Our very own Lebensborn project.
The Left is always moving forward, experimenting....
I think of Greenbelt Maryland.
“Greenbelt was also a social experiment. Designed to provide low-income housing, it drew 5,700 applicants for the original 885 residences. The first families were chosen not only to meet income criteria , but also to demonstrate willingness to participate in community organizations. (In 1941 another 1,000 homes were added to provide housing for families coming to Washington in connection with defense programs of World War II.)
The first families, who arrived on October 1, 1937, found no established patterns or institutions of community life. Almost all were under 30 years of age. All considered themselves pioneers in a new way of life. A mix of blue and white collar workers, they reflected the religious composition of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.—Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish; but because of the racial bias controlling public policy at that time, all were white.
Almost immediately the new residents formed a town government—the first city manager form of government in the State of Maryland. They also formed the first kindergarten in Prince George’s County. During that first year they also formed a citizens’ association, a journalism club which published the first newspaper (still published today on a weekly basis as the Greenbelt News Review), and a community band. Interdenominational church services were held in the elementary school auditorium, which also functioned as a community center. The Greenbelt Health Association opened to provide hospital services. Police, fire and rescue squads formed. Residents held a town fair that first summer. In 1939 the first public swimming pool opened in Greenbelt—first in the Washington area. Numerous clubs flourished. In fact, Greenbelters were so busy attending meetings that the town council called a moratorium on meetings between Christmas and New Year’s in 1939 to permit residents to spend time at home with their families.
Greenbelt is also unique for its cooperative institutions. Boston merchant and philanthropist Edward Filene provided funds to Greenbelt Consumer Services, Inc., which operated a food store, gas station, drug store, barber shop, movie theater, valet shop, beauty parlor, variety store, and tobacco shop. In December 1941 citizens within the community were able to raise funds to purchase GCS.
In 1952, when Congress voted to sell off the greenbelt towns, citizens in Greenbelt formed a housing cooperative (Greenbelt Veterans Housing Corporation, later Greenbelt Homes, Inc.) which purchased the homes. (The other two greenbelt towns were purchased privately.) Citizens also formed a cooperative baby sitting pool, a cooperative nursery school, a cooperative kindergarten, and a cooperative savings and loan association. In fact, when Greenbelters confronted any kind of a new problem, their typical first approach was to form a new cooperative.”....
http://www.greenbeltmd.gov/about_greenbelt/history.htm