This is a clip (uneditied) from the 1939 movie "The City". See www.archive.org... for the complete film (public domain). See www.DenverDirect.tv for details of growing up there.
Those buildings are still there and owner occupied with the property titled in the name of Greenbelt Homes Inc. The owners occupy them as share holders in the cooperative which gives the the right to occupy a given structure. The co-op limited mortgage lenders to a small list of approved lenders and when I was in that area there were only two mortgage companies allowed to lend on housing. I know a few years back Co-op membership did not allow renting out a unit and buyers were not allowed to sell their share for a profit until they had lived there a certain number of years. There was rapid growth when WWII broke out and housing for Defense Department workers was built. The structures seen in the film were masonry and later buildings were wood frame. I was told the wood frame row house (we call them townhouses now) structures were built for the war effort and outnumber the masonary buildings. The town has grown and the city limits extend past the boundary of the original planed city initial building area. New construction including single family homes that are not part of the co-op have been built. The town has it's own police force. The residents ran the spectrum of American society. The Communist Party had a chapter there and some of them then retired lived there. It was one of the places mixed race couple could live in the time of segregation and restrictive housing. The people ran from bikers to college professors.
Those buildings are still there and owner occupied with the property titled in the name of Greenbelt Homes Inc. The owners occupy them as share holders in the cooperative which gives the the right to occupy a given structure. The co-op limited mortgage lenders to a small list of approved lenders and when I was in that area there were only two mortgage companies allowed to lend on housing. I know a few years back Co-op membership did not allow renting out a unit and buyers were not allowed to sell their share for a profit until they had lived there a certain number of years. There was rapid growth when WWII broke out and housing for Defense Department workers was built. The structures seen in the film were masonry and later buildings were wood frame. I was told the wood frame row house (we call them townhouses now) structures were built for the war effort and outnumber the masonary buildings.
The town has grown and the city limits extend past the boundary of the original planed city initial building area. New construction including single family homes that are not part of the co-op have been built. The town has it's own police force.
The residents ran the spectrum of American society. The Communist Party had a chapter there and some of them then retired lived there. It was one of the places mixed race couple could live in the time of segregation and restrictive housing. The people ran from bikers to college professors.
edward cnnell thank u
greenbelt doesn't look that green anymore
Facts