Creeping Conformity: How Canada Became Suburban, 1900–1960

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Canadian settlement patterns have changed over time as our economy
evolved. The low-density pattern of family farms that characterized the
agricultural-based economy of the 18th and 19th centuries was replaced
by the high-density environment of fast-growing cities as industry drew
workers away from the land. The shift from wide-open acres to closed-in
tenements led to a predictable reaction. City workers seeking more space
for their families, more privacy, more independence, and lower housing
costs fled to the outskirts of the city. The suburb was born.

Richard Harris looks at all the factors that made possible the shift
outward during the first half of the 21st century. Public
transportation, the growing availability and affordability of cars, and
the varying levels of building code requirements—all played a siren
song to wage earners who wanted a backyard for the kids and an
opportunity to invest sweat equity toward their future prosperity.

Harris does a fairly good job of giving a Canada-wide picture, with
many examples drawn from Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg. Both east and
west coasts are included, but to a lesser extent. His research is good
if uninspired. Examples are used generously.

Yet stylistically, the work is painfully flat. There’s lots to be
excited about in the subject—especially since every day, in every part
of the country, we see huge, uniform subdivisions continue to grow in
wide bands around our cities—but the author has missed all that and
will lose most would-be readers as a result.