Research Catalog

Title

Best-laid plans : the promises and pitfalls of the New Deal Greenbelt towns / Julie D. Turner.

Author

Turner, Julie D.

Publication

Cincinnati, Ohio : University of Cincinnati Press, [2022]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

338 pages : illustrations; 25 cm

Summary

"In 1935 the United States government embarked on a New Deal program to construct new suburban towns for the working class. Under the direction of the Resettlement Administration, teams of architects, engineers, and city planners, along with thousands of workers, brought three such communities to life: Greenbelt, Maryland; Greendale, Wisconsin; and Greenhills, Ohio. Designers, planners, and other experts brought their own ideas and goals into the project. We can see now, in hindsight, that the program was virtually doomed to fail from the outset. It suffered under the burden of too many competing goals: maximum job creation at minimal cost, exquisite town planning that would provide modest residences for low-income families, progressive innovation that would serve to honor and reinforce traditional American values. In addition to these opposing goals, the Greenbelt project faced the derision of conservative politicians and members of the media who vented their hostility toward FDR and the New Deal. Yet the Greenbelt program succeeded as well, providing new homes in well-planned communities that continue to welcome residents. The towns may represent an unrealistic dream, but they show an imagined way of American life that continues to appeal, that hints at what might have been possible"--

Subject

• 1900-1999
• Housing development > United States > History > 20th century
• Housing policy > United States > History > 20th century
• City planning > United States > History > 20th century
• Greenbelts > United States > History > 20th century
• Suburbs > United States > History > 20th century
• Promotion résidentielle > États-Unis > Histoire > 20e siècle
• Logement > Histoire > États-Unis > 20e siècle
• Ceintures de verdure > États-Unis > Histoire > 20e siècle
• HISTORY / United States / General
• City planning
• Greenbelts
• Housing development
• Housing policy
• Suburbs
• United States

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Introduction -- The Need -- Cities and Anti-Urban Backlash -- The New Deal -- The Greenbelt Idea Unfolds -- Opposition -- Designing the Towns -- Civic Art -- Leisure -- The Homes -- The People -- The Legacy -- Epilogue.

ISBN

• 9781947602458
• 1947602454
• 9781947602465 (canceled/invalid)
• 9781947602472 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

• 2022005304
• 99993614526

OCLC

• on1295617430
• 1295617430
• SCSB-14509454

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries