Levittown

History

Most of the land on which Levittown is built was purchased in 1951. Levitt and Sons only built six models of houses in Levittown, all single-family dwellings with lawns: the Levittowner, the Rancher, the Jubilee, the Pennsylvanian, the Colonial and the Country Clubber, with only modest exterior variations within each model. The homes were moderately priced and required only a low down payment. Construction of Levittown began in February 1952, soon after completion of Levittown, New York, located on Long Island. Levittown, Pennsylvania, was the second "Levittown" built by William J. Levitt, who is often credited as the creator of the modern American suburb. To speed up construction, Levitt & Sons perfected a 26-step rationalized building method that was essentially an assembly line type of home building. The house remained stationary while construction workers moved from site to site, each repeatedly performing a task such as pouring foundations, putting up pre-fabricated walls, installing plumbing, or doing electrical work. At peak production, this highly regimented process enabled Levitt's workers to produce a finished house every sixteen minutes. Construction of the homes commenced in 1952 and when completed in 1958, 17,311 homes had been built. Residents, who are sometimes called Levittowners, were first expected to comply with a lengthy list of rules and regulations regarding the upkeep of their homes and use of their property. Two of these "rules" included a prohibition on hanging laundry out to dry on Sunday and not allowing homeowners to fence off their yards. These proved unenforceable over time, particularly when backyard pools became financially accessible to the working class and privacy concerns drove many to fence off their yards. In the years since…

Geography

Levittown is located at . Levittown lies in the southern end of Bucks County ("Lower Bucks"), between Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey; Downtown Philadelphia ("Center City") is approximately away. It is part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. It is adjacent to and nearly surrounds Fairless Hills, a suburban community more modest in scale, but that shares many of Levittown's characteristics. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which 0.5 km (0.59%) is water. It has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) bordering a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) and average monthly temperatures in the central CDP range from 32.2 °F in January to 76.1 °F in July. The local hardiness zone is 7a.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  47,501
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  43,163
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  39,884
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  38,486
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  37,811
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  37,458
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  35,968
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  34,788

Largest nearby schools

• Neshaminy HS
  High · Langhorne · 2,933 students · 18.6:1 ratio
• Pennsbury HS
  High · Fairless Hills · 2,865 students · 13.2:1 ratio
• Bensalem Twp HS
  High · Bensalem · 2,120 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• Council Rock HS South
  High · Holland · 1,940 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• Truman SHS
  High · Levittown · 1,670 students · 14.3:1 ratio
• Council Rock HS North
  High · Newtown · 1,622 students · 12.8:1 ratio
• Bucks County Technical High School
  High · Fairless Hills · 1,439 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• School Lane CS
  Other · Bensalem · 1,324 students · 12.3:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2024-05-24
  6 km E of Califon, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-05-01
  1 km NW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.9 — 2024-04-27
  7 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-04-10
  5 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 3.7 — 2024-04-05
  7 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-04-05
  6 km ESE of Califon, New Jersey