The postwar need for housing, combined with government-guaranteed loans and the availability of former farmland west of Ridge Road, led to a housing boom in the 1950s that utterly transformed the area west of Ridge Road from farmland to residential subdivisions. Tracts of ranch-style and bi-level houses, distinctive street layouts, and new schools, places of worship, and shopping centers quickly characterized much of west Wilmette, particularly west of Hunter Road. Builders reflected the country's optimistic postwar mood with upbeat names for their housing styles, like “Young Modern” and “Skylark” and idyllic-sounding subdivision names like "Hollywood in Wilmette" and "Sprucewood Village." As a direct result of this housing boom, Wilmette's population grew from 18,162 in 1950 to 28, 268 a decade later.