One of the most intriguing items we looked at in this class was the film "In the Suburbs." From the photos hanging on the walls in my grandparent's house, I can see the exact same transition from apartment to two-story house, city to suburb. Below is a photo for reference, and mostly because I can't resist...
Ah yes, now unfortunately, I do not have a scanner otherwise you could see my grandfather in a pressed suit (pens still in pocket) and my grandmother with a beehive hairstyle in an apron trying to serve the camera a hot toddy. Just subtract fifty years and squint really hard.
One of my many occupations as of late happens to be a driver for my grandmother. I used my time with her to record a brief conversation about what living in New York City was like and why she moved to the suburbs. Now please, if you could, imagine my grandmother's voice in the transcript below as a combination of stereotypical Italian grandmother and a girl from Queens, it will just add so much more to the reading and proves that somethings cannot be erased by the suburbs. I tried my best to capture her essence in the translation. (Which is hard, her "accent" is unlike anything I've ever heard before, let alone something I could depict with a written transcript.) She is not one for hardcore analytical conversation in the conventional sense, but her words shed a more accurate light on the situation than I could ever formulate myself.
Alexis: Nans, did you like living in the city?
Margie: Oh yes, I mean, well, it was different then, you know. Things were different in the boroughs, Queens, the houses look the same but the people are different. All my friends started moving upstate (the suburbs) and geez I think-uh only Fran lives down there now.
Alexis: Do you know if it's still a family neighborhood though, that's kind of like the suburbs, in a way, right?
Margie: I guess, I don't know. Last time I talked to Fran you know she's older she's worried about the crime she wants to move I think. Families will-well-will always live in the larger apartments and the boroughs won't ever be like were I used to work.
Alexis: As a secretary? How so?
Margie: Uptown's even busier. It's no place for a family, that's why Queens is still an OK place to be, but I like it here better, I get to drive my car, with you!
Alexis: So you moved to the suburbs because you thought it would be a better place to raise a family?
Margie: Well yes, everyone was doing it too, it was more convenient, cars here, less stress. Fran's only ever had one son and all those yippy dogs. I think that's why she stayed, and she could never sell her father's house.
Alexis: But, you and Pops sold a house, for the one you have now, and you did it for family and less stress?
Margie: I guess that's right, I couldn't be there now, too loud, and the kids, it worked out better here, you must like it here better than the city, Boston's alright, not to many people, but I wouldn't want you working in New York with all that crime, there isn't enough space for everyone, that's why they fight all the time.
In her dialogue you see trends of convenience and family that the video depict. Yet, what caught me most off guard was how "everyone was doing it" was used as justification in some way. She's lived both lives, city girl, suburban wife, and I think being a member of the "initial" transition during the "prime era of suburbanization" (the 50's) make her a valuable source of information I'll have to tap if I revisit the subject in future research.
-Alexis Brinkman
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