Suburbs In The 20th Century

The 20th century was a time of great inventions and innovations, radically transforming all aspects of society in less than 100 years. At the turn of the century Memphis was still rebuilding from the Civil war and recovering from yellow fever, but the economy was strong and the city was growing… but so were racial tensions. And by the late 60s almost all white people had left the downtown area for the suburbs. But when they left, they left an impact in the community, leaving businesses to struggle, and when the businesses went down, so did the rest of the neighborhood. As the Suburbs began to grow, the funds in the city shrank, causing the city to cut funding to several public services. Moving to the suburbs created many problems, 1. In the
city, everything was in walking or bus distance, not many people had cars, but in the Suburbs, you can’t get anywhere without one. 2. As more cars used the roads, more roads were needed, and more highways were built (usually through majority black neighborhoods).

Side note: It’s kinda ironic that the white people fled to the suburbs to escape “Crime” and “Danger” when in reality, when they left for the burbs’ all they really did was make the situation worse, increasing poverty, crime, and homelessness tenfold.