We have seen how a middle class of private property owners grew up in America, in contrast to the landed elite in Europe. This middle class grew up from a base of independent land-owning farmers who were politically and economically responsible. In the 20th century, home ownership became a central part of American idealism. A home-owning middle class contributed to stabilizing American democracy. New communities emerged and expanded in a suburban sprawl as transportation corridors opened. Higher income groups tended to commute between the city, where they work, and the suburbs, where they live.

Communities within cities have life cycles, and their complexion changes over time as high income groups move on and are replaced by successively lower income groups. In some communities there is an eventual reversal of this trend, often slowly, resulting in gradual renewal and rehabilitation of older communities.

As the population has grown and crowding has begun to be evident, an awareness has emerged about protecting the environment and controlling growth. People have become concerned with maintaining a quality of life. This has resulted in such political actions as downzoning and rent control.

Property ownership patterns in America can be explained, to a certain extent, according to a structural-functional theoretical model. This social theory stresses the contribution of peoples' well being to the maintenance of the social system. The function of maintaining the system is seen as taking precedence over all other aspects.

From early landowning farmers to present-day homeowners, land ownership has illustrated modes of functionality that have contributed to structures in society. The development of suburban communities, growth controls, and rent control are examples of social statements in land use. When public perception of function changes, or a particular function becomes obsolete, political and social structures are modified. In this way social structure is adaptive to internal and external factors or agents of change. A large-scale social function concerning land use is illustrated by the major contribution of private property to the foundation of capitalism and American society. A local-scale social function in land use is illustrated in the structure of communities that are controlled through zoning and building codes.

Another pattern is that ethnic groups tend to live in proximity to each other in residential communities. This shows the strong pull of cultural affinity. Los Angeles, for example, has its Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Koreatown, Hispanic, Black, and White communities, and others. Ethnic groupings are common to people everywhere. People's ethnic identity through custom, language, religion (that is, their culture) is like a binding social agent and is seen in land use in both residential and commercial communities which have an ethnic concentration.