Better housing and dedicated home recreation spaces pulled urban sociability indoors

Evidence

The modern urbanite-even the poorest-is simply far more adequately housed than was the average city dweller in times past. When he or she wants to visit with friends, the living room is as comfortable as the street or corner tavern. Many urban homes have areas specifically designed for adult and child recreation (playrooms, yards). These are made possible not only by improvements in building techniques but by the areal expansion of the city as well-the latter having made available a greater allotment of space per family. These private resources are supplemented by public ones-parks and playgrounds-another example of the modern city’s propensity to relegate special activities to specialized space. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 394

Categorization

• XREF: Reinforces the reader’s core thesis that urban anonymity grows as collective street life migrates into private, specialized domestic space — connects to Simmel’s blasé withdrawal.