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CHANGING U.S. GEOGRAPHICAL GROWTH PATTERNS.

Examines causes since World War II; impact of technological changes; development of superhighway system.

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The way U.S. geographical patterns have developed in the period since World War II has been influenced greatly by technological changes over the same period. This was true in the era before the war as well, and the war itself brought a number of changes as war production altered manufacturing patterns. After the war, though, returning G.I.s and their families faced a changing landscape, with special efforts being undertaken to make it possible for more families to own a home, at least one car, and other new technological marvels. Business patterns also changed as there were new products to be produced and sold. The most important changes were in the areas of transportation and communication, which enabled changes in residential patterns that contributed to the growth of the suburb and in the long term to the decay of the central cities.

Business patterns also changed as there were newproducts to be produced and sold. geographical patterns have developed in the period sinceWorld War II has been influenced greatly by technological changes over thesame period. Atthe same time, the regular federal aid program under the Highway Act of1921 continued, temporarily reduced early in the decade as an economymeasure but restored when the emphasis switched to recovery (Rae 138). Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1965. People followed economic opportunity from thenortheastern states to Florida, the southwest, and California, causingmajor shifts in population. The Federal-AidHighway Act of 1952 authorized funds on a fifty-fifty state/federalmatching level, though the amount was still not enough. http://redbud.lbjlib.utexas.edu/eisenhower/highway.htm.Rae, John B. This was true in the era before the war as well, and the waritself brought a number of changes as war production altered manufacturingpatterns. This periodincluded a changeover from a moribund peace-time economy to a full-scalewar economy and back again to civilian production, this time in a steadilyexpanding economy characterized by mass production for mass consumption.By the end of this period, the U.S. http://www.harrisonholmes.com/Delta-Scenes/ 6-First-Cotton-Picker- marker.htmlFriedmann, John and Robin Bloch. The most important changes were in theareas of transportation and communication, which enabled changes inresidential patterns that contributed to the growth of the suburb and inthe long term to the decay of the central cities. Under this law, the federal government would pay 9 percent of thecost and the law further called for road design standards to accommodatetraffic levels forecast for 1975, which was later modified to a 2 -yearforecast. The American Automobile. The CivilianConservation Corps built access and fire roads to remote areas; the PublicWorks Administration financed highway construction and other substantialprojects such as new bridges and the elimination of grade crossings; andthe Works Progress Administration worked extensively in local roadimprovement. Library@eisenhower.nara.gov. britannica.com."The First Cotton Picker Marker." 1998. Much of this growth was in areas like California, New Mexico, andArizona, which benefited from the invention and dissemination of airconditioning as more businesses located to these areas for the weather, nowmade tolerable. Another factorcontributing to both urban and suburban growth in the North was changes inthe labor picture in the South with the invention of such mechanisms asInternational Harvester's mechanical cotton picker in 1944 ("The FirstCotton Picker Marker"). The development of this system contributed to the growth of thesuburbs as more people could work in cities yet live outside of thosecities, traveling on the highway system by car, or taking a bus or train.A historical analysis of spatial and regional policies shows first thatsince the onset of the great Depression in the 193 s, the political economyof the U.S. The reason was that road-building was an obvious and acceptablemethod of using public funds to combat unemployment. The Tennessee Valley Authority was another agency thatengaged in a good deal of highway building and relocation in its area. has undergone profound and multiple changes. The defenseindustry in World War II added to the growth for the West as airplanefactories were changed over to wartime production. Eisenhower pressed for a nationalhighway system and convinced people that this was a national, not state,issue. had become a debtor nation for thefirst time in this century. PresidentEisenhower assumed office in 1953, and only 6, miles had then beencompleted at a cost of $955 million. TheNew Deal had an influence beyond the problems connected with themanufacture of motor vehicles. The main roads of the futurewould be multilane express highways with limited access, no cross trafficat grade, and separate roadways for traffic moving in opposite directions.Such construction bore a heavy cost, but it was bound to come. After the war, though, returning G.I.s and their families faceda changing landscape, with special efforts being undertaken to make itpossible for more families to own a home, at least one car, and other newtechnological marvels. TheCommonwealth of Pennsylvania led the way by converting a long-abandonedrailroad right-of-way between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh into the core of anexpress highway across the state, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike would beopened in 194 (Rae 139). The building of the highway system actually began in earnest the192 s and continued apace during the years of the Great Depression. What was needed most was not theconstruction of additional mileage of roads of existing type but new roadsdesigned for high-speed motor vehicles such as were then being designed,with traffic flow channeled to provide for the minimum of interruption andto eliminate conflicting streams of traffic. Works Cited"Air-Conditioning." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 created today's Interstatesystem. This gave impetus to the migration of blacks fromthe South to the north, a migration which had been ongoing at least sinceReconstruction. Initially, the system was to cover 41, miles of road,including 2, miles of existing toll roads, but only 35, miles ofroadway were completed (Eisenhower Library). Most of this highway activity was also a means of providing for thefuture of automotive transportation. This would eventually develop into the Interstate Highway Systemunder President Eisenhower and increase the mobility of the Americanpeople. This urban transition was nearly complete by1969, and for the first time in the nation's history, the central cities ofmetropolitan areas were losing population while suburban areas and therural nonfarm fringe registered phenomenal growth (Friedmann and Bloch 576-597). The way U.S. One of the interesting responses to thedepression can be seen in the fact that there was more rather than lessactivity in highway construction than there had been in the prosperous192 s. Today, nearly every office building is air conditioned.Areas like California benefited from the growth of the aerospace industry,more recently supplanted by the high-tech computer industry. The first fully air-conditioned office building was theMilam Building in San Antonio, Texas, constructed in the late 192 s(Britannica.com). The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944 created a 4 , -mile"National System of Interstate Highways," but there was no increase infederal funding, so that many states balked at the idea. "American Exceptionalism in Regional Planning, 1933-2 ." American Political Science Review (December 1991), 576-6 1."Highway Development: The Interstate Highway System." Eisenhower Library.

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