It’s tough to imagine, but once upon a time, there was no such thing sprawl in America. Only in the years following World War II, when a perfect storm of prosperity, recently returned soldiers and relaxed mortgage restrictions created a demand for a vast quantity of inexpensive homes close to urban areas.

Foremost of all these sprawling suburban towns was Levittown, on Long Island a few minutes down the highway from New York city. The site, built up in 1948, was an immediate success and promted the Levitt Corporation to build nearly identical sites across the country.

But now, with the downsides of sprawl more than evident, and the full impacts of the subprime crisis becoming evident., the company has fallen on hard times, recently announcing a Chapter 11 filing. They’re now hoping that a name change will be ticket to renewed prosperity.

I think I speak for environmentalists everywhere in saying an updated business model might be a better choice.