Second Suburb: Levittown, Pennsylvania

Abstract

Carved from eight square miles of Bucks County farmland northeast of Philadelphia, Levittown, Pennsylvania, is a symbol of postwar suburbia and the fulfillment of the American dream. Begun in 1952, after the completion of an identically named community on Long Island, the second Levittown soon eclipsed its New York counterpart in scale and ambition, yet it continues to live in the shadow of its better-known sister and has received limited scholarly attention. Second Suburb uncovers the unique story of Levittown, Pennsylvania, and its significance to American social, architectural, environmenta. Introduction : A second suburb / Dianne Harris -- pt. 1. Looking at Levittown from the inside -- Revealing the history of Levittown, one voice at a time / Chad M. Kimmel -- Reflections on Levittown / Daisy D. Myers -- Levittown, my Levittown / Bill Griffith -- Levittown in photographs / compiled by Dianne Harris -- pt. 2. Looking at Levittown from the outside -- The Levitts, mass-produced houses, and community planning in the mid-twentieth century / Richard Longstreth -- Jim Crow's last stand : the struggle to integrate Levittown / Thomas J. Sugrue -- "The house I live in" : architecture, modernism, and identity in Levittown / Dianne Harris -- Pink kitchens for little boxes : the evolution of 1950s kitchen design in Levittown / Curtis Miner -- Suburban nature, class, and environmentalism in Levittown / Cristopher Sellers -- More than ticky tacky : Venturi, Scott Brown, and learning from the Levittown studio / Jessica Lautin -- "No gas, my ass!" Marking the end of the postwar period in Levittown / Chad M. Kimmel -- Epilogue : The suburbs of desire / Peter Fritzsche.