As Victoria embarks on an ambitious social housing program to address a severe housing shortage, this book exposes important lessons for the future. The context is the post-World War 2 housing shortage, when the Housing Commission developed the unique Melbourne suburb of Braybrook. Infrastructure was lacking and housing was often substandard. Although neglected by governments, residents created a positive community, and a Royal Commission identified, then excused, some of the inherent faults. This book recounts, for the first time, the stark history of Braybrook.