This chapter, looking at the Second World War, foregrounds the concerns about the post-war future that took shape in relation to people’s hopes for the next generation and with their sense of conditions locally at the front of their minds. It first uses a case study of attitudes towards urban reconstruction to probe where people’s ideas about the post-war future came from. The chapter argues that memories of the inter-war period and everyday experiences of wartime were fundamental in shaping these hopes. A second case study, about concerns surrounding post-war employment, highlights the complexity of popular assumptions about what was likely to follow the war, again signalling the importance of place in shaping people’s memories and aspirations.