| Show Better Housing for Salt Saif Lake City I PHE THE exhaustive report on housing conditions I j in Salt Lake City recently released showed that approximately tenth one of the people Inthe jn In the city live In substandard dwellings Contrasted with conditions in many other cities In the nation that is probably not a bad showing The report said that although we have some pocket slums scattered over the city in the interior of some of our unusually large blocks we have no flagrant lagrant slum areas However there are some revelations in that report which Salt Lake City cannot read with pride and which call for correction For In- In tance lance it was revealed that there are dwellings dwell dwell- ings which lack adequate sanitary facilities Of Ct these had neither flush lush toilets nor running run run- ning water had running water but no toilets more than shared toilets had toilets but no bath In homes occupied by persons there Is overcrowding with the majority of such families lam lam- having three or more children Families living in homes classed as substandard include 1660 children under four years of age and 2983 children between the ages of 5 and 14 It is not to the best interest of Salt Lake City to have any of its people people and and particularly particular particular- ly not its children living children living in homes where there are inadequate sanitary facilities where there is overcrowding or other faults aults which make for poor living conditions and unhealthy situations Housing conditions in Salt Lake City are not terrible but they are as this report proves bad enough to call can for correction For the sake of the well-being well of the city as a whole these substandard homes should be improved in order order or or- der to meet at least minimum standards of health and decent living Private capital has recognized the need of such improvements and is asking public cooperation cooperation cooperation co co- co- co operation to make it possible for private enterprise enterprise enter enter- prise to correct the situation A bill has been introduced In the legislature legislature house house bill No 20 which it is felt will permit private capital to tomake tomake make snake needed improvements The bill provides for the establishment of private redevelopment corporations to improve substandard urban areas Principal points Inthe Inthe in inthe the bill are limitation of profits of such corporations corporations cor cor- to 5 per cent on the investment freezing of tax assessments on the property to be improved for a year 10 period the grantIng granting grant grant- ing of rights of condemnation to such corporations corporations corpora corpora- I with the qualification that the condemnations condemnations condemnations would be carried out under municipal su supervision supervision su- su and the provision that improvement plans must be submitted to municipal authorities author author- ties Sties for their approval Real estate owners and operators of Salt Lake City and of the nation approve this plan for eliminating slums and other substandard housing as a project of private enterprise They say it will be possible under this plan to deVelop develop develop de de- de- de satisfactory residential structures to rent at from 15 to 18 a month which they say is far below the cost per unit under federal housing hous hOUSe ing lag projects The bill has passed the house and is now before the senate It woul l seem it ought to be enacted into law in order to give local real estate operators the chance they ask to correct Salt Lake City's housing situation themselves They should have that chance If they can do doIt doit it it the problem will be solved with a very minimum minimum mini mini- mum of public Interference or subsidy and at atno atno atno no direct cost to the taxpayers If II they fall fail to todo todo todo do the job they say they can do then it willbe will willbe willbe be up to the people through government agencies agencies agen agen- cies des to handle the problem |
