Instead, Acton became a bedroom community with an increased housing demand due to two main factors, the Baby Boom and the Cold War. As GI-Bill educated women and men in Boston and its inner suburbs entered the employment sector they found housing in their hometowns expensive and tight leading many to look beyond State Highway 128 which was being absorbed into the Interstate system as s portion of Interstate-95. At the same time, the Cold War expansion of Fort Devens, Hanscom AFB, and Natick Labs accompanied by the growth of high technology DoD contractors spurred a large increase in college-educated professionals seeking housing within commuting distance. To meet this demand and benefit financially, a lot of Acton's farmland began to turn into housing developments.