Levittowners

Herbert J. Gans is professor of sociology emeritus at Columbia University. His many books include Imagining America in 2033 (2008), Deciding What's News (1979), and The Urban Villagers (1962).

Praise for the previous edition: "It will be a book well read by students of sociology and town planning, and from its reading they will profit greatly."-American Sociological Review "The Levittowners does more than illuminate for us American suburbia; it also contributes to our understanding of that elusive matter, the quality of American life."-Nathan Glazer, Harvard University "A thoughtful, provocative study... Deserves careful, wide attention."-Michael Harrington, Partisan Review "All critics of suburbia will henceforth be obliged to confront [Gans]... There may or may not be more to heaven and earth than is dreamed of in suburbia, but the burden of proof now rests on the critics."-Marvin Bressler, The Public Interest "This sensitive and thoughtful book helps us to remember that, in the years ahead, social life need no longer, and indeed must no longer, consist of one massive zero-sum game."-Robert Boguslaw, American Journal of Sociology "The final academic statement to dime-store sociology applied to the suburbs. It is the best of all the suburban community studies of the post World War II era, but it also sheds much light on the nature of contemporary American community life."-William M. Dobriner, Journal of Health and Social Behavior "Refutes the theses of many suburbia novels and articles... No clobber job, Gans' study is an excellent assessment on religious, political, social and moral levels of the perfect subject for contained investigation."-Kirkus Reviews "One of those sociologists... who see as their primary task the destruction of social myths... A vigorous hatchet job."-John Goldthorpe, New Statesman

• List of Tables Foreword, by Harvey Molotch Preface to the Morningside Edition Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: The Setting, Theory, and Method of the Study Part 1: The Origin of a Community 1. The Planners of Levittown 2. The Levittowners-and Why They Came 3. The Beginnings of Group Life 4. The Founding of Churches 5. The New School System 6. The Emergence of Party Politics 7. The Origin of a Community Part 2: The Quality of Suburban Life 8. Social Life: Suburban Homogeneity and Conformity 9. The Vitality of Community Culture 10. Family and Individual Adaptation 11. The Impact of the Community Part 3: The Democracy of Politics 12. Political Communication 13. The Decision-making Process 14. Politics and Planning 15. Levittown and America Appendix: The Methods of the Study References Index