Airplane Over The Suburbs

The bright blue sky is suddenly scarred by a big grey ghost traveling through, sending forth a screech that drowns out the beautiful birds that seem to go absolutely silent when the storm of twin engines overpowers the land. You sit on your porch shaking your head, disgusted with the local city council, cowing down to big business and political pressure, allowing your home to be the beachhead beneath this invasion's flight path. The word suburb is derived from the Old French subburbe, which is in turn derived from the Latin suburbium, formed from sub (meaning "under") and urbs ("city"). In Ancient Rome, wealthy and important people tended to live on the hills of the city, while poorer citizens lived at lower elevations – hence "under the city". The first recorded usage of the term in English, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was made by John Wycliffe in 1380, where the form subarbis was used. De-investment in American cities was rampant during the time of mass suburbanization. Aging cities were left to fall apart, during a time when the country was experiencing tremendous prosperity. Industrial factories that were once the heart of the city were now being abandoned and jobs were shifting to the service sector. The history of suburbia is a subfield of urban history and enlists scholars across the world. Most published work looks at the origins, growth, diverse typologies, culture, and politics of suburbs, as well as to the gendered and family-oriented nature of suburban space.