Slums and Levittown

In the 1940’s, many predominantly black families were moving up north to cities that provided better paying jobs and housing than that of the south. However, with an influx of an undesired race in the city, many families began to move to the newfound suburbs. During this era, Abraham Levitt and his two sons, William and Alfred began a planned community located in Nassau County, Long Island which would then be named for Levittown. This existing landscape of this area was predominantly farmland, but this was about to face a drastic change in years to come. 

The ideology of the planned community represented a “suburban utopia.” Cookie cutter homes were designed around curvilinear streets that represented a take on a grid like structure of the urban environment. According to US Science “The houses were simple, unpretentious, and most importantly to its inhabitants, affordable to both the white and blue-collar workers.” Although homes were affordable, they were affordable to everyone who was not a minority. Many black Americans tried to buy homes in the area but were denied. This proved to be another form of discrimination that the current residents had already established. 

Overall, the idea of the Levittown community was based on escaping integration of races that were accepted in the city center. Throughout this time, realtors and stakeholders often tried to steer white buyers to well established communities and black buyers to poorer neighborhoods.