New York City has many streets named after numbers and letters. Streets in the suburbs are often named after trees, such as oak, maple and pine. Syndicated newspaper columnist Bill Vaughan (1915-1977) was known for his aphorisms and used this in his syndicated “Senator Soaper” column in The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) on August 6, 1963:
 
“SENATOR SOAPER Says: SUBURBIA is where the developer bulldozes out all the trees but makes up for it by naming the streets after them.”
 
Vaughan’s one-liner has been reprinted many times in newspaper articles, books and websites.
 
   
Wikipedia: William E. Vaughan
William E. (“Bill”) Vaughan (October 8, 1915 – February 25, 1977) was an American columnist and author. Born in Saint Louis, Missouri, he wrote a syndicated column for the Kansas City Star from 1946 until his death in 1977. He was published in Reader’s Digest and Better Homes and Gardens under the pseudonym Burton Hillis. He attended Washington University in St. Louis.
 
His folksy aphorisms (published in his “Starbeams” feature) are often collected in books and on Internet sites.
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Quotations
“Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.”
   
Newspapers.com
6 August 1963, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), pg. 6, col. 3:
SENATOR SOAPER Says:
SUBURBIA is where the developer bulldozes out all the trees but makes up for it by naming the streets after them.
 
Newspapers.com
31 January 1964, The Gazette (Emporia, KS), “Smiles,” pg. 4, col. 2:
According to Bill Vaughan, the suburbs are where the developer bulldozes out the trees then names the streets after them.
 
Google News Archive
6 October 1965, Milwaukee (WI) Journal, ‘Senator Soaper says” by Bill Vaughan, GreenSheet, pg. 1, col. 3:
Subdividers are not without a feeling for nature. After they bulldoze the trees off the property they name the streets after them.
 
28 June 1969, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, “Definitions” by Sydney J. Harris, pg. A4, col. 3:
Driving through a desolated suburb the other night, looking for street names to find my way, I thought of Bill Vaughan’s marvelous definition: “Surburia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.”
 
Google Books
The Reader’s Digest Treasury of American Humor
New York, NY: American Heritage Press
1972
Pg. 33:
Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.
 
Google Books
20,000 Quips & Quotes
By Evan Esar
New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books
1995, ©1968
Pg. 775:
Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them. — Bill Vaughan
 
Google Books
Words from the Wise: Over 6,000 of the Smartest Things Ever Said
By Rosemarie Jarski
New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing
2007
Pg. 163:
Suburbia is where the developers bulldoze out the trees, then name the streets after them.
Bill Vaughn