New Deal planned community celebrates 75 years

History

New Deal planned community celebrates 75 years

by Matt Johnson • April 17, 2012 2:57 pm

Greenbelt, Maryland is a product of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. His administration planned and built the town hoping that it would become a prototype for countless similar garden suburbs across the nation.

The Art Deco-styled community center. Photo by the author.

This year, the city celebrates its 75th birthday. On April 27 and 28, Greenbelt is holding a symposium to examine its past and look toward its future.

Faced with housing shortages, a decimated economy, and deteriorating conditions in cities, the Roosevelt administration set out to build 4 "greenbelt towns" as an example of how suburban development could and should occur.

3 of these communities ultimately became reality: Greenbelt, Maryland; Greenhills, Ohio (near Cincinnati); and Greendale, Wisconsin (outside Milwaukee). The fourth community, Greenbrook, New Jersey, was canceled due to a legal challenge.

Partially inspired by England's garden city movement, the planners intended for Greenbelt to be a self-contained community surrounded by a green belt of parks, forests, and farms. Today, Greenbelt is not as isolated, but the historic center maintains its park-like setting. The federal government sold off most of the original green belt in the 1950s and it was developed in typical suburban fashion.

The planners who designed Greenbelt had big ideas about creating a new type of community. One of the most revolutionary decisions was how to deal with cars.

Greenbelt was designed with the automobile in mind, but it was not designed for the automobile. This is the largest and most crucial difference between Greenbelt and the prototypical post-war suburb. The community is walkable, traffic is calm, and despite being surrounded by sprawl, cars do not dominate the landscape.

Pedestrian path. Photo by the author.

The planners created two independent circulation systems in the town: one for pedestrians and one for automobiles. As a result, the community has been described as "inside out." Pedestrian pathways wind through the community, providing access to the interior of residential superblocks and connecting residents to commercial and civic spaces. Five underpasses were built under the major streets to allow pedestrians to move through the city without encountering cars.

One effect of this design is homes with two fronts. On the "garden side," the homes front on the pedestrian pathways, and often on playgrounds and other green spaces. On the "service side," the homes open to the street (or in some cases, the parking court).

At the heart of the city is the Roosevelt Center, the town's retail hub. This area includes a grocery store, a cinema, and several shops and restaurants. The businesses are oriented onto a plaza, with the parking in the rear.

Roosevelt Center at Sunset. Photo by the author.

The city is oriented on a crescent-shaped ridge, with a lake and woodlands in the center of the crescent. The city was originally surrounded by a large greenbelt, though most of this has been developed. A good deal of greenspace remains within the community, however.

And while Greenbelt did not become the prototype for the American suburb, it did inspire other communities, including Columbia, Maryland and Reston, Virginia.

The real legacy of Greenbelt, though is in its residents. The history of activism and social engagement that was brought by the pioneer residents during the Depression has continued to be a part of life in the community.

If you're interested in celebrating 75 years of Greenbelt, the symposium is on Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28 in the historic community center. I'll be speaking on a panel about transportation on Friday afternoon. The deadline to register for the event is tomorrow.

Additionally, for more information and a tour of one of the original homes, you can visit the Greenbelt Museum at 10B Crescent Road every Sunday from 1-5 pm.

19 comments

Tags: Greenbelt, history, Maryland, Prince George's

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Matt Johnson has lived in the Washington region since mid-2007. He has a Master's degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. He has worked in the planning field since 2006 and lives in Greenbelt, where he serves on the city's Advisory Planning Board.

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I know of a guy who left the violence in Greenbelt and moved to Afghanistan just to be safe.

by Mad Cabbie on Apr 17, 2012 3:21 pm • link • report

Springhill Lake is the only unsafe neighborhood, everywhere else is just exaggerated.

by Steve on Apr 17, 2012 3:42 pm • link • report

Thanks for this. I had no idea about the history of Greenbelt!

by Tom A. on Apr 17, 2012 4:05 pm • link • report

This was interesting. Great photos matt.

by HogWash on Apr 17, 2012 4:27 pm • link • report

I don't think that any discussion of the history of the "planned community" nature of Greenbelt would be complete without mention of it's history as a "deed restricted" whites-only community. We have to acknowledge the ugly history of the social planning in this area - including in Greenbelt - that was not all that long ago.
"Sundown Towns" by the historian James W. Loewen contains a fascinating examination of Greenbelt because it was done relatively late in history and by "progressive" leaders.
The Greenbelt government and museum both acknowledge this part of their history on their websites, you should too.

by Evan on Apr 17, 2012 4:34 pm • link • report

@Evan:
You are correct. When Greenbelt opened to residents, it was white-only. The planners wanted the community to be racially integrated, however Greenbelt is located in Prince George's County, and in the 1930s, Prince George's County still practiced segregation, and the town was only possible as white-only.

However, as far as I know, and as far as anyone else I've talked to knows, there was never an official regulation barring non-whites from residing in the community. Once the federal government sold the homes, the town was open to all.

According to the Greenbelt Museum, the first African American family moved in in the early 1960s, but didn't stay long. They apparently moved away because they wanted a larger home, not because they did not feel welcome.

Today, the city as a whole is 32.2% white, and 49.8% black.

by Matt Johnson on Apr 17, 2012 5:07 pm • link • report

@Matt:
My recollection from the book - and I'd have to read it again - was the Greenbelt did have restrictive deeding. So it wasn't a "regulation" per se, but was a de facto one - but I could be misremembering. There is at least one oral history account on the Internet documenting the exclusionary practices at least as late as 1963 at http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/sundowntownsshow.php?id=1508, but I don't know if that's ever been corroborated.

by Evan on Apr 17, 2012 5:58 pm • link • report

Why the focus on segregation? It kind of goes without saying, since most cities and suburbs east of the Mississippi were segregated in the 1930's, legally or not.

Also, Greenbelt is hardly as violent as the first commenter purports it to be. He should see Oxon Hill or Suitland.

by King Terrapin on Apr 17, 2012 11:11 pm • link • report

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE 75TH...glad to see communities celebrate. However, it is true none of the Roosevelt Era programs included the nation's African-American population in terms of promoting equality.

by Pelham1861 on Apr 18, 2012 8:10 am • link • report

Great informative article Matt! I didn't know that Greenbelt inspired those other communities. I recently found myself in the Kentlands neighborhood of Gaithersburg and was pleasantly surprised by some of the planning there. I'm wondering now if Kentlands was also an offshoot of the Greenbelt movement.

Either way, I'm encouraged to read about these neighborhoods and wishing that wher I live in Silver Spring was a bit less car-dependent. Bike lanes and sidewalks all play 2nd-fiddle in DTSS to the almight car!

by TC on Apr 18, 2012 9:37 am • link • report

It's interesting to see how attitudes have shifted over the years about safety on the two "street" networks. It used to be that streets were considered unsafe due to car traffic, so we'll build these pathways instead -- but now the pathways are unsafe due to crime, so we'll put up security cameras and build sidewalks along the more populated streets. Shifting demographics (fewer children, more adults and seniors) might also play a role.

I haven't spent enough time in Greenbelt to discern how people use the paths today, but it seems that the co-op has discouraged residents from enclosing their frontages into "back yards" as happened at Radburn.

The school and town center are great examples of Moderne architecture; the DC area is particularly rich in 1930s architecture, which is largely unheralded but a refreshing antidote to the more severe Modernism that took over after WW2.

by Payton on Apr 18, 2012 1:21 pm • link • report

Kentlands was the second New Urbanist community planned by DPZ. Seaside, their first, has a secondary network of footpaths through the block interiors, rather like Greenbelt (but not grade separated). They, and later New Urbanists, later rejected the idea in favor of alleys: instead of separating foot and car traffic into back/front, mix the two more slowly on both sides of the lot.

by Payton on Apr 18, 2012 1:27 pm • link • report

There are a few areas in Kentlands followed the Greenbelt model and have houses fronting footpaths, not sidewalks:

(The photo is from a very old post on BeyondDC about Kentlands that I haven't seen in like 10 years. Thanks for the memories, Dan M.!)

by dan reed! on Apr 18, 2012 3:45 pm • link • report

The comment about crime and the paths being "unsafe" is interesting to me. I am a single female living in this historic area of Greenbelt, and I feel very safe on the paths, even at night. During the day, they are filled with families going to the playgrounds, joggers, and people walking to/from the city center. I check the weekly crime reports, and despite the stigma of "Prince George's County" crime in the coop portion of Greenbelt is exceptionally low.

by Anna on Apr 18, 2012 4:58 pm • link • report

Just tossing this in there, but the Roosevelt center also hosts an 80 seat black box theatre (the Greenbelt Arts Center)

by Donald on Apr 18, 2012 5:33 pm • link • report

I also am a single female who lived in Greenbelt for many years. I walked everywhere--to the store, the cafe, the fitness center, and around the lake. I never felt unsafe nor was I ever bothered. The nice thing about Greenbelt is that you get to know people, so you are always encountering a friendly face. When I was there, not that many years ago, it seemed many more families with young children were moving in. It's a lovely community.

by A. C. on Apr 18, 2012 8:43 pm • link • report

Ah yes, Dan, you found the one (of two) exceptions that proved my rule. The two Hill District through-block paths are there to continue Otis Way and Chestertown Street through the street grid despite topography that, while not exactly challenging, might not have passed muster with the county engineers. (The alleys, being private, are fine.)

They're not equivalent to the "Krier paths" behind nearly every lot at Seaside, just as alleys (strangely labeled "mews") behind nearly every lot at Kentlands.

by Payton on Apr 18, 2012 9:47 pm • link • report

I grew up 10 minutes away from Greenbelt (the larger city) and yet didn't learn about the original Greenbelt co-op area until adulthood. I've now known about 20 people who live in the New Deal co-op area proper and I'd seriously considered buying a house there at one point. It is a wonderful place, nestled in the greater city of Greenbelt. I don't know about crime in larger Greenbelt, but the co-op area by all reports is relatively low crime, safe and VERY community oriented. I know numerous people who regularly walk the trail system. Groups of friends have weekly "family dinners" consisting of whoever of the friends is available that night and folks take turns cooking. I have been blessed to have attended some of these dinners, as well as monthly roving social nights, Green Man festivals, meals and performances at the New Deal Cafe (really a Lebanese Taverna Cafe in disguise), classes and gallery shows at the community center, movies and more. The grocery store is also more progressive in its offerings (though in this day and age, others are catching up) and has the distinction of also selling beer and wine (apparently one location of each grocery chain can do this in Maryland, or so I understand). Happy Birthday Greenbelt!

by Ember on Apr 19, 2012 12:15 pm • link • report

When the three "Green" communities were sold off by the Federal Government in the 50s (McCarthy period--such communities were considered too socialistic), only Greenbelt succeeded in forming an association to buy the entire thing (Greenbelt Homes, Inc.). Thanks to this, we all still have a preserved Greenbelt for all to see and enjoy.
Another fact about Greenbelt. Some time back PG County invited Greenbelt to merge its park system into the PG system. Greenbelt declined, correctly deciding that their park system was better than the county's and would not fare as well under county administration.
Greenbelt was my summer home as a boy in the early 60s and it could have not been more perfect: tennis every day, walk everywhere, the lake (before the beltway), the Center, the library, later on the rec Center, the movie theater for $1.00, High's dairy store--Wow! Nostalgia!

by Steve on Apr 19, 2012 4:34 pm • link • report