On August 27th, incoming students from the Real Estate Development, Urban Planning, Architecture and Historic Preservation programs participated in an all day interdisciplinary site tour focused on planned communities in Maryland. The Big Terp bus was loaded with nearly 50 students to see four of the most iconic communities in Maryland in Prince George's, Howard, Baltimore and Montgomery Counties.
First stop was the historic planned community of Greenbeltwhich was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997. Here students visited the Greenbelt community center housed in the original Greenbelt Elementary School. The City was the first public housing development in the US, instigated by Eleanor Roosevelt and was one of four "green" cities built with federal funds; all inspired by the English Garden City movement. In the 1950's the federal government sold all the residential units to a cooperative that persists today, making this a most successful development in preserving it's original art deco character and social purpose.