ABSTRACT
It is customary in the literature on postwar American suburbanization to neglect the decision process and institutional context by which suburban places were established and developed. In one popular image, for example, postwar residential suburbs 'exploded' on the American landscape or appeared as the sudden product of unspecified or invisible hands. The growth of many postwar suburbs was precipitated by decisions by large residential builders to select and develop suburban locations. There was nothing new about suburban development in America. Levitt and Sons exemplified the growing potential of large residential builders in postwar suburbanization. The firm had been founded in 1929 by Abraham Levitt, whose early background in real estate helped him to recognize the profitability of large-scale housebuilding operations, and by his two sons, Abraham and William. Levitt spent more money on consumer research than any builder of small houses in history. The Levitt house—and Levittown itself—was meticulously designed to match consumer preferences.
