The Maryland town that likes co-ops

Washington Post -   On a Saturday in late October, Mark and Angie Gordon spent the morning as they often do — volunteering in Roosevelt Center, the historic shopping plaza in Greenbelt, Maryland. Mark helped out at the tool library, in a basement office space, where locals can find things like cordless drills and refurbished KitchenAid mixers and can lend tools for other neighbors to borrow or repair. Angie is a volunteer at the town’s traditional book library just up the road....

Mark Gordon is a volunteer at the Greenbelt Makerspace and Tool Lending Library, where people can check out leaf blowers, blenders and other items. The tool library is part of the Greenbelt MakerSpace, one of many co-ops in the city of about 25,000 residents in Prince George’s County, roughly 10 miles outside D.C.

The MakerSpace embodies the spirit of Greenbelt, where many of the main attractions are co-ops — including the New Deal Cafe, which locals call the “community living room” with live music six nights a week, and the Greenbelt Co-Op Supermarket & Pharmacy, which boasts nearly 11,000 members who spend as little as $10 a month to participate in food samplings, wine tastings and wellness programs.

The federal government built Greenbelt on former tobacco fields during the Great Depression as a planned utopia for low-income residents to help solve the housing crisis. At the time, only White applicants were accepted, despite Black workers helping to construct it. Houses came with furniture and yard space, and residents were encouraged to be active participants in their community. Visitors can see a 1930s model at the Greenbelt Museum, located in one of the original units.  MORE