# 1960s URBAN SPRAWL, SUBURBIA & POST-WWII HOUSING BOOM VINTAGE FILM 87604

Made in 1960 by Arthur Barr, this film presents one of the earliest looks at the tremendous problem of Urban Sprawl. growth in single-family homes begin built outside cities. The growth of suburban regions is (according to the narrator) one of the biggest challenges facing the United States of the 1960s. The desertion of the metropolises' downtowns, and the explosion of suburban populations, was indeed a threat to the health of American cities. Highways, such as Los Angeles' 101 Freeway seen at the 1:44 mark, provided easy access for commuters and helped develop a commuter culture. At 2;11, suburban housing tracts are developed in the San Fernando Valley, replacing farms and farm crops with housing. Mile after mile of housing is seen being built, and along with them come utilities (4:21) such as telephone and electrical cables and pipes. Early shopping malls are seen at 4:50, including a shopping center with a May Company store and loads of '50s Chevy Belairs in the parking lot. At 6:00, a new subdivision known as "Tropicana Village" is built boasting 10,000 new homes. "Pacific Gardens" seen at 6:06, is in Santa Clara, California. Santa Clara is studied in more detail at the 6:30 mark. At 8:00, demolition of houses is seen and the construction of new apartment buildings in the city. At 8:50, expressways or highways are seen under construction. Urban sprawl or suburban sprawl describes the expansion of human populations away from central urban areas into low-density,…

- Kind: Film
- By: PeriscopeFilm
- Genres: War, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/87604-urban-sprawl)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/87604-urban-sprawl?play=1)