The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-05-10
RICHMOND housing CONDITIONS.

The preliminary report of the survey
OF housing conditions III Richmond de-
serves careful consideration. This is
perhaps the first time a mirror of fact
has been held up TO show what kind
Of homes our people actually live in.
The data given is fundamental infor-
nation. and should be useful in guild
ing many Of our future Developments.
Whether these concentrations are final
or complete. we cannot say. but they
do suggest lines OF serious study for
those interested in The life OF the COM
munity
I. Is good to learn that conditions
here are not worse than elsewhere.
This is shown by the declining death
rate, and evidences the efficient work
Done by the Health Department. The
ratio of population to area shows a
high density OF people, but the fact
that all our land is used mitieates the
actual conditions of congestion. There
is little land crowd!rg, as II Is called.
What exists is In tho divergent sec
tons of modern apartment houses md
cheap teuements.
crowding. and this Is the mos. serious
aspect OF our home life. II Is due to
high rents and the lack Of accommoda-
tons That is a distasteful and unciv-
ilized picture called up by the statis-
tics as TO sleepers per room. OF ,O53
rooms listed in eight were chartered
seven persons per room: in thirteen
slept six persons in thirty eight slept
FIVE, and in seventy seven slept four.
In 1873 rooms there were more than
four people to the room. This can be
neither healthful nor moral
Despite the fact that the number of
dwellings increased 40 per cent in the
last census decade. while the popula-
ton and number OF families increased
only about IS per cent, there is to-day
AN urgent need for more small conve-
nient, wellequipped homes, at moder-
ate rentals. We have 60 per cent of
frame houses many in a tumbledown
and unsanitary state. The need here
ompha sized is for houses renting for
from Sc to SIP ana from Sl2 to s25 a
month Many Of The present dwellings,,
although judged structurally safe by
the Building Inspector, are not hu-
manly safe. They do not afford salts
factory residences for people in this
age. Nothing shows this more point
odly than the statement that 1900
houses cannot connect with the city
sewers
The present building code might we'll
he improved TO meet some of the crit
icisns here made. Rules as 10 venti-
lation size OF rooms, height supply
Of water and toilets arc necessary in a
growing city. unsanitary homes men
ace the entire population The social
influence OF disease is too manifest
now to permit neglect OF community
health.
Some other points are worth noting
The Street Cleaning Department is said
TO be Insufficient This may be true.
but 1t is time" the present force was
concentrating it's ability 10 cover any
territory Adequately The lack Of
street sprinklng. with resultant dust,
needs no expert testimony Clothes
and bodies and furnishing witness Tho
fact daily. Tina, an open sewer Ike
Shockoe Creek is a friehtful blot, we
admit, and we suggest once more that
the board get to work. The smoke nui
sance is just beginning Now Is The
time TO attack that
All in all. Richmond Is in the exact
condition OF an old town suddenly
growing Very fast Many Things de-
lnand Improvement These things ne
cessi'ate the spending Of money, either
by landowners OF taxpayers This is
INC ultimate lesson driven home by this
report.