The background really starts back in the late 1800's when cities had become "steadily more crowded, more insanitary, more confused, more inefficient, and more unlovable" (Osborn, pg. 25). Some tried to provide solutions without substantial success.
However, one man who made a great impact in this reform was Ebenezer Howard with his proposal of To-morrow: The Peaceful Path to Social Reform in 1898. He imagined "garden cities" being surrounded by a "country belt" which soon became called the "new towns movement" (Little, pg. 16). These towns would provide for "biological and social needs by means of parks, open spaces, and housing and sanitation standards." At the same time, being able to "accommodate the daily functions of a city, industry, business, education, government, and other social activities." (Osborn, pg. 27).
This made an impact on the United States thirty years later, when it reached its lowest financial point ever during The Depression. These New Town ideas laid the foundation for how President Rosevelt chose to aid in this crisis. He created the Resettlement Administration for the "New Deal greenbelt towns" and assigned Rexford Tugwell to lead the development of three "green" towns. One in Ohio, Wisconsin, and of course Maryland. (Little, pg. 17).
