Introduction
My photography project New Deal Utopias examines three planned communities planned and built during the Great Depression by Franklin Roosevelt's Resettlement Administration. Greenbelt, Maryland; Greenhills, Ohio, and Greendale, Wisconsin were conceived as model cities for displaced farmers, as well as a solution for the overcrowding of urban slums. The Greenbelt Program was not only a housing program, but was also meant to provide an economic stimulus to an ailing construction industry. The designers' intent was to combine the social and economic opportunities of the city and the natural beauty of the country, and to foster a cooperative spirit among its residents to meet the challenges of the Great Depression. However, because it was conceived and constructed by the government, the program was critiqued as being "communistic" and "socialist" by opponents of FDR's New Deal policies.
As the country again struggles through tough economic times, the politics and divisions that produced the Greenbelt towns still prevail. The photographs engage with contemporary conversations about the history and future of urbanism, politics and place, and landscape and the built environment. I hope that the images refer to the human urge to create a perfect community through the shaping of architecture and natural space, as we continue to grapple with the complexities of housing, nature, and government in American life.