Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-18
CITY PLANNING.
1.-THE Housing Problem.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

The housing problem is one involving
the national vitality. Upon its treatment
depends. to great degree. the fitness
or unfltness of the people to meet the de-
mands Of advancing civilization. II the
home is inconsistent with high CONNER
cial and Industrial development. our CIV
ilization must fail. 1t is the most pressing
question In the city reform. Indirectly
it Is berg approached in efforts to re-
alize the widespread sentiment for the
beautiful city.
With the elimination Of torturous streets'
concealed alleys and attendant wretcheo-
ness and crime, and with the Introduction
of inviting parks. broad plazas. roomy'
well planned streets and avenues. mag
nificent public buildings and commodious
traffic oenters. citizens Of the future CITY
certainly will demand that the indlViouai
home builder conform his fancies 70 rec
ognized standards. and they are not going
to allow the incapable or eccentric ouiioer
to destroy the harmony Of the planned
city through faulty judgment or greed
But even more strongly than the ldea'
of beautiful city, the necessity Oh pio-
tecting +re homes of the poor IN oroer
to bring bout wholesome social develop
ment is beginning to operate for better
and more thorough municipal resuiatloi
of building construction. That part OF a
city's people denied healthy, adequate
homes, whose growth is blighted ana IN
fected by unnatural congestion, IN tunu
take bitter unconscious revenge. Inc us
orders bred by their unwhoiesome nues
seep through all ramihcations of the CITY
In chief part the housing problem Is
one of sanitation. 1t Is the direct OUT
growth of congestion. or an undue oens-
ity of people Hectic speculation IN ciss
and suburban land is the crux OF .,e
problem. Cures for the evil housing SIT
nations that have become acute III Amer
lean cities of the first and second mag
nitude. and causes for much coheeai -.
every industrial and commercial couh.iS
of the world. are the restriction OIL TOO
in+ sive DEVELOPMENT of the land. strict
er building regulations and the llnpIo
mont and cheapening of transportation
between office and factory in the city ana
points in the surrounding country.
* y
Ii is an irony of the modern CITY tna'
the poor people live on the expensive
land while the
Poor People Live rich i've ,r on
on Expensive Land. poor man who
can i'll afford even the interest on the
lower capital represented by agrlcui-
tural land, has to carry rental on eA-
orbitant priced land in crowded sections
of the city.
The mill hand must live near the place
of his daily labor. Present railway ano
interurban fares do not allow them &c
live fifteen or twenty miles in the coun'
try. as the European laborer often does.
Communication fares on the government
owned railways of many European couli-
tries make it possible for the hordes o.
city workers to leave the city when tneif
day Is done for cottages scattered
throughout the encircling country. Ihus
in Belgium, it costs 37la cents week
for a double journey of twenty mile:
each day For daily forty-four-mil'
round trip the cost is So cents weekly.
Low wages are, of course. another ele
menu in the force which binds the city
worker to the city. Facing the problem
of finding domicile near his employ
| ment and of making his wage support
! self and family, after deducuns rental
| the city worker finds solution only at the
| expense of a comfortable, healthy home
! The family that can afford only $3.50 a
month in rent must take what the land.
! lord will provide, and the city landlord
! too often has solved the difficulty &C
! cord.ng to the dictates of greed. In
vestigations in almost any of the larger
| cities disclose instances of single rooms
| being used by from six to d dozen people
| for sleeping, living and occupational pur-
I poses.
| While the housing problem cannot be
exclusively laid at the door of the land
| lord his contributions to it have been the
blind alley, the cheap, insanitary tene-
ment and the dilapidated howell. This
/ last contribution is made where the
| frame house of yesterdays suburb is
standing upon ground that has come
| into a manufacturing district. Such land
| is valuable for factory purposes out OF
! proportion to the houses upon it. AS a
result, the landlord waits for an offer
/ from some manufacturer for the land. in
| the meantime renting the houses and al
| lowing them to go to ruin.
| Interior alley homes and the barracks
| like tenements. both types of homes with
improper sanitation. lack Of sunlight. OF
ventilation, of comfort, devoid of all
home-like inspiration, are the backbone
of the housing problem Where people
dwell 1000 to the tenement, in bleak one
to four room cells. there can be no
homes, no natural growth. no wholesome
reproduction.
The product of these congested city