Editing Levittown, New York (section)

===Spread of the planned community===
While the Levitts are generally credited with designing a postwar "planned community," with common public amenities such as swimming pools and community centers, they were quick to release these high-maintenance, low-profit elements to the surrounding towns; the development sprawled across municipal boundaries, causing legal and administrative difficulties and requiring major initiatives within those existing municipalities to provide for and fund schools, sewage and water systems, and other infrastructure elements.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

In 1949, Levitt and Sons changed focus, unveiling a new plan which it termed a "[[Ranch-style house|ranch]]" house. Larger, {{convert|32|by|25|ft|m|1}},{{efn|Two bedrooms, 12x12 and 12x8; a living room 12x19; a kitchen 9.5x10.5; and bathroom.}} and more modern, these homes were only offered for sale, with a planned price of $7,990 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|7990|1949|fmt=c}} today). The ranch homes were similar to the rental properties in that they were built on concrete slabs, included an expandable attic but no garage, and were heated with hot-water [[radiant heating]] pipes. Five models were offered that were effectively identical with differences in details such as exterior color and window placement. Again, demand was high, requiring that the purchasing process be streamlined as the assembly process had been, reaching the point that a buyer could walk through the process of selecting a house through contracting for its purchase in three minutes. This ranch model was altered in 1950 to include a carport and a built-in television. In 1951, a partially finished attic was added to the design.

Levittown proved successful. By 1951, it and surrounding regions included 17,447 homes constructed by Levitt & Sons.

On November 9, 2007, Levitt & Sons of [[Fort Lauderdale]] became the nation's largest builder to file for [[Bankruptcy in the United States|bankruptcy]] as the housing market boom of the early 21st century continued to crumble.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/sfl-1109levitt,0,3663427.story|title=Fort Lauderdale-based home builder Levitt & Sons files for bankruptcy|last=Owers|first=Paul|date=November 9, 2007|newspaper=[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]]|access-date=August 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071110204723/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/sfl-1109levitt%2C0%2C3663427.story|archive-date=November 10, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>