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Conceived in 1937 as part
of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, Greenbelt was
designed to provide housing for Depression-era families in an
environment that emphasized green spaces, community involvement,
and good quality of life. The new community boasted a town
center with shopping, recreational facilities (including the
first public swimming pool in Maryland), and schools. Those
amenities were accessed easily from any of the homes via
walkways and underpasses. The homes themselves were arranged
into “superblocks” that provided courtyards and playgrounds for
the children. The whole was buffered from future development by
a green belt.
Greenbelt was a social experiment. The first families were
chosen not only on the basis of income but also for their
willingness to be active participants in the new community. Upon
arriving in Greenbelt, they found no established patterns or
institutions of community life. Within six weeks, they held
their first election. The new residents also worked together to
form community groups and cooperative institutions. Some of
those original elements still operate and thrive today—the
original homes that now are part of Greenbelt Homes
Incorporated, a nursery school, a newspaper, and a grocery
store.
The original section of Greenbelt was declared a National
Historic Landmark on its 60th anniversary in 1997. The planning
concepts that went into the creation of Greenbelt still garner
national and international interest and are evident in today’s
planned communities such as Columbia in Maryland and Reston in
Virginia.
The community spirit that made the Greenbelt experiment such
a success is still very much in existence. Greenbelt continues
to flourish and now includes neighborhoods to the east and west
of the original community. It has numerous office and retail
facilities and nationally recognized schools, all attracted by
easy access to Washington, D.C., and Baltimore via major
highways and a Metro rail station.
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