Average Americans, with the horrors of war behind them, were enjoying unparalleled economic security. 1949: Post War Tract Houses Open for Inspection -- the Post-War cookie cutter! With the passage of the GI Bill, the federal government secured home mortgages for returning military personnel. impacted by the housing boom following World War II. war veteran becomes housing developer. Homes cost less than $7000. The brand-new modern homes of the mid-century were built for the standard nuclear family: one bread-winning father, one stay-at-home mother, and two children (one of each sex, of course). April 29, 1945. Bear in mind, though, that the efficient (read: cheap) mass-production methods perfected in post-war construction were what made home ownership affordable to a much broader audience than before. Tract housing is a type of housing development in which multiple similar homes are built on a tract (area) of land that is subdivided into individual small lots.Tract housing developments are found in world suburb developments that were modeled on the "Levittown" concept and sometimes encompass large areas of dozens of square miles. Others agreed, though for some the ranch home embodied something more. Mid-century production homes exist largely because of post-war federal incentives. This was part of an effort to help wartime families and individuals to get back on their feet again. Called Tract Housing. Through federal incentive programs, houses were being sold nearly as fast as they could be built. It began with the post-World War II boom; suddenly, there were millions of families who now had stable employment and were ready to own their own piece of the American Dream. By the mid-1950s, roughly eight out of every ten tract homes constructed were ranch style homes, featuring May as lead designer. A favored housing type of the 1950s was one that originated in Colonial New England. Could build 8 new houses a … Homes for World-War II Veterans Part of the gruesome post-war recovery process included the process of providing adequate housing for war veterans. For a visual history of who we've been, scan any older residential neighborhood. A House is a House is a House is a .... Where we live defines us. Post-War Development Is Planned For 2400-Acre Long Island Tract; Home in Wilton, Conn., Sold. Arvada experienced major growth in the post-war … The GNP before the war in 1940 was just over $100 billion; by 1955 it had tripled to $310 billion. To get to the bottom of it, we'll trace the history of tract housing (the more real estate-friendly term for cookie-cutter neighborhoods). I would wager that most middle-class families of the 1950s preferred affordability over solid build quality (much like today's buyers). "The ranch house was this informal way of living, the old California way," May told the Oral History Program at UCLA in 1982. Levittown isn’t a single building but a development of more than 17,000 detached houses. Suburban tract houses were built quickly using precut lumber and standardized floor plans. Applies mass production to building houses. It's reported that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs backed over 2 million home loans between 1944 and 1952. However, making sure that there were enough homes for war veterans was a challenge. Developers seized on the historic Cape Cod house style and promoted it as an all-American ideal. This is why we browse the housewares section in the Shopping Centers, pore over house plans, scour real estate ad pages. As thousands of G.I.’s returned home the nation faced a significant housing shortage. 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