suburbia

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Recommended: Of urban renewal

Real-estate developer William Levitt was instrumental in the mass-production of large suburban developments. On May 7, 1947 he announced that he would create 2000 rental homes in Long Island, approximately a half an hour from New York City. In 1951, the 17,000 homes of Levittown were completed. There was high demand for affordable housing as suburbia became the new American Dream.

The homes in Levittown were originally made as rentals. Quickly, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) began supporting home purchasing, offering mortgages (but only to racially homologous developments) to potential buyers. Young couples were able to purchase homes from Levitt with a 30-year mortgage and no money down. Mortgage payments were equivalent to rental fees, making purchasing easy (especially compared to now!). The majority of residents were white couples in their 20s and 30s with young children. There was a surge in demand, and the Levitt firm expanded to Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The $6990 720-sq-ft Cape Cod style homes were nearly identical, built in areas that had similar streets, parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, etc. The larger ranch-style homes were unveiled in 1949, eventually selling for $10,000 in 1951.

Reverend Willie James led a 1950 lawsuit to reverse the segregation of Levittown. The town (now known as Willingboro) today is two-thirds black, a far cry from when it was almost entirely white in the 1950s. Additionally, one in eight residents is over the age of 65. As the rate of children in the area fell, some schools were converted for other uses. Such things as musical concerts playing at ex-schools encouraged a flow of people with different backgrounds. In general, minorities and people who identify with a specific c...

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...ogram wished to develop Four Corners Millennium Project Urban Renewal Entity in Newark at a cost of $19.45 million. It's a residential/retail project that would create 65 jobs and 200 construction jobs. They also hope to make the Paterson Commons II Urban Renewal Associates ($7.8 million - create 100 residential units with a small amount of retail) and Washington Street University Housing Urban Renewal Associates ($23.1 million - studio apartments for Rutgers University students.) As well, they'd like to build several corporations, including IDT Corp., VF Sportswear, Sony Music Entertainment and Thomson Reuters US Inc, in Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, and Rutherford. Each project would create a significant number of jobs, specifically keeping them out of New York City. The purpose of these incentives has been to spark development and create jobs. Let's hope it works!

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