LEVITTOWN: The Birth of Suburban America
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- #places #suburban #educational
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I don’t know if this is the channel for it. But I’d be interested in the recently discussed but just theorised union of what’s called CANZUK (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom.) or alternatively the eventual theorised union of the “anglosphere” which is CANZUK+ USA.
I am 55 and grew up in the suburbs. It was awesome. We had a blast. I'm very grateful I grew up in the suburbs.
Those racial covenant deeds were SUPER common throughout America up to the 1960s. And not just in the South - I've done projects mapping these in places like Seattle and Minnesota, well into the 1960s.
I think he knew his market he couldn't fix society but he could build much needed houses
and yet...he was the Mr. Potter (Ie from Its a Wonderful Life), since they rented out a large % of the homes: it was basically still exploitation.
He wasn't the Bailey Building and Loan helping reg families finance and own a home, even if it was a modest one. He was a ruthless, uncaring capitalist only concerned about the power/$/influence his corp had:
I live in a Levitt house in Humboldt County, CA. Our town lumber mill was making the kits for them and shipping them by rail to the east coast in the 40s/50s
the sadness caused by how easy previous generations had it when talking about home ownership just... perfect.
It was only perfect if you were white. According to "The Color of the Law", non-whites weren't allowed to get government loans. I was pretty shocked when I read that.
As long as you were white...
Yeah, like I could buy a house back then with my lunch money today...
Please consider doing a similar video on Radburn New Jersey. There was a town that was built with the intent of making walking and cycle paths and underpasses that protected children from getting hit by cars while going to school but the Great Depression ruined it. They even had support of the Roosevelt and might have become the way our towns would have been developed if not for the stock market crash.
Interesting! I’ll have to look into that!
I would like to hear one on that
Love your content Eric! Thanks For this ❤❤❤❤
The first time I saw a subdivision as a child, I asked my Dad how kids coming home from school could find their house. They were all identical. I lived in the country. 😅
A typical Levitt home was NOT 6 bedrooms. It might have 6 rooms, but certainly not more than three bedrooms and one bathroom.
Truth.
house I am in was $9500 in 1950 when it was built with 250 down.
About $125,000 today. Still pretty affordable.
I'll take a master plan suburbs or rural small town over city any day of the week.
Question: was this the first step to mobile and then manufactured homes? The description of the homes sound like modular homes.
4:35 - Mid roll ads
5:55 - Chapter 1 - Levitt & sons
12:45 - Chapter 2 - The early levitt homes
21:10 - Chapter 3 - The exclusive white suburb
26:30 - Chapter 4 - Changing directiong for the 1950's
31:25 - Chapter 5 - The debated history of levittown
34:50 - Conclusion
Good biographics ep, thank you.
L-Town for life! Levittown and Fairless Hills have the weirdest set ups. If you get lost in a PA Levittown neighborhood good luck finding your way out of the maze.
Just follow the drive
Other builders copied the 'luxury' of the built in TV. My dad owned a TV repair shop while I was growing up and there was a lady with such a TV. He never could convince her that the problems were because the TV was in the wall. When it finally died and the new one didn't fit the original cut out, he convinced her to put built in bookshelves on the sides of it and had the carpenter put ventilation holes on the sides with the TV.
But children lived in Levittown
And hid in the shelters underground
Until the Soviets turned their ships around
And tore the Cuban missiles down
Grew up in Levittown, Pa. Never had to lock our doors. Kids were safer in suburbs. Actual grass and trees everywhere, not just some central park. Traffic better. Quiet at night for sleeping. People all knew each other. .
4:32 - Eric obviously chooses Casual Saturday morning to record the ad material, and I mean that as a compliment LOL
7:33 "Yes, that's funny..." Awesome.
4:28 yeah, but that could be said about every country depending on the period of time being talked about.
I’m born and raised in Levittown Pa. My grandparents bought the house in the mid 60s for 10k.
I apologize for my relentless sarcasm. I have been drinking and I'm in a silly mood.
It is popular to malign suburbs but I grew up in a Southern California suburb in the 70’s and have fond memories of that time. It was a great place to grow up.
Good for you but atomized and car centric communties are god awful for land use, socializing, and mental health. Mixed use walkable communities with good transit and not requiring a car are superior in every way and I’m glad Gen Z is waking up to this.
I grew up next door to Levittown in East Meadow. Spent many a Friday night at the Levittown roller rink.
Screw Trump
@@Rxizou-x6j cope and seethe.
Sounds like my central Texas house, built in the early 50s. Two identical pecan trees in the front (one survives to this day), and an _enormous_ oak tree in the back.
@11:22 - One house very 16 minutes, haha! That makes me laugh very time I see it.
I think William levitt would be a good Biographics video
I hear Levittown and always think about how confusing it can get driving through the one in Eastern Pennsylvania.
LOL at moms with wine at 3 pm! So true of the suburban Toronto neighbourhood I lived in before moving to the rural Canadian Rockies. The first things I think of with suburbia is sprawl, cars, crappy public transit, and not being able to walk to the store.
FYI, @7:56, it's not "magnitudes higher," it's "orders of magnitude higher."
Bowie, MD is also a Levitt community. I lived in a Levitt Rancher for about 13 years.
Greenbriar, VA near Dulles airport is anorher 60's early 70's Levitt build.
🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁388 -> I lived in the Town of Hempstead, Levittown was "just over there" although I never really went there. We lived in Merrick with its railroad station just two miles away. Dad and later he and I just walked that distance come heat or high snow.
Being from New Orleans, I see the role the suburbs have played in racial oppression so yeah
Watching this from levittown Pennsylvania
I live in a third tier suburb and I love it.
I live in Levittown, NY. I moved in at age 32 and am now 64, still here in Levittown. First of all, this video uses a lot of stock video and pictures that are not Levittown. That racism existed in America and many other places in the world and it is wrong. It was addressed by the 1964 Civil Rights Act and although it has taken some time, Levittown today has become racially diverse. What started as cookie cutter homes are now each very different because they were basic starter homes fo returning GI's and quite small, most have been expanded with very different outcomes. It's a very good blue collar community with 9 free pools, good schools, shopping, many diverse worship centers. Your sarcasm about this town doesn't portray things accurately. People from Levittown are struggling blue collar people that chose this town because it's an entry level community that is nice. This town gets a bad rap because of that clause which is long gone. You can sell to any race. There is no charter! Come see it. The Levitts did what he set out to do,- build homes for GIs. The racism is something America has had to overcome. One race, - the human race.
And I would love to see a sequel
Cities are the worst.
Long Island shout out let’s go!
Fantastic topic I wish you had more pictures I heard that there was a lot of experimentation with porcelain built-ins. I think he probably made a significant contribution to the survival of Democracy in America need a generation of people who could have never owned a home live the American dream a feeling secure. They had the chance to become communities and it's a shame that they themselves did not become social reformers butt I think the Levitts were
Levittown...the most racist town on Long Island.
Sincerely,
-Long Time Long Islander
And done on purpose.
Hey Imbecile.....a third of levittown speaks a foreign language, UNFORTUNATELY !
.
Hey Imbecile,
A third of levittown speaks a foreign language, UNFORTUNATELY !
.
the appearance of the American version of suburbs seems to have been a significant turning point in the decline of American social and political life
I am 55 and grew up in the suburbs. It was awesome. We had a blast. I'm very grateful I grew up in the suburbs.
I grew up in a rural/suburban area. It had row neighborhoods, but sorunded by orchards and farms area, but i do prefer cities. i like having mass transit because i hate driving and like have the option to walk to a convenience store late at night.
.Thanks.
I purchased my 1st home in 1977 on the gi bill for $21,000. While it sounds ridiculous, my income was as well..on the low side. But thankful - before HOA. the covenant, just pure "Evil".
ALSO, WHAT WAS THE VIDEO SHOWING A NON MILITARY UNIFORM AND THE MAN SALUTING WITH HIS LEFT HAND???? God bless the Meyers, so disturbing!
Pediatrician or Pedestrian?!?
I miss simon doing these.
Than watch places.
Eric, you're a funny dude. I loved this vid. I now, however, intensely dislike Levitt and his beliefs. Whatever.
25:30 living amongst your own is easier, convenient; it builds a sense of comfort. Living amongst those different from us is reality and it builds heart, character, and depth to our connections if accepting the responsibility.
In my opinion.
Droning host
So don't watch?
He’s great wtf are you on about?
I don't get the thing with basement, why are Americans so obsessed with having a basement?
Half of America is in a place at risk for tornadoes, a basement is the best protection. that's the main reason. Anything other than that is just wanting more space.
Why not have a basement?
I’m sorry, but given the attitudes at the time, the racial covenants made good business sense. If I were the Levitts, I would’ve started building developments for blacks, Jews, etc.
Indifferent
Another great vid! Thanks Karl and Eric!
Being Canadian, we don't quite have the same suburb design as the US does. Nothing like the no-sidewalk, car-only labyrinthian nightmares that I see planned neighborhoods having in the US anyway.
On episodes of Love It or List It there are plenty of cluttered suburbs in Toronto. Tiny homes that cost millions of dollars with mortgages that reset every five years. Keep it.
You are judging the race clause by modern times. However, in the days Levittown was built, racism was countrywide. Other neighborhoods, including cities, had the same policies.
I am 55 and grew up in the suburbs. It was awesome. We had a blast. I'm very grateful I grew up in the suburbs.
You’re making this almost unwatchable. Stick with facts and leave personal opinions out.
Please leave your personal opinions out of the comments section.
How is the racist past of Levittown not facts?
I am 55 and grew up in the suburbs. It was awesome. We had a blast. I'm very grateful I grew up in the suburbs.
I agree
Not racism. They escaped to get away from the bullshit.
I don't think he was a racist, just your everyday heartless capitalist, who didn't want to let things like basic respect to your fellow man and doing the right thing to get in the way of making money
Also this is the era of ethnic neighborhoods in the north and there were as many sundown towns in the north as there were in the south.
Drop the madman, nobody cares
Did you mention the bridge to Long Island being built intentionally too small for buses?
I used to live in Levittown, Pa. Yeah, i don't miss it.
Got to the now constant racism part and checked out.
Stop preaching.
Bill O'Reilly is from Levittown NY. Levitt & Son's racism has had far reaching implications.
Yes he did. So? He's not racist at all. In fact, overall, he's pretty moderate. Stop eating the tripe fed to you by the mainstream media, and try thinking for yourself.
@@LyleFrancisDelpThinking about as deep as a sheet of paper is a prerequisite to be a Democrat.
The Levitt families fortunes should be seized and redistributed to Black people as reparations.
Lawdy Mama. Let’s hustle up some racism!
Calm down schizo