History Main / CutAndPasteSuburb

* The storyline in the Rays' song "Silhouettes (on the shades)", later covered by Herman's Hermits, depends on this trope.

* The Russian film ''Film/TheIronyOfFate'' involves a man, having been put on a plane while drunk, ending up in an apartment in [[TheCityFormerlyKnownAs Leningrad]] all but identical to his Moscow apartment, even down to having the same lock on the door. As entire standardized districts of USSR show, the phenomenon of copy-and-paste housing is not limited to suburbs.

-->-- ''AWrinkleInTime''

This is a common trait of the StepfordSuburbia.

* The film ''Film/OverTheHedge''. The homeowner association makes sure that nobody is different.

Some call these Levittowns after UsefulNotes/WilliamLevitt, who innovated several improvements in planned communities. To this day there are many cities named (officially or unofficially) Levittown (list at Wikipedia [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown here]], the presence of one in PuertoRico shows how far William Levitt's influence extended.

Contrast with StepfordSuburbia, a subdivision or town where everyone appears to be happy but is hiding a [[TownWithADarkSecret dark secret]].

Some call these Levittowns after UsefulNotes/WilliamLevitt, who innovated several improvements in planned communities. To this day there are many cities named (officially or unofficially) Levittown (list at Wikipedia [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown here]], the presence of one in PuertoRico shows how far William Levitt's influence extended. (Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} uses the term "tract housing" because a whole line of them is built at once, while recognizing the American and Canadian slang term "cookie-cutter housing". "Development" is a more general term, used when things beyond just the houses are planned out at the start. Often this includes more complicated street patterns, gated communities, and usually a little bit more variety in house design (but not by much).

Some call these Levittowns after UsefulNotes/WilliamLevitt, who innovated several improvements in planned communities. (Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} uses this as the official term, but it is not to be confused with actual towns ''named'' Levittown.) Others use the term "tract housing" because a whole line of them is built at once. Nowadays the most common term is "development."

* In the ''Homer Price'' stories by Robert [=McCloskey=], the local millionaire decides on a whim to build a new suburb for Centersburg. One hundred identical houses with her mansion in the center. HilarityEnsues when said mansion is moved away accidentally, and the hundred-and-first house put in its place. Did I mention that the road sign guy got into the hooch buried under said mansion and has yet to start putting up the street signs?

* The chillingly homogenous neighborhood in Kamazotz, used to great effect in ''AWrinkleInTime''. All the houses are the same, as are the yards, [[IndividualityIsIllegal everyone does everything exactly the same or else they are penalized...]]

* In Creator/JackCampbell's ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' novel ''Invincible'', they find such a planet, inhabited by sentient herbivores that have annihilated the entire ecology except for what they need and built undifferentiated homes, like a vast planet covering herd.

* Gru's lair in ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' is located in the middle of one of these. With its dark colors, larger architecture and dead lawn, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' is set in one such suburb. Dexter's home is identical to the others on the outside, since his laboratory is underground, but his neighbor and archnemesis Mandark has a massive aboveground lab that looms over his house.

Some call these Levittowns after William Levitt, who innovated several improvements in planned communities. (Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} uses this as the official term, but it is not to be confused with actual towns ''named'' Levittown.) Others use the term "tract housing" because a whole line of them is built at once. Nowadays the most common term is "development."

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Lampshaded in ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}.'' When in Britain, Asterix and Obelix walk down an endless row of absolutely identical houses, and Asterix says, "Good thing we have the house number. Its description might not have been enough."

[[quoteright:350:[[Toys/{{Lego}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blog_coupland_mocca_houses.png]]]]

!!Examples

* ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'': The apartment block where Rei lives is an urban variant, one of a long row of utterly identical buildings.

* In Creator/JackCampbell's ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' novel ''Invicible'', they find such a planet, inhabited by sentient herbivores that have annihilated the entire ecology except for what they need and built undifferentiated homes, like a vast planet covering herd.

* ''{{Weeds}}'' - even uses "Little Boxes" as its theme song (see ''Music'')

[[quoteright:280:[[Creator/GuillermoMordillo http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mordillo04.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:280:Sometimes, someone tries to make his home distinctive.]]

* ''Film/EdwardScissorhands'' also contains one of these.

* In Creator/JackCampbell's ''TheLostFleet'' novel ''Invicible'', they find such a planet, inhabited by sentient herbivores that have annihilated the entire ecology except for what they need and built undifferentiated homes, like a vast planet covering herd.

* The Russian film ''Film/TheIronyOfFate'' involves a man, having been put on a plane while drunk, ending up in an apartment in Leningrad all but identical to his Moscow apartment, even down to having the same lock on the door. As entire standardized districts of USSR show, the phenomenon of copy-and-paste housing is not limited to suburbs.

** This was based on TruthInTelevision, as Soviet architecture was incredibly uniform and boring. The animated prologue for the movie, otherwise unrelated to its plot, plays on it: an architect goes from bureaucrat to bureaucrat until the whole drawing of his house gets covered with stamps of approval, but the resulting approved version is a standard boring block house, a far cry from the original. Then the mass construction of such identical houses results in them taking over the world.

* ''{{Weeds}}'' - even the theme song "[...] And they're all made of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same."

Similar communities exist in throughout North America, [[CouncilEstate Great Britain]] and the rest of Europe, but the degree of conformity may differ.

* Lampshaded in ''{{Asterix}}.'' When in Britain, Asterix and Obelix walk down an endless row of absolutely identical houses, and Asterix says, "Good thing we have the house number. Its description might not have been enough."

* In the opening action sequence of ''MinorityReport'', John Anderton is chagrined to find that he can't identify the house the murder will take place in because of the identical look to everything in the housing complex. (It's only because of the open door he is able to find it.)
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' - Harry's relatives the Dursleys also live in one of these neighborhoods in [[Film/HarryPotter the movies]]. Identical cars are present as well. ProductPlacement or trope emphasis?
* ''EdwardScissorhands'' also contains one of these.

* ''{{Pleasantville}}''. No difference and no color.

* The Russian film ''Irony Of Fate'' involves a man, having been put on a plane while drunk, ending up in an apartment in Leningrad all but identical to his Moscow apartment, even down to having the same lock on the door. As entire standardized districts of USSR show, the phenomenon of copy-and-paste housing is not limited to suburbs.

* ''Film/TheIncredibles''. Similar cars in the driveways as well.
* ''OggyAndTheCockroaches'' - Oggy and company live in such a suburb. Oggy's house has its roof of a different color.
* Gru's lair in ''Film/DespicableMe'' is located in the middle of one of these. With its dark colors, larger architecture and dead lawn, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

* ClassicDisneyShorts are full of these neighborhoods. DonaldDuck and Goofy in particular enjoy the lifestyle.

* ''TheIncredibles''. Similar cars in the driveways as well.

* Gru's lair in ''DespicableMe'' is located in the middle of one of these. With its dark colors, larger architecture and dead lawn, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

* In ''WebOriginal/{{Homestuck}}'', the majority of Act 1 takes place in one, as can be seen in pages like [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=001982 this]] and [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002146 this.]]

* Parodied in ''WebOriginal/TheOnion'''s ''Our Dumb Century'', with an article about post-war housing headlined "Ant-like Conformity Now Affordable".