Greenbelt, Maryland: A Living Legacy of the New Deal (Creating the North American Landscape) [Hardcover]

"As the first in-depth analysis of one of the nation's planned towns, the book... provides a comprehensive account of the origin of Greenbelt as a planned community... Knepper deserves praise for effectively combining history and ethnography in her work, a rather difficult methodological approach." -- James C. Saku, The Professional Geographer

"[Greenbelt, Maryland] is a good story, and a refreshing change from today's capitalist-saturated public policies." -- Planning

"Through studies such as this, we can gain at least some sense of how certain communities, carefully planned and well launched, have continued to thrive in the face of serious problems." -- Joseph L. Arnold, Maryland Historical Magazine

"Cathy Knepper presents a compelling view of one of this country's greatest experiences in creating a community." -- Hazel Ruth Edwards, APA Journal

"Finely illustrated and detailed in its analysis." -- Joshua Olsen, H-DC, H-Net Reviews

"[Cathy D. Knepper] illuminates what few other planning scholars touch, namely, the inner workings of the community. Greenbelt, Maryland should help historians and practitioners better understand how planning was able to fashion and sustain that elusive trait commonly referred to as community." -- Christopher Silver, Journal of American History

"This is an important study, not only because it highlights a landmark in American urban design, but because the approach raises questions as to how we have chosen to evaluate British new communities in academic texts." -- Brian Goodey, Rudi

"Greenbelt is a very important part of twentieth-century urban history. Knepper's work is an excellent documentation of that history, well illustrated with both maps and photographs." -- Dean Sinclair, Historical Geography

"As the first full-scale assessment of one of the nation's foremost planned communities, this book is unique. More importantly, it examines the ideological changes that have occurred in Greenbelt up to the present -- a very important issue in light of its atypical origins as a New Deal community. Combining archival materials with contemporary interviews gives the subject a sense of immediacy that many historical interpretations lack." -- Arnold R. Alanen, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"The book is... as unique as its subject." -- J. Brooks Flippen, Material Culture

Built in the 1930s on worn-out tobacco land between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., the planned community of Greenbelt, Maryland, was designed to provide homes for low-income families as well as jobs for its builders. In keeping with the spirit of the New Deal, the physical design of the town contributed to cooperation among its residents, and the government further encouraged cooperation by helping residents form business cooperatives and social organizations.

In Greenbelt, Maryland, Cathy D. Knepper offers the first comprehensive look at this important social experiment. Knepper describes the origins of Greenbelt, the ideology of its founders, and their struggle to create a cooperative planned community in the capitalist United States. She tells how the town, saved at one point by the intervention of Eleanor Roosevelt, struggled through the McCarthy years, when it was branded "socialistic" and even "communistic." In conclusion, she provides a timely analysis of those qualities that not only helped the town survive but also served as the model for currents in urban development that have once again come into vogue in such movements as the new urbanism and traditional neighborhood development.