In Ancient Rome, it was the poor people who lived in the suburbs. The rich lived in the city center, close to work, close to entertainment, close to all the finest restaurants (or the Roman version of restaurant).
But in post-World War II America, that all started to change. Public transportation became more readily available, and bedroom communities rose up, first outside of New York City, and then swept the nation.
The riots of the 1960’s convinced many ethnics and the few remaining Protestants who lived in the big cities, that the American dream was better found in the suburbs, and a great wealth transfer from the cities to the suburbs began in earnest.
As that happened, a familiar voting pattern started to become accepted wisdom. The Democrats dominated the cities, while the suburbs were Republican bastions. And for close to 30 years, that was pretty much how it worked out.
White middle-class families, some ethnic Irish or Italian or Polish from their neighborhoods in the cities, mixed with Presbyterians and Anglicans from the wealthier parts of the cities. Other Protestants, usually Baptists or Methodists came in from rural parts of the country, looking to find work and their version of the American dream. They mixed in a monochromatic melting pot, and slowly lost their own identities, as their kids went to public (better and cheaper) high schools, intermarried, and moved to other suburbs or sometimes to other regions of the country.
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