When you think of the origins of American suburbia, the name Levittown may spring to mind. A symbol of post-World War II optimism and domestic comfort, this Long Island development, constructed between 1947 and 1951, is often credited as America’s first modern suburb. Yet Levittown wasn’t technically the first suburb in U.S. history — though as the first mass-produced, federally supported suburban development in the country, it did shape a new national lifestyle — and with it, a new cultural identity. The First Suburbs Suburbs in America existed well before Levittown. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, streetcar suburbs such as Shaker Heights outside Cleveland, Ohio, were planned communities that offered wealthy and middle-class residents an escape from overcrowded, polluted cities. Other early suburbs include Llewellyn Park, New Jersey (developed in the 1850s and often cited as America’s oldest planned community), …Read More