One of the "Green Towns" built through the New Deal
Greenbelt, Maryland, stands out for its co-op-run community, which evolved from a New Deal housing program overseen by President Franklin Roosevelt. The city was praised for its “utopian” urban design as a planned community built and maintained by the government. It put urban development and access to green space on equal footing, with condo complexes and Art Deco-inspired townhomes overlooking pocket parks. Though the government gave up ownership in the ‘50s, the original Greenbelt area, known as "old Greenbelt," soon became cooperatively owned by homeowners, as it remains to this day. In 2023, Greenbelt had around 24,000 residents, a 9.7% increase from 2010. Through the organization, called Greenbelt Homes Inc., homeowners in old Greenbelt pay a monthly fee to cover most maintenance needs. Other subdivisions in the town are newer with traditional HOAs for management needs. “Greenbelt is a real lively suburban community. It’s convenient to everything in the D.C. area,” says Thurman Battle, principal broker at Bennett Realty Solutions in Greenbelt. “It’s just a nice place to live.”
Greenbelt, part of Prince George's County was developed as a planned community during the 1930s.
The scenic shaded road through Greenbelt Park.
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Prewar Art Deco townhouses along greenways
Home prices in town range from around $150,000 to $590,000, varying by square footage and location. Homes that belong to the Greenbelt Housing Inc. cooperative tend to be more affordable, and come with monthly co-op fees to ensure maintenance needs are met for everyone in the community. Renovated, Art Deco-style townhouses are popular in town, with some townhouse subdivisions as part of homeowners’ associations. Colonials with two-car garages and stone exterior touches sit on grassy, suburban streets behind sidewalks and shady oak trees. “You have split-foyers, ramblers, colonials and split-levels, usually,” says Battle. “The market is pretty good. With interest rates going up, the market has slowed down. However, we’re still in a buyers’ market.”
Greenbelt city crime reports show that overall crime rose around 81.8% from 2012 to 2023, though city police attribute this spike to larceny-theft of “expensive electronics,” which are more available now than a decade ago. Greenbelt’s overall crime rate runs slightly higher than the national average.
A clusters of attached colonial homes in Greenbelt.
With a few communities of Townhomes, Goddard has access for the smaller homes.
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Cooperative ownership
All of Greenbelt’s major amenities sit near the center of town. Roosevelt Center is a local strip mall hosting The Greenbelt Co-Op Supermarket & Pharmacy, a community-owned and operated institution, continuing the city’s tradition of community ownership of land and resources. New Deal Café is another co-op business serving coffee and an organic menu and music venue that bills itself as “Greenbelt’s living room.” Neighbors get takeout from Cedars of Lebanon, known for its hummus and kabobs. Chain retailers and supermarkets are available at Greenway Center, another strip mall a mile south.
Greenbelt residents go shopping at the Greenbelt Co-Op in Greenbelt Center.
The Greenbelt Co-op Supermarket is a great place for residents to pick up fresh produce.
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Locals can walk to a National Park from home
Greenbelt Park is a U.S. National Park with paved and dirt hiking trails and forests with campsites where it’s common to spot a deer or fox among the trees. Hikers can walk along various trails and get lost in the forest. Near the center of town sits Buddy Attick Lake Park, named for a local landowner who became the city’s first Director of Public Works. The lake is a 23-acre waterway surrounded by a paved path popular for jogging and dog walking. Though boating isn’t allowed at the lake, anglers can cast lines and catch bass and crappies. Locals swim in the indoor pool at the town recreation center, practice their tricks at the skatepark and play volleyball and pickleball at nearby courts. The City of Greenbelt Observatory hosts Star Parties twice a month, allowing locals to enjoy the beauty of the night sky from an optimal location.
Greenbelt experiences a temperate mid-Atlantic climate with four distinct seasons.
Greenbelt Park has a large camping area, something hard to find in the DC area.
Trails at Greenbelt Park in Greenbelt.
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Highly rated schools
Prince George’s County Public Schools is the main district serving Greenbelt, which receives a C-plus rating on Niche. The University of Maryland College Park campus is a 5-mile drive from Greenbelt and is the largest university in the state and Greater Washington region. It offers 11 different schools and has around 37,340 students enrolled as of 2024.
Greenbelt Middle School in Berwyn Heights has a great gifted & talented program.
The athletic Field at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt has been home to many great sports battles.
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Commuting to D.C.
The city’s main transportation arteries are the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and the Capitol Beltway, which intersect in the center of town and allow regional access around D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Locals can drive to D.C. in about 13 miles, taking half an hour. Commuters can avoid the traffic and catch a Green Line train from the Greenbelt Metro station into the city and reach downtown in about 45 minutes. Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is 45 minutes away. The Greater Washington region has a prosperous job market in many industries, from data centers in Northern Virginia to bioscience jobs in Montgomery County and Federal employers in the nation’s capital. In the coming years, the FBI plans to move its national headquarters campus from D.C. to Greenbelt, meaning an influx of government jobs will be planted right at home.
The Greenbelt Metro Station is home to train & bus commuters.
The Greenbelt metro station is how residents connect from Greenbelt to greater washington DC,
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