The concept of the suburb predates the automobile, rooted in a 19th-century desire for escape from the industrial grime and noise of major cities; these early "railroad suburbs" were often exclusive havens for the wealthy. The true suburban explosion, however, was fueled after World War II by returning veterans, the Baby Boom, and the widespread aspiration for the American Dream. Mass production housing techniques, notably pioneered in developments like Levittown, made homeownership accessible to the middle class for the first time, an accessibility further cemented by insured mortgages provided by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and VA loans. The subsequent 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act subsidized the creation of the massive Interstate System, effectively decoupling the home from the workplace and making long-distance commuting commonplace.