Show I 1 SLUMS MUST GO says straus housing authority chief opens washington office ready keady to fight squalor by JOSEPH W labine maybe in the snugness of your living room you thought american living standards were pretty high but that was before a fellow named nathan straus became director of the united states housing authority after less than two months on the job during which hes talked freely nathan straus has made americans hang their heads in shame our housing conditions dit ions he explains are deplorable mr straus is not connected with the federal housing administration which has been insuring loans on private dwellings and is now attempting to stimulate business through a housing boom although hes interested in the monumental task facing straus is to clean out the slums he is administrator for the new wagner act for the present all united states housing activities are aimed at the spectre of recession a severe dip in business which threatens to wipe out many of the past three years gains president roosevelt seeks to stimulate americas financial pulse with a housing boom through liberalization aliza tion of existing laws as outlined in his special message to congress on november 29 the key to recovery though slum clearance and private housing are two separate enterprises both can help avoid recession economists now regard a large volume of new construction as the keystone to further recovery 4 MY 7 0 W N V A greatest of slum clearance projects was williamsburg houses in new york costing covering I 1 12 city blocks and providing homes for 1623 1622 the government expects to get et half its investment back the small improvement in building evidenced last spring was hit on the head by rising costs strikes an armament boom and growing uncertainty about the future drastic action must be taken immediately for america faces the worst housing shortage in its history speaking conservatively we need new dwelling units every year actually we built only in 1935 in 1936 and about this year the wagner bill was passed by congress last spring after a stormy three year legislative trip briefly it creates the united states housing authority which mr straus heads it provides half a billion dollars to be loaned state and municipal housing authorities during the he next three years for use solely in in creating new dwelling units for the tenement population between and units is its three year goal in addition to the loans annual subsidy appropriations will be made to state and local authorities ties for making up the difference between the economic rent on houses built and what the low income renter can afford to pay fo for r 1938 1933 this subsidy appropriation totals how it works the government will build no houses or apartment buildings thirty states have already adopted enabling acts permitting them to set up local housing authorities needed for the new program these authorities ties can borrow 90 per cent of the cost of any project to be repaid within GO years in addition to the 10 per cent building expense authorities must pay at least one fifth the difference between betwee n the low rent charged and the economic rent the governments rent subsidy will never be more than four fifths of the difference it if a tenant cannot afford to pay the economic rent on his slum clearance apartment why should the government and local housing authority pay the difference the answer is that the government has at last officially recognized that many americans can never afford to rent sanitary living quarters this recognition is one sign of a more common sense attitude toward the housing problem slum clearance projects in new york chicago and other metropolitan points were successful in wiping out parts of the blighted area but they failed because the intended tenants aff afford ord rents of 12 a month per room frills are nice but another good sign is nathan straus determination to give sensible housing without the frills that went with projects sought ideal living conditions incorporating corp orating cross ventilation no walk ups more than three or four stories and no room entered through another straus also likes these frills but he realizes the necessity is to remove americas lowest one third from the slums into decent living quarters not to place them in ideal houses homes built under the new housing authority will rent for 5 to per room per month if possible such economical housing will not conflict with private interests mr straus claims and with reason no private builder can erect suitable housing in new york or chicago to rent at much less than 12 to 14 a room per month now how united states housing ranks americas slum conditions are the worst in the western world no 2 M t M I 1 aa another slum vanished in indianapolis to make way for id gardens which cost rents average 2380 2280 per month fo for a A three room apartment including utilities where outside the orient can more squalor be found than in our own metropolitan centers take indoor plumbing for example though considered a nonessential non essential on the farm it certainly ranks as a vital health factor in crowded city life yet 25 per cent of american urban homes have no bathing facilities and one fifth are without private indoor water closets approximately american city families are without the barest modern improvements av 42 14 rz 4 I 1 I 1 a 4 p NATHAN STRAUS r fi although the social aspect of slum clearance has long been stressed in the united states it was an economic development that led to es of the housing Au author ty it goes deeper than the current recession blighted areas affect i both the tenement occupant and the A more fortunate in some respects taxpayer rundown run down cities require large police fire and hospitalization appropriations moreover dilapidate dilapi dat i ed residential areas spread like a plague destroying neighboring property look at statistics a moment from both social and economic view i points twenty one per cent of Clev elands murders are committed in a slum district covering less than I 1 per cent of the cites area and housing per cent of the population in harlem tuberculosis is three times as prevalent as in the rest of new york city similar convincing figures can be produced in any city of the nation unlike mr straus does not plan to build apartments in the midst of yesterdays ruins new sites will be chosen in areas and tenants will be lifted away from the slums completely in due time if the housing authority is successful all present slum sites will be evacuated the property will then be open for commercial development r new homes new people mr straus does not believe that slum dwellers will create slum conditions wherever they go experience has been good in this respect proving that underprivileged 1 classes are largely victims of tir cir i comstance cum stance ready to reform if given an opportunity the present half billion dollar appropriation is hardly more than a drop in in the bucket mr straus admits to the needy one third of our population would require new dwelling units compared with units possible under the present fund but half a billion dollars will help get the ball rolling and should demonstrate for all time ome the possibilities in slum clearance work business man alan idealist the newest of the new deals administrators mr straus is probably one of the most capable his experience with hillside and other private housing projects equips him from the practical point of view while his social mindedness gives him enough of the idealists idea lists view point to forge ahead despite rt cles his career has been varied start it it ing with two years at princeton fc two more at heidelberg anda and a few it |