Elon Muskpagcor golden club casino, who inhabits the role of a gonzo captain of industry like no other figure in modern American life, has lately been dreaming aloud about building his own version of an old-fashioned company town.
And not just dreaming. In September, Bastrop County, Texas, outside Austin, approved the construction of Project Amazing, a subdivision of 110 modest homes on land owned by Mr. Musk that is to be called Snailbrook. Banners hanging from the (solar-powered) street lamps declare, “Welcome / Snailbrook, Texas / Established 2021.” Several of Mr. Musk’s companies, including Tesla, have factories nearby, and he reportedly has been spreading the word that he wants to build a community for his workers.
Company towns in the United States have been around for nearly as long as corporations. From the wooden boardinghouses built for female textile workers in Lowell, Mass., in the 1830s through the development of model factory towns like Pullman, Ill., and Alcoa, Tenn., industrialists provided housing in the hopes of both attracting and controlling employees. It’s harder to defy an employer when leaving a job means leaving your home, too.
ImageCredit...Eli Durst for The New York TimesThat model faded away after World War II as workers sought greater autonomy, corporations discarded a broader sense of obligation and the government assumed responsibility for providing affordable housing. Developers continued to build utopian model towns like Columbia, Md.; The Woodlands, Texas; and Irvine, Calif., which included housing and places to work. But the employers did not own the housing, and residents did not necessarily work in the community.
Snailbrook is a throwback. And as a dire housing shortage makes it hard for companies to recruit and retain workers, Mr. Musk is not alone in judging that it’s time for a revival.
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