain daily connections with their inner-city centers of work, society, and commerce. Although discernable bedroom communities have existed for more than a century in many countries, the United States experienced a major boom in the phenomenon in the post–World War II years. In addition to wanting to separate themselves from city life for environmental and class reasons, some cultures, such as much of post–World War II middle-class U.S. culture, found that bedroom communities supported the societal ideal of further segregating gender roles. The wife stayed home and kept house while her husband traveled a significant distance away from home to earn the household income.

Most bedroom communities developed from landuse plans that favored the mass grouping of a more narrow range of socioeconomic status and housing choice than was usually found in urbanized areas. In many bedroom communities, a very limited style of housing is repeated over and over. However, just as is found in some contemporary suburban developments, many bedroom communities now provide more housing choices and cater to a wider socioeconomic range. There are now many bedroom communities that offer the full range of housing options, from small apartments to large single-family compounds.

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