A New Blueprint for Survival

How did the creation of places for recreation and leisure affect how American's prioritized labor in their lives? 

The New Deal radically transformed American space and culture. During this time, there was a proliferation of public spaces dedicated to recreation and leisure. The map below allows for a visualization of the diversity in these projects, their extensiveness, and their legacies today. While governmental policies were changing the course of labor in a more broad aspect, the WPA projects changed the lives of the working class at a more personal level, by creating parks, recreation centers, libraries, and more. The increase of spaces dedicated to leisurely activities transformed the way American's structured their daily lives, and more discretely, it helped deconstruct a culture that emphasized productivity as the blueprint to survival.

Bibliography

The Living New Deal. "Projects in Washington D.C." Accessed December 10, 2019. https://livingnewdeal.org/us/washington-dc/