Levittown, New York

Levittown is a hamlet and census-designated place located on Long Island in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the community had a total population of 53,067.

Levittown gets its name from William Levitt, who built it as a planned suburban community between 1947 and 1951. Levittown was the first truly mass-produced suburb and is widely regarded as the archetype for postwar suburbs throughout the country.

History

The building firm Levitt and Sons, headed by William Levitt, built four planned communities called "Levittown" (in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico), but Levittown, New York was the first and most famous.

Levitt built his homes on potato farms bought from locals, in what were originally two hamlets: Jerusalem, and Island Trees. The Long Island Rail Road ran far from the area, with its closest stations in Hicksville, on the Main Line, and Wantagh, on the South Shore Line, which left the area largely open space without many homes or business.

Starting in 1947, Levitt and Sons began the construction of some 17,447 houses in the area ending in 1951 when Levitt moved on to the second development, in Pennsylvania. William Levitt learned skills in home building as a Navy Sea Bee in World War II, and modeled the construction of the homes after Henry Ford's assembly line construction of cars. The houses were built by teams of workers who moved from lot to lot, performing the same task over and over as trucks drove through the area dropping off supplies. In 1948 Levitt boasted that, at peak capacity, his firm could complete one house every fifteen minutes.

Originally, in the area closest to Hempstead Turnpike, Cape Cod style homes were built, with four alternatives, offering different roof lines and window types. The areas with capes are now known as the "Old Section," where street names resemble more mature community street names (Church, Schoolhouse, Farm, Valley, Hilltop), the "Tree Section," where names like Oaktree, Firtree, Sugar Maple, and Dogwood grace the lanes, and the "Flower Section" with appropriately named streets as well.

After the Cape Cod style was built out, Levitt began construction on the California Ranch style, which became more in fashion in developments in 1949-51. Ranches lie in the "Bird Section," "Celestial Section," "Tradesman Section," and the numerous "Alphabet Sections," where all streets in the area are named with the same first letter (Wedgewood, Whisper, Water, Wildwood, in the "W Section,".) Today, the majority of the Alphabet neighborhoods lie in adjacent Wantagh, Seaford, Salisbury, Hicksville, and Westbury. Levittown's size diminished greatly when the odd salamander-shaped community built by William Levitt was created into a square, now known as ZIP code 11756, the Unincorporated Hamlet of Levittown, in the Township of Hempstead. Levitt's developments in the Town of Oyster Bay were added to hamlets in that township; and developments in the Town of Hempstead outside of the square were added to hamlets there.

Levittown, as the first and one of the largest mass-produced suburbs, quickly became a symbol of postwar suburbia, for good and for bad. Although Levittown provided affordable houses in what many residents felt to be a congenial community, critics damned its homogeneity, blandness, and racial exclusivity (the initial lease prohibited rental to non-whites). Oddly enough, although Levittown is remembered largely for its homogeneity and conformism, the houses of Levittown have by now been so thoroughly expanded and modified by their owners that their original architectural form can be quite difficult to see.

It is also the hometown of 16-year old American Idol Semi-Finalist Kevin Covais, who attends Island Trees High School.

Geography

Levittown is located at 40°43'28" North, 73°30'40" West (40.724468, -73.511191)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the community has a total area of 17.8 km² (6.9 mi²). 17.8 km² (6.9 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 53,067 people, 17,207 households, and 14,109 families residing in the community. The population density is 2,978.1/km² (7,717.5/mi²). There are 17,410 housing units at an average density of 977.0/km² (2,531.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the area is 94.15% White, 0.50% African American, 0.07% Native American, 2.85% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.27% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. 6.79% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. \

In the community the population is spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 37 years. For every 100 females there are 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.4 males.

The median income for a household in the community is $69,923, and the median income for a family is $73,851. Males have a median income of $50,603 versus $35,962 for females. The per capita income for the CDP is $25,917. 2.9% of the population and 2.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.6% of those under the age of 18 and 1.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Levittown is the childhood home of Maureen Tucker, the drummer for the Velvet Underground, and Bill Griffith the cartoonist who draws Zippy the Pinhead. Television Political Commentator Bill O'Reilly grew up in the Alphabet Section of Levittown that has since been annexed by the community of Westbury, New York, and Billy Joel grew up in a section of Levittown that has since been annexed by the community of Hicksville, New York.

Education

Levittown is served by two public school districts, the Island Trees School District, which serves the Eastern third of the community, as well as portions of adjacent Seaford and Bethpage. The School District dates from 1902 and is served by:

• Island Trees High School
• Island Trees Middle School
• Michael F Stokes Elementary School, the adjacent
• J Fred Sparke Elementary School, and
• Early Childhood Center at the Geneva Gallow School

The Island Trees School District came to notoriety in the Supreme Court verdict on Pico V Island Trees regarding book bannings.

The other two thirds of the community, as well as large portions of adjacent Wantagh and Seaford is served by the Levittown School District, which dates back to the 1800's, originally called the Jerusalem School District of the Town of Hempstead. It is served by:

• Two High Schools
  • Levittown Division Avenue High School
  • General Douglas MacArthur High School
• Two Middle Schools
  • Wisdom Lane Middle School
  • Jonas Salk Middle School
• Six Elementary Schools
  • Abbey Lane Elementary School
  • East Broadway Elementary School
  • Gardiners Avenue Elementary School
  • Lee Road Elementary
  • Northside Elementary
  • Summit Lane Elementary
• Alternative Schools
  • Levittown Memorial Education Center

A small portion of Levittown, West of the Wantagh Parkway, is served by the East Meadow School District's northern section, with Schools in Westbury, New York.

Private Schools

• Maria Montessori Elementary at Laurel Lane School
• Saint Bernard's Parish School-This school will close effective at the end of the 2005 school year
• South Shore Christian School
• Nassau BOCES Elementary at Seaman's Neck School

Higher Learning

• New York Chiropractor's College

References

• Baxandall, Rosalyn and Elizabeth Ewen (2000). Picture Windows: How the Suburbs Happened. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0465070132.
• Kelly, Barbara Mae (1993). Expanding the American Dream: Building and Rebuilding Levittown. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0791412873.

External links

• Little Boxes, Little Boxes: The Levittown Story from FreeEnterpriseLand.com