Suburban Pioneer Levittown Thrives as Imitators Falter

Levittown, New York, America’s first mass-produced suburb, spawned postwar imitators throughout the nation. These days, it’s more like an outlier.

While new research shows that U.S. suburbs are getting older, poorer and more ethnically diverse, Levittown’s home prices have risen, incomes have grown, and poverty levels are far below the national average. And the once officially segregated town, about 35 miles east of New York City, remains more than 80 percent white, compared with 63 percent nationwide.