The Levittowners: Ways of Life and Politics in a New Suburban Community

by Herbert J. Gans

In 1955 Levitt and Sons, Inc. purchased almost all of Willingboro Township, New Jersey, a sparsely settled agricultural area seventeen miles from Philadelphia. They would build 1,200 homes; three basic house types would be erected; ten or twelve neighborhoods would emerge. This suburban experiment was the basis for one of the most famous case studies in urban sociology, Herbert J. Gans' The Levittowners. This classic work examines its subject from numerous the beginnings of group life, the founding of churches, the emergence of party politics, family and individual adaptation, and other dimensions of the suburban experience. In a new introduction, written especially for this edition, Gans reflects on the past twenty years and their effect on the Levittown community.

Genres: Urban Planning, Cities, Nonfiction, Urban Studies, American History, History

474 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Herbert Julius Gans was a German-born American sociologist who taught at Columbia University from 1971 to 2007.
One of the most prolific and influential sociologists of his generation, Gans came to America in 1940 as a refugee from Nazi Germany and sometimes described his scholarly work as an immigrant's attempt to understand America. He trained in sociology at the University of Chicago, where he studied with David Riesman and Everett Hughes, among others, and in social planning at the University of Pennsylvania, where his dissertation was supervised by Martin Meyerson.
Herbert J. Gans served as the 79th President of the American Sociological Association.

Reviews

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A study of the characteristics of suburban America--with a focus on Levittown. The book considers the birth and growth of the community, the nature of suburban life as manifest in this community, and democracy in suburbia.

A classic that still has value so many decades after its original publication.