Housing Co-ops Defy Naysayers

This brief report, written by Valryn Warren, comes to us from Ohio's Dayton Daily News.

During World War Two, the US government built a group of houses in a part of this industrial city to house factory workers and their families. During the mid-Fifties, a group of these workers bought some of these houses to run them as a cooperative called "Overlook". Conventional wisdom thought the project would end up as a disaster.

The cooperative celebrates it's 50th year this year and is flourishing. Many families there are second and third generation residents.

Cooperative action between neighbors is one of the threads of Distributist Thought. This is a positive example of it's viability and durability. If it can be replicated, modifying it to local circumstances, it should be done. Happy birthday to Overlook!