Over 50 years ago, a pioneering developer named William J. Levitt created the largest planned community constructed by a single builder in the U.S. Christened Levittown, the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, suburb began the 1950s with muddy roads leading GIs and their brides to affordable homes of their own. By the time the development was completed in 1958, the homogenous Levittown grew to over 70,000 residents, covered 5,500 acres, and included its own "churches, swimming pools, shopping families and over 17,000 middle-class homes.
Levittown became the suburban blueprint for many communities to follow. In honor of its 50th anniversary in 2002 , the State Museum of Pennsylvania sponsored an exhibit that showcased the history of Levittown, complete with memorabilia supplied by many who lived there.
Built to foster child-rearing, Levittown appealed strongly to young families with children, but there was also a dark side. Levittown discriminated against blacks. And there was another long-term effect that Levitt has been widely criticized for -- introducing the notion of sprawl. To live in segregated utopias, where homes were calculated to keep both the rich and the poor out, families were willing to drive further to work, increasing dependence on automobiles and foreign oil with every decade that went by.
The highway system built by President Dwight Eisenhower brought prosperity from one end of the nation to the other, and it also created lots of jobs in the Northeast where carmakers like Ford, GM and Chrysler cranked out automobiles for the same target demographic as Levittown homebuyers.
But then one day, there was an invasion, and it wasn't Pearl Harbor. It was the introduction of the Toyota economy car to American carbuyers in the 1960s. Competing with the Big Three on their own soil was bold, but Toyota did it through timing and a bit of luck. Used to trading cars in every year to two years, Americans weren't demanding or getting quality products. Toyota came in with a cheap product that was well made and delivered value.
The oil embargo of the 1970s had carbuyers dying to get rid of their gas-guzzling V-8 engines, and they were soon paying premiums to buy Corollas. Carmakers whined, "Buy American," but the Japanese invasion had only begun. As oil prices stabilized, American carmakers fired back with the SUV, subsidized by a farm tax credit for heavy vehicles. The SUV was embraced by families and the Big Three came back with a vengeance. Toyota then hit the Big Three where it hurt -- luxury. Today, Toyota's Lexus brand has the best reputation for reliability and overall quality of any car made.
American car manufacturers reputation for low quality is so ingrained in the American conscience, that even polls, studies, and comparisons that favor American-made cars have done little to improve the car makers' image. Slow to respond to market changes, like escalating gas prices, GM doesn't even have a hybrid car in its roster, while Toyota and other brands that created hybrid vehicles have consumers on waiting lists. Truck and SUV-heavy GM and Ford were left with many unsold vehicles in the wake of recent price gouging by oil firms. While Exxon posted record gains this quarter, GM and Ford announced the layoffs of thousands of workers.
Now Toyota believes it can not only build a better car, it can build a better house. Like Levitt, Toyota is aiming for the middle-class market which the company believes will buy homes that cost between $150,000 and $250,000.
The market chosen by Toyota is San Antonio, where the company is building an $850 million truck plant.
In a press release, Dennis Cuneo, a senior vice president for Toyota Motors North America, said the plant, abundant land, the affordability of the San Antonio market were factors in choosing the central Texas town. Having a local partner doesn't hurt either -- Toyota Housing Services is partnering with Henry Cisneros’ Ventana Homes, and has acquired 36 acres to build 50 homes and plans to sell homes to the general public.
"These are going to be conventional North American homes. As we build them, we plan to place a priority on quality and efficiency," Cuneo said.
