Growth of Suburbia & The Baby Boom
Levittowns Post War economic growth caused the average American income to triple. This led to a dramatic increase in home-ownership. Between 1940 and 1960, the number of Americans who owned their own homes went from 43% to 62%. Most of these homes were purchased in newly developed sub-divisions just outside the big cities, and then kept spreading outward. Levittown, New York was one of the earliest pre-planned communities built in America. In 1949, the builder, Bill Levitt came up with the idea of mass producing residential "cookie cutter" houses and plunking them down in a pre-planned layout. The houses in these sub-divisions would look pretty much identical except for maybe the color, which would cut costs and the skilled labor needed in building them. The average cost for a Levittown home was between $7,990 with a $60 a month with no down payment. These new types of “cookie cutter” or copycat “Levittown” suburbs began to spread throughout America. In fact, 85% of new construction in the 1950s was done in these types of pre-planned neighborhoods.
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Reasons for the rapid increase in Suburban sprawl varied. One cause, as mentioned before, was the increase in income. In addition, the houses were all built the same which allowed for the mass production of material which in turn created cheaper building costs; this allowed houses to be priced lower. Others attribute the rise in home-ownership to a rise in crime and congestion in the cities or perhaps it was the promise of fresh air, green lawns, trees and a safe picturesque place to raise your kids. No matter the motivation, for millions of Americans, the suburbs came to symbolize “the American Dream.”
Baby Boom & The GI Bill
The GI Bill was introduced into Congress and passed in 1944 to help soldiers of WWII readjust into society. GI Bill benefits included low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business, cash payments for tuition and living expenses to attend college, high school or vocational education, as well as one year of unemployment compensation. It was available to every veteran who had been on active duty during the war years for at least ninety days.