Post-War Housing in Canada (40s, 50s)

1. Changing ideals
   1. Rural at first, but as the economy developed we wanted more urban
      1. Industrial age, urbanization

1. Prosperity
2. high employment
3. More gov support

1. Equality: Not considered inferior to men, had unique qualities
   1. Were responsible for family survival and happiness
   2. Men were "weaker", women had to act happy and cater to their needs
   3. Men got first access to money, women had to make sacrifices
2. Sexuality
   1. Alfred Kinsey wrote a book on this
   2. Women's erotic potential was now included in domestic ideal
   3. Active sexuality considered a prerequisite for satisfactory personal and marital life
   4. Gender roles are considered a result of different anatomy
3. Jobs
   1. Increase in labour force participation
   2. Unequal opportunities and wages
   3. Domestic life was still primary duty
      1. Working was an investment into a more ideal and domestic future
      2. Double day: Still had to work at home after job
         1. Wives acted as unpaid assistants to further husband careers
4. Suburbs
   1. Didn't cater to women's needs
   2. Only connected to community through
      1. Communal child-centered activities
      2. Volunteering with local institutions
      3. Activism to better community
5. Often seen as victims and authors of own misfortune

1. Private consumption was the first defence against communism (proof os capitalism's success)

1. Cons
   1. Men ignored family and emotional needs
   2. Overly materialistic
   3. Didn't really contribute to greater community
2. Rural
3. Nuclear Family
4. 2 acres min
   1. Bc gov didn't want this to become urban housing
5. Self-sufficiency
6. Capitalist
7. Male breadwinner
8. Shift
   1. Don't want to be farmers
   2. Want less than 2 acres, closer to city

1. Difference between anticipated ideals and changing ideals
   1. Rural --> More city-oriented ideal

1. Result of changing expectations regarding government responsibility
2. Not everyone benefited from state support
   1. National housing act required higher incomes to pay down-payments and interst

1. Aging housing was crowded
   1. This created social disarray
      1. People feared family breakdown from this
   2. Vets protested lack of housing
2. CMHC fails to provide new housing in cities

1. Who lives there
2. Crime
3. Health/ Happiness
4. Infrastructure
5. Education
6. Values
7. Resources
8. Public housing

1. CA lacked the racial divides present in US
2. Large scale migration of white residents to more racially homogenous living areas
3. Was not as influential as in US
   1. Suburbia was more racially diverse/ less homogenous. Backgrounds of suburban residents varied by province
      1. But homogeneity was still supported, and race was frequently used as a criteria by land developers

1. Fear of rise of communism

1. Increased home-based responsibilities

1. Child-centered (required maternal leadership), encouraged family time
   1. Lots of driving = harder to have joint parental efforts (only one car)
   2. Not a lot of common space; little attention to women's needs
2. Uniform housing
   1. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation inspection and zoning laws
3. Car-culture

   Nota:

   • Distance from work Few intersections Cul-de-sacs Driveways Many parking lots Lack of sidewalks
4. Accidental green spaces
   1. Originally why people moved here
   2. Start to disappear with new developments
   3. Gov has to start planning

Nota:

• After WWI, there was the Soldier's Settlement Act

1. Assumptions of policy makers affect policy
2. Research more

1. Betty Friedman (the Feminine Mystique)
   1. Challenged the claim that men and women were equal
      1. Thought suburbs consigned women to subordination and frustration
   2. Associated women with evils of modern society
      1. Ignores the complexity of their lives
   3. Upper-middle class
2. Hansa Mehta
   1. Delegate on UN human rights commission
   2. Fought for gender equality
3. John Humphrey
   1. Wrote 1st draft of declaration on human rights

1. Leduc, major crude oil discovery
   1. Created boom in oil exploration and exports

1. Depended on class