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>> ROWE: After World War II,
America had run out of room.
A housing shortage threatened to
forestall the American Dream for
millions of returning GIs and
their families.
But William Levitt had a dream
of his own.
On an old potato farm on Long
Island, he would build a vast
tract of low-cost housing,
guaranteed by the GI Bill of
Rights.
In 1947, the first 2,000 mass-
produced, Cape Cod-style homes
appeared and were eagerly
snatched up.
>> BARBARA M. KELLY: Here you
had your own little four-room
house.
You had your own backyard.
You could plant your potatoes or
tomatoes or just grass if you
wanted to.
Lock the door at night and just
your own little nuclear family.
>> ROWE: Yet not everyone was
happy with Levitt's dream.
Because the homes started at
less than $7,000, many in the
surrounding communities feared
Levittown would soon be a slum.
And the aesthetic quality of the
developments also faced fierce
criticism.
>> KELLY: Levittown did resemble
cookie-cutter houses in the
beginning.
But almost immediately, the
homeowners began fixing them up,
expanding, adding a dining room,
adding an expanded attic, adding
a garage.