Historian Eric Avila focuses on four cultural institutions that emerged in postwar Los Angeles: Disneyland, film noir, Dodger Stadium, and the elaborate freeway system, which by the late 1950s crisscrossed the region. This book is a rich study of the links between postwar suburban development and the creation of race, class, and ethnic identities in Los Angeles.

Lizbeth Cohen argues that postwar transformations can be better understood by viewing 20th-century America as a "consumer's republic"—a national, and largely suburban, community in which members participate by purchasing.

Davis' book is one of the earliest and most notable works to reveal how the social, political, and racial tensions in modern Los Angeles stem from a history of segregation in housing, controversy over urban development, and the rise of the Southern California suburb.

Hayden writes a cultural critique of the American suburbs, using a contemporary framework to show that the suburbs are much more than the accidental byproduct of a housing demand. Hayden divides the growth of suburbia into distinct categories, and seamlessly blends together historical information with interesting facts and stories.

Jackson's book outlines the development of the American suburban ideal, from its inception at the end of the Industrial Revolution all the way to the 1980s. Jackson uses surprising and interesting stories to draw the reader in, providing a variety of perspectives on suburban growth.