The name of the subdivision where I spent most of my childhood years is strangely grand: Imperial Hills. It sits in the city of Plymouth, a western suburb of Minneapolis, among other subdivisions such as Hadley Hills, Sunny Acres, Greentree, and Pinecrest–all pleasant, optimistic names, but generally not bearing much relationship to anything contained therein. We used the names nevertheless. They told us where friends lived, how to get from one place to another.

Our house in Imperial Hills–a name that seems more ominous today, when the United States is a lone superpower, than it did when I was a child–was built in the early 1970’s, a split-level in a subdivision of split-level and two-story colonial houses. Ours was one of the more modest homes, but there wasn’t that much difference between them. A sense of equality existed among we subdivision dwellers, though that sense did not necessarily extend to those who lived outside the subdivisions, as I will explain.

We lived in Wayzata Public School District, which includes not only much of Plymouth, but also the older homes of Wayzata–a smaller, older town sitting on beautiful Lake Minnetonka, the enormous, many-bay-margined lake to the south–and some rural areas and small towns to the north and west. Wayzata has some huge houses, although many of these kids went to private schools. I later came to see my classmates at my Wayzata High School as falling roughly into three large groups–the wealthier group living in Wayzata (though not everyone there is wealthy), some of whom belonged to Wayzata Country Club; a group from Plymouth, made up of newer suburbs; and kids from rural areas such as Hamel.

Although these class divisions existed as I was growing up, today the class divide seems to have worsened. As evidence, I point to new home construction. What I see being built today looks very different from Imperial Hills.

New houses today seem different to me and tend to be either of two types: huge, expensive homes, many of them boxy “McMansions,” or townhouses and condominiums. There’s not much in between being built. I don’t see very many new neighborhoods like ours, where the houses are more modest. We seem to have entered into a less egalitarian era, one in which the populace is divided into the professional/executive/successful entrepreneurial class and everybody else.

Before I continue being righteous, I should note that our house was bigger than the typical house of the 1950’s and earlier. Many of the latter exist not far from Imperial Hills–alongside Highway 101 and in the more modest parts of Wayzata. Houses seem to be getting bigger and bigger, and ours represented one step in that process. That being said, the difference between the biggest new homes and the new townhouses and condos seems larger than ever. The trend in our capitalistic society is towards greater inequality, and I can only wonder at what that will bring.

My parents still live in our split-level house in Imperial Hills. I feel fortunate, over thirty years later, to still be visiting them there. Not much has changed. Many people have added on to their homes, and there is a new neighborhood of McMansions to the northwest, but for the most part it seems the same.

The neighborhood still has its brick gates at the main entrance. These bear its name in white letters, some of which are missing now. My mother tells me that the loss of the letters has led to calls for a revival of the now-defunct neighborhood association. The association used to organize a Fourth of July parade, a summer picnic, and luminaria for Christmas. I suppose that was when the neighborhood was newer–brand new, for the most part–and younger with more children running through it. For the neighborhood’s sake, and for the sake of its inhabitants, I hope they will renew the association and fix the sign. A subdivision with a grand name deserves at least that much.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 2nd, 2005 at 8:03 am and is filed under Autobiography, Minnesota.