What is the history of Levittown?
Levittown in Nassau County is a rather quaint hamlet that was planned and constructed from 1947 to 1951. Named after the firm Levitt & Sons, Inc. founded by Abraham Levitt, the settlement was built for returning World War II veterans and is today considered one of the first mass-produced suburbs in the country.
What were Levittown communities?
Levittown in Long Island, New York, is widely recognized as the first modern American suburb. It had swimming pools, shopping centers, and backyards. Each home looked the same in Levittown — they were all built in the Cape Cod-style and featured the same floorplan. They each cost around $7,000.
Why is Levittown considered important?
Levittown’s very existence, in fact, owes to a rare act of American socialism: the 1948 Housing Bill, which loosened billions of dollars in credit and gave every American the chance to get one of those five-percent-down, 30-year mortgages in the first place.
Who lived in Levittown?
Although blacks account for 8 percent of Long Island’s population, they are scarce here. Of Levittown’s 53,286 residents in 1990, there were 51,883 whites, 2,184 Hispanic people, 950 Asians and Pacific Islanders, 137 blacks (0.26 percent), 31 American Indians and Aleuts and 285 ”other. ”
How did Levittown affect American society?
But Levittown was about more than just the houses. As the largest and most influential housing development of its time, it became a postwar poster child for everything right (affordability, better standard of living) and wrong (architectural monotony, poor planning, racism) with suburbia.
What was life like in Levittown?
The Construction of Levittown One problem was a severe housing shortage. A combination of unusually high birth rates (which bred the baby boomer generation) and plummeting construction left many families struggling to find any suitable shelters, sometimes living in boxcars, chicken coops, and large iceboxes.
Was Levittown successful?
By 1948, Life magazine deemed them “the nation’s biggest housebuilder,” a title held for another seven years. But the Levitts built not just houses; they built entire communities, complete with schools, churches, parks, ball fields, and shopping centers.
Is Levittown segregated?
William J. Levitt refused to sell Levittown homes to people of color, and the FHA, upon authorizing loans for the construction of Levittowns, included racial covenants in each deed, making each Levittown a segregated community.
Why does California not have basements?
“It’s easier to build without a basement if you were doing assembly-line construction.” In addition, fear of earthquakes was often cited as a reason for the dearth of basements in the Golden State.
Why don t houses in Levittown have basements?
“But I knew why people were so interested.” Levittown houses have no basements. Of the 17,311 homes built between 1952 and 1957, not one came with a basement. They were built on concrete slabs, laced with copper pipe for hot water radiant heating.
Prior to 1947, the Levittown area consisted of two settlements: Jerusalem and Island Trees. Jerusalem began in the 1640’s as a Quaker settlement centered around Wantagh Avenue and Southern State Parkway.
Is Levittown the legacy of suburbs?
But the legacy of the suburbs that Levittown embodied was not simple, as shown by the struggle of the Myers. Others attacked suburban communities not just for their segregationism, but for a uniformity of spirit some saw as worth struggling against.
How many Levitt houses were built between 1947 and 1951?
There were 27 steps involved in building Levitt houses. In 1947, crews were erecting 18 houses a day. By July 1948, this number rose to 30 houses a day. (Matarrese, History of Levittown) The project came to an end on November 21, 1951. (E.J. Smits, Nassau Suburbia) Total number of Levitt houses built between 1947-1951: 17,447.
How did Bill Levitt control the appearance of Levittown?
The Levitts’ level of control over the appearance of Levittown did not stop at the yards and houses but extended to the appearance of the inhabitants themselves. Bill Levitt only sold houses to white buyers, excluding African Americans from buying houses in his communities even after.