Anyone and everyone in real estate, in my opinion, should now read this recently published book written by David Kushner.
The bright side tells the story of the creation of what we now know as "Suburbia."
In the years following World War II, one family helped thousands of people buy into the American dream of owning a home; not just any home but a good one with all the modern conveniences.
That family was the Levitts, two brothers, William and Alfred and their father Abe, who had the vision to pooled their past successes and talents in land use, architecture and sales to create storybook towns with affordable little houses.
The returning 16 million servicemen,armed with the newly created VA home loan program, was the focus of this real estate vision.
And the Levitt family made it work and real estate history was made. They developed entire communities and sold thousands and thousands of homes.
The dark side of this book tells the very unfortunate story one family's ordeal with blatant, nasty and unmitigated racial discrimination in a Levittown beginning in the mid 1950's.
Sadly, or tragically, it wasn't until the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated, did William Levitt end his decade-plus long hard fight against integration.
Martin Luther King was killed on April 4, 1968 or just a mere 41 years ago.
This book made me realize just far this country has truly come in these past four decades! Wow, what an achievement! What true and substantial progress we've made.
Published by: Walker Publishing Company: 2009.
Bill McInerney
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