Greendale, Wisconsin

Greendale is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,854 at the 2020 census. Greendale is located southwest of Milwaukee and is a part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. A planned community, it was established by the US government during the Great Depression.

The first recorded inhabitants of the Greendale area were various Native American tribes, including the Potawatomi. The 1833 Treaty of Chicago struck an agreement between the United States government that required the Chippewa, Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes to cede to the US government 5,000,000 acres (2,000,000 ha). In exchange for ceding their lands in the area, they were to receive monetary payments and lands west of the Mississippi in Indian Territory.

Greendale was one of three government-sponsored "Greenbelt" communities constructed by the Resettlement Administration, starting in 1936, as part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. The other Greenbelt communities were Greenbelt, Maryland and Greenhills, Ohio. Greendale was incorporated as a village on November 1, 1938. The planners and selection committees excluded African-American families from renting homes and created a racially segregated and all-white suburban community.

The original downtown area included the village hall, styled after Colonial Williamsburg, 366 new homes comprising 572 living units, and several businesses. Buildings were generally designed with concrete block construction covered with cement paint outside and plastered walls inside. Most originally had Ludowici tile roofs, but some featured asbestos shingles. These homes are often referred to as "Greendale Originals".

The Greenbelt communities were patterned after the British garden city movement urban planning concept, built so residents could walk to schools, shops, and parks. Greendale was intended to be a model village for the working class. Income limits were from $1200 to $2700 per year, depending upon family size. In 1938, a one-bedroom Original rented for $19 a month. Rent for a four-bedroom home was $46 a month. Over 200 of the "Originals" have unique artistic designs on the chimneys.

Federal ownership of Greendale ended in 1953. In the late 1950s Greendale experienced growth in conjunction with the expansion of the Milwaukee suburbs as a whole. Although new homes were built and the number of minority families increased in Milwaukee County, racially restrictive covenants were used to maintain the all-white Greendale community. In 1958, the Crestview Acres land was sold by Elroy H. Barbian for development with the restrictive covenant that only white families could purchase the homes. "No Persons other than the white race shall own or occupy any building on said tract, but this covenant shall not prevent occupancy of persons of a race other than the white race who are domestic servants of the owner or occupant of said building."

Southridge Mall opened in 1970 as the southern sister mall to Northridge Mall. Both malls were located on 76th Street, close to major east–west artery roads. Both were developed by Herb Kohl and Taubman Centers, Inc.

In 1996, the shopping district in the center of the village was purchased by the Grandhaven investment firm founded by Roy Reiman, founder of a publishing company headquartered in the village. The remake of the "Village Center" brought updates, attracted new restaurants, and made the village center more of a tourist attraction. More than 40,000 flowers are planted annually along the downtown streets in hanging baskets, sidewalk beds, and storefront window boxes.