William Levitt came to symbolize the new suburban growth with his use of mass-production techniques to construct large developments of houses, eponymously named Levittowns, selling for under $10,000. Many other relatively inexpensive suburban developments soon appeared throughout the country.
Who contributed to the growth of suburbs?
The end of World War II led to a boom in the growth of suburbs. Returning soldiers were ready to settle down and start families and the government provided low interest loans to help them buy houses. Between 1950 and 1956 suburbs grew by 46% and thousands of acres of farmland and forest were tuned into suburbs.
What caused the growth of the suburbs in the 1950s?
The suburbs grew 47 percent in the 1950s as more and more Americans staked out their own little territory. New housing starts, which had dropped to 100,000 a year during the war, climbed to 1.5 million annually.
What 3 things contributed to the growth of suburbs?
The growth of suburbs resulted from several historical forces, including the social legacy of the Depression, mass demobilization after the War (and the consequent “baby boom”), greater government involvement in housing and development, the mass marketing of the automobile, and a dramatic change in demographics.
Who caused the transformation of the building of homes in the suburbs?
Just when many middle and lower class white American families began their journey of upward mobility by moving to the suburbs with the help of government spending and government programs such as the FHA and the GI Bill, many African Americans and other racial minorities found themselves systematically shut out.
What was the rise of the Sunbelt?
One of the central developments of the second half of the 20th century was the shift in political and economic power from the older industrial cities of the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West. Since 1964, every elected U.S. president has been born or has claimed residence in the Sunbelt.
What did William Levitt do to create suburbia?
The developer’s single-handed creation of Levittown, Long Island, right after World War II laid the groundwork for modern-day suburbia and spawned thousands of copycat communities nationwide. It also got the term Levittown into textbooks, museum exhibits and documentary films as a synonym for a new way of American life.
Where did William Levitt build most of his houses?
By market standards, Levitt was a huge success. The national demand for houses led to similar large-scale “Levittowns” in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as copycat developments across the U.S.
Why did William Levitt refuse to integrate his development?
Levitt refused to integrate his developments. The Jewish Levitt barred Jews from Strathmore, his first pre-Levittown development on Long Island in New York, and he refused to sell his homes to African Americans.
Is the town of Levitt still 90 percent white?
The town remains more than 90 percent white today. A recent profile of the developer cited a 1954 Saturday Evening Post article that quoted Levitt: “If we sell one house to a Negro family, then 90 to 95 percent of our white customers will not buy into the community.
