Do You Live Where You Work?

Before World War II people lived in the city if they worked in the city or they lived in the country if they worked in the country. If you were in the city, you probably lived in an apartment and worked at a nearby office, factory or service. If you lived in the country, you had a house, a barn, maybe a few chickens, and your commute was riding the tractor from the house to the fields.

TV shows from the '50s and '60s exemplified this lifestyle. In The Honeymooners, Ralph Kramden lived in a city apartment, which was perfect for his trips to work as a bus driver. His wife, Alice, stayed home and took care of the household. Then there was I Love Lucy, where Lucy and Ricky lived in another cozy city apartment. Lucy took care of everything at home while Ricky was a band leader at a local night club. Meanwhile, The Lassie Show gave us the perfect picture of rural living with the stay-at-home mother, farmer father, gramps, son and dog. The image was complete with blue jeans, house dresses, clotheslines and the barn just steps outside the farm house front screen door.

Then came the post World War II boom. Suddenly, everyone had cars and not just for Sunday drives. With cheap gas flowing like optimism, people started leaving the city for a glamorous new invention: the suburbs. Suburbs were sold as leisurely country living at its finest. The idea was simple—live in the country (or at least a carefully landscaped version of it) and drive into the city for work. Life was good! The American Dream was within reach. You could finally have that backyard grill without your neighbors giving you the side-eye for filling their apartment with smoke.

The government, being the friend it is, stepped in to promote this suburban lifestyle. Enter the Federal National Mortgage Association—also known as Fannie Mae. Even government institutions want to sound friendly. Fannie Mae’s mission was simple: make it easier for Americans to own homes by handing out mortgages like they were candy on Halloween. It worked! Soon people everywhere were buying homes, planting lawns, and debating the merits of hedges versus fences. The upscale country homes also had an upscale price from what living in the country had previously been. Since how much a house payment was mattered more than the actual price of the home, houses and mortgages became bigger along with the commutes.

Then things became interesting: people stopped LIVING in any community. No one had a complete sense of belonging since they worked in one location and had their home in another. They also commuted to buy groceries and to get other services. Neighborhoods became quiet, peaceful places where you did not see your neighbor until they got in their car to leave for work or came home to crash. Commuting adds time to a work day and also adds additional expense. The home became the hub of everything—family time, relaxation and weekend projects that were totally going to get finished someday.

As if things were not shifting fast enough, by the 1970s family life had changed too. The one breadwinner, one homemaker model was quickly becoming a thing of the past. Dual income households were on the rise, meaning both spouses now spent their days commuting from the suburbs to the city. Nobody was home to greet the postman with a friendly wave. It was almost like the TV shows forgot to update their scripts. Alice Kramden and Lucy Ricardo would have been right out there in traffic, gripping a travel mug of coffee and listening to the radio on their way to the office.

This massive lifestyle change was driven by more than just the appeal of a second paycheck. The economy was, to put it lightly, a bit of a rollercoaster. Inflation was skyrocketing faster than your favorite roller derby team. Interest rates were climbing like someone had lost the brakes. People had to adapt just to keep up and many found that two incomes were the only way to maintain their suburban lifestyle.

In the 70s the stock market lost 40% over an 18 month period. It would stay that way for a good many years. In 1971 Richard Nixon had broken the link to gold backing of the American dollar, which wreaked havoc around the world.

Unemployment was double digits. It was a shock for those of us who had grown up in the 50s and 60s. We had been told all our lives to get a college education. A college education would be a sure ticket to a good job and a comfortable life. Many people graduating from college in the 70s were not able to find any job at all anywhere.

However, while all of these social changes were going on, real estate did not stop moving. In fact, it was kind of like a game of musical chairs, only with houses and contracts. This was the era when I first received my license and it was my introduction to real estate, as abnormal as it was. At that time our local bank would very stingily provide small green mortgage payment calculation booklets. You had to campaign hard to get one. It was our privileged technology of the time. In that little book a real estate agent could look up the going interest rate, the amount to be borrowed and tell the client on the spot how much their payment would be. My book went up to 20% interest and the rates went over that!!!

Many people were selling their homes by carrying contracts themselves with the buyers. Documentation was not complicated. I remember following a template and drawing up those contracts myself on a trifold legal-size document. Super crazy that a 20 some year old with no experience in anything just wrote up serious contracts like that. Well, I must have done fine, because they all seemed to go through without a hitch. I would love to think I was really that good instead of just fortunate.

A light in the darkness was that those who had Federal Housing Administration ( FHA) loans could have their loans assumed by a qualified new homeowner. If you were lucky enough to have one of those assumable loans, you could pass it along like a family heirloom. Buyers would jump at the chance to take over your low interest rate. Those homeowners were considered to be the lottery winners if they wanted to sell their property.

So here we are today, still living with the ripple effects of those post-war economic changes. The houses are bigger, the commutes are longer and now we have the Internet (not part of FDR’s original New Deal). Despite all these shifts, one thing remains the same: the American Dream is still alive and well. It just might take more gas and more money to get there.

Copyright ? 2024 Linda D. Swift MBA. All Rights Reserved