Reviews for The Bulldozer in the Countryside: Suburban Sprawl and the Rise of American Environmentalism

The average rating for The Bulldozer in the Countryside: Suburban Sprawl and the Rise of American Environmentalism based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-11-12 00:00:00 Justin Wilson By and large, I liked this book and think it does well to explain the connections between the housing industry and the overall culture of the US, notably the change from Progressive Era type conservationism to war-time conservationism, to the environmental movements. As well, the history of the housing market, air conditioning, ecology, and other factors are all good. However, there were factors that were not discussed, such as the blight and gentrification of urban cities that helped push people to the suburbs. Other issues involve his inconsistency with use of chronological structure versus thematic. The organization of the book made his argument hard to follow at times. Other times, I wasn't sure if this was truly an environmental history or just a foray into economic and political history. Many of his themes are modeled after works such as Worster in /Dust Bowl/, White in /Organic Machine/, and Steinberg in /Nature's Incorporated/, but he does make the connection between housing and culture/economy his own -- it is similar to their arguments, but it unique, at the same time. All in all, I find this a useful and good read. I think the information pulled from this book is beyond valuable. I don't want to focus on the mistakes. It is a good book. I just felt the organization and missing questions -- other things that could have been investigated, detracted from what could have been an amazing study. Still, what *is* there is good stuff and worth your time to read. Oh, also..he is a good writer. He tells a story that is fun to read. My hat's off to him on his writing style. NO problems there!

Review # 2 was written on 2015-07-09 00:00:00 Elizabeth Granoff A very thorough study of the post-war rise of the suburbs. Each chapter covers different topics: building in wetlands, the attempt at solar power, septic tanks, the grassroots environmental movement, etc. To those who do not enjoy reading history books, note that this is exactly what it is. Each chapter provides a thesis argument, and then fills the pages with examples to drive that point home. You don't need to read the entire chapters or paragraphs to get the point, but you'd really be missing out on some interesting numbers and stories. While the ultimate takeaway from this book is hte suburb movement harmed the environment more than it could have ever helped (and also harmed many homeowners in the process), Adam Rome argues it with as little bias as possible without surrendering the entire book.