2. Gans' experience in Levittown was a positive one and he supported suburban sprawl since a house in a homogenous community (of almost all whites) is what many people of the era desired and even demanded. This was an extremely important feature to homeowners all the way back to the early twenties who had been living in homes prior to that with wooden shingle roofs and open flame heat sources, where a few good sparks from the chimney picked up by the wind could land them on any nearby roof, including the home it came from of course, and begin a raging house fire. They are stories important to everyone." The square footage of these new homes, roughly 1,000 square feet, is unthinkable today in new homes as the average new American home is now over 2,500 square feet. The FHA only offered mortgages to non-mixed developments which discouraged developers from creating racially integrated housing. Yes, I know all about that stuff. I have yet to find that capability in any smartphone platform I have examined to date! The Levitts would go on to create two other communities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and the legacy of the first Levittown has become a legend in the history of the American suburbs. Thanks for expanding on the discrimination question. City-dwellers found that they could purchase their very own modern home just as easily as they could rent a walk-up apartment, and homebuilders like Levitt found themselves in a booming business servicing a seemingly insatiable demand. Ive observed outward anger in your posts. What are you 12? What I mean is color, and underlining! [29], As of the 2010 United States census, there were 51,881 people, 17,207 households, and 14,031 families residing in the community. What the Levitts did was perhaps more notable because of size of their remarkable housing development and the clarity of their discriminatory policy. [16] He claimed their actions were not discriminatory but intended to maintain the value of their properties. Takeoff Software. The Myers family faced endless harassment as well as implicit and explicit threats of violence from other residents in the community, with little help from the local police to keep the mobs of angry racists from congregating outside their home day and night. Marketplace preference for the colonial look ended all this innovation in later developments. And, sadly, the fear of that outcome may have contributed to their imposing a racial exclusion policy. Levittown, Long Island became known as "Fertility Valley" and "The Rabbit Hutch" as many of the returning servicemen weren't just buying their first home, they were starting their family and having children in such significant numbers that the generation of new babies became known as the "Baby Boom.". All that with 50 lots. The Levitts offered six models for their Pennsylvania Levittown. Asbestos was absolutely fireproof, didnt rot, didnt decay, and lasted longer than any other material except slate, of course. [27] The most common use is Levittown as defined by the United States Postal Service's Zip Code 11756. Levittown in Nassau County is a rather quaint hamlet that was planned and constructed from 1947 to 1951. Share your own pictures and descriptions with GuardianWitness. If the hands reaching into those deep pockets were black, or any shade other than Lily white, they were absolutely not welcome. It worse than Scotland. Share your own pictures and descriptions with GuardianWitness, on Twitter and Instagram using #hoc50 or let us know suggestions in the comments below, Pruitt-Igoe: the troubled high-rise that came to define urban America a history of cities in 50 buildings, day 21, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies.

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