LEVITTOWN

According to Bruce Lambert of THE NEW YORK TIMES (2/12/2004: A-30, Levittown in Long Island, New York is growing “old.”

In the 40’s and 50’s, this suburb was a way out of the ills of New York City. Middle income families could afford a 20 by 40 slab for no money down. Levittown symbolized all that was wrong with suburbs. The houses looked all the same. There were red, ones, and green ones, and pink ones, all ticky-tacky and all the same said Pete Seeger.

Urban legend had it that commuters would accidentally pull up to a house just like their house but two blocks over and walk into the wrong family.  A baseball that was miss-thrown would plow right through the walls of these fragile houses and the ball would pop right into the kitchen.

Suburbs essentially connote “new” and Levittown along with other suburbs around major metropolitan cities in America is growing “old.”

To add woes to Levittown, there is a brain drain of bright kids who have moved on. Salaries of residents are diminishing and minorities have arrived to move into highly segregated areas. The kingdom of blue collar and middle income whites is now diversified.

On the other hand, amenities and city services are excellent. It is a short drive to Manhattan. Thus, there appears a tipping point. What bifurcation is on the way for this suburb of all suburbs?

We suggest “gentrification.”

The median income of a 2004 home is about $365,000. Oldsters who bought early can still live there, but a third of their income is tied into living this life and land. Their kids can not buy there and move to apartments in the city (reverse migration.) Apartments are not available in Levittown.

Property taxes and related appear to increase.

Levittown is near the train and the interstate. It is a bit closer to the city than the Hamptons and it is only 8 to 10 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

So it is location, location, and location.

Crime is low. Very little land is available to develop. Populations continue to increase in the greater New York City area. It has good schools, good health care, and great parks.

Education is admirable. The work force is educated and unemployment is low...

In other words, the once overlooked potato fields have given rise to little boxes that cost a ton of money. So gentrification sets in. Why not?

Population increases and land dwindles. Location is good and property tax increases.

Something has to give and that’s social class. The folks that dwelled in Levittown 50 years ago, can no longer afford to do so now.

Along come folks with lots of money or lots of discretionary money. That money is plowed into the house. Or better yet, the little box is leveled and a mansion replaces it.

Property taxes keep going up and more boxes turn into mansions. Some buy 2 boxes and two lots and combine them into something special.

Oldsters move on. Gays, dual income professionals, wealthy surbubanites, and fellow travelers make a trickle into a rush and the whole area becomes a transitional neighborhood. It goes from blue collars to upscale.

For the upscale, they locate themselves in the middle of the mother of all amenities.

In a concentric circle, they are equidistant from the city, the cottage in the Hamptons, or the ocean front near Fire Island. Levittown becomes a gated community.

Welcome to this historic city. All the song(s) about suburbs no longer apply here.