I'm hearing more and more about it. Company stores and company towns. Nope, nothing to learn from historically here at all.
In here The Company (a paper factory) guaranteed home loans for employees, a ton of people got dirt-cheap loans and paid off their homes in record time. My aunt still lives in one of those homes, they've been debt free since before the millennium.
The Netherlands can't be the only country where it did work out.
I was born and raised in a beautiful company built neighbourhood. Small but decent houses, a school, some shops and enough room for some 'green'.