The American Dream is interpreted in many different ways. This dream is mostly associated with hard work, success, family and most importantly money. However, the big question is, is the “American Dream” a white picket fence? Or a 44th floor penthouse? Generations go through drastic changes, such as; the music they hear, the fashion they wear, the way they think, and the slang they use in their vocabulary. Can the American Dream be another generation change? If we look back into history, after World War 2, people were migrating into the suburbs; they wanted to have a family and a house to go to every night. However, studies show that over the past twelve years that has changed. We can blame many causes for this change, for example, culture views, economic circumstances, and social life. Younger adults now and days, spend approximately four to eight years in college to earn a degree for a successful career.
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The problem with this is that starting a family could be difficult while being in college, so most of the young adults delay it. Having debts after college is another huge setback. Just in New York, a debt of a student who attended a public 4-year institution and private non-profit 4-year institution is $27,822 . The next three articles will summarize what we call the American Dream now in comparison to our past times.
In the first article, “The New American Dream is Living in a City, Not Owning a House in the Suburbs” written by Sam Frizell, gives us many reasons why the “American Dream” is pro city. The articles goal was to explain why the “American Dream” shifted from suburbs to city and how long will it would stay like this. The article opened with a quote from George W. Bush in 2002, where he rooted for homeowners and said, “I do believe in the American Dream, and owning a home is a part of that dream, it just is. Right here in America if you own your own home, you’re realizing the American Dream” . Years later, we are thinking the complete opposite. In the census statistics stated in the article, shows fewer people are buying single-family houses and the sales are decreasing year by year, unlike, apartment units are rising and reached their highest share since 1973 . Then Sam goes into details in the article what might be the reasons for this dramatic change in housing. First reason explained in the article is why people are choosing to live in the city (or close to it) rather than the suburbs is a person who is fresh out of college and getting their first job or someone who is not sure if the job is for them to make as their career, is going to delay even longer in moving into the suburbs and buying a home. Another cause for the decline in the suburban life is the younger generation is more focused on their social life than to settle down and owning a home. “The 25 to 34 year-old age group is focused on living near their peers, their work, reduce automobiles use, and experience the city life” . Another reason is the generation now is thinking differently than the one in the past. The older generation wants to own a house and start a family because that is their goal in life. However, the younger generation wants to be surrounded around many public spaces and different social activities they could do to meet new people . In other words they do not want to be bored. Last reason of many not mentioned, is that in todays world is harder to own a home because that requires on taking out a loan for a mortgage and many other necessities. Since the market of the mid-2000s, banks lending loans to new homebuyer’s have been in a decline and harder to obtain. Economically this country has been on a roller coaster, with some rough bumps on the way. This has to be one of the biggest factors why many Americans are losing the chance of owning a home. On the second article, a thousand adults were surveyed on a poll conducted by the Allstate/National Journal . Their researches concluded that Americans are living on credit rather than having their
The problem with this is that starting a family could be difficult while being in college, so most of the young adults delay it. Having debts after college is another huge setback. Just in New York, a debt of a student who attended a public 4-year institution and private non-profit 4-year institution is $27,822 . The next three articles will summarize what we call the American Dream now in comparison to our past times.
In the first article, “The New American Dream is Living in a City, Not Owning a House in the Suburbs” written by Sam Frizell, gives us many reasons why the “American Dream” is pro city. The articles goal was to explain why the “American Dream” shifted from suburbs to city and how long will it would stay like this. The article opened with a quote from George W. Bush in 2002, where he rooted for homeowners and said, “I do believe in the American Dream, and owning a home is a part of that dream, it just is. Right here in America if you own your own home, you’re realizing the American Dream” . Years later, we are thinking the complete opposite. In the census statistics stated in the article, shows fewer people are buying single-family houses and the sales are decreasing year by year, unlike, apartment units are rising and reached their highest share since 1973 . Then Sam goes into details in the article what might be the reasons for this dramatic change in housing. First reason explained in the article is why people are choosing to live in the city (or close to it) rather than the suburbs is a person who is fresh out of college and getting their first job or someone who is not sure if the job is for them to make as their career, is going to delay even longer in moving into the suburbs and buying a home. Another cause for the decline in the suburban life is the younger generation is more focused on their social life than to settle down and owning a home. “The 25 to 34 year-old age group is focused on living near their peers, their work, reduce automobiles use, and experience the city life” . Another reason is the generation now is thinking differently than the one in the past. The older generation wants to own a house and start a family because that is their goal in life. However, the younger generation wants to be surrounded around many public spaces and different social activities they could do to meet new people . In other words they do not want to be bored. Last reason of many not mentioned, is that in todays world is harder to own a home because that requires on taking out a loan for a mortgage and many other necessities. Since the market of the mid-2000s, banks lending loans to new homebuyer’s have been in a decline and harder to obtain. Economically this country has been on a roller coaster, with some rough bumps on the way. This has to be one of the biggest factors why many Americans are losing the chance of owning a home. On the second article, a thousand adults were surveyed on a poll conducted by the Allstate/National Journal . Their researches concluded that Americans are living on credit rather than having their