Plush, green lawns became intertwined with status, family, personal agency and more.
"The idea, of course, was to have a neat, well-groomed community there, or what Abe Levitt thought of as the lawn, as a form of neighborhood stabilization," Steinberg said.
"So the idea behind the lawn is not only that there would be neighborhood cohesion and people maintaining it well, but it would also help add to property values." "The rotary mower was developed, which was an inexpensive piece of equipment that people could purchase to keep their lawns in great shape," Steinberg said.Resources also became more accessible, as the gross national product of the U.S. nearly doubled between 1946 and 1961, according to Steinberg. Watering the lawn became relatively inexpensive, and so was using gas for gas-powered mowers.
An aerial image shows homes and backyard swimming pools during low water levels due to the western drought on July 20, 2021 in Boulder City, Nevada.