The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-04-07
ROME SOLVING ITS
HOUSING PROBELM
Enough Houses To Go
Around For First Time
in Modern History.

ROME, Italy, March - (Corre-
spondence Of The Associated Press)-
For the first time in the history OF
modern Rome there are enough houses
in the city to accommodate its popula.
ton. According to recent municipal
statistics, the city has almost a room
for each OF It's G00,0 900 inhabitants. In
the twelye;year period cited, h pop
ulation has increased log 500, the num-
Der of new rooms 91.SS7. and at a to.
tai building cost OF $12,000,o0o
The solution Of the housing problem
of Rome has been closely studied by
american cities through their own
experts and through United States
Consular reports because here new,
cIeaner, and roomier dwellings have
not meant an increase but a decrease
lin rents for poor people.
The problem in Rome has oneFed
difficulties, partly because Rome a
been at times the most populous anu
at other times the least p%opulous OF
the cities Of the world. In It's most
populous days, when its inhabitants
have been variously estimated at o
one 10 three millions. 1t solved its
housing problem by the invention OF
the skysCraper OF nine stories. When
the temporal power of the Papacy emu.
ed IN 1870, Rome had a population or
zoo, 900. living in ancient, damp and
unhealthy stone houses, and since that
date It has been struggling to provide
enough room for its yearly increasing
population. coming in part from FOR
eign countries but principally from It's
own provinces.
The two citizens who have been
IJarftfn6 Nu{th the
solution OF the problem are former
Mayor Nathan and former
Luigi Luzzatti. The method OF the lat
ter was to raise city taxes on old
houses and to let new one go free OF
taxes for a given period. Mayor Ma
than put an extra tax OF three per
cent on land on which the owners re-
fused to build. He also secured the
adoption OF ordinances providing low
taxes for dwellings occupying but n
fourth OF the building and the rent
of an apartment of which did not ex-
coed $40 a month. Other parts OF the
scheme involved the preservation of
ancient Rome as public monuments
and inducing the poor population to
leave the old buildings for the higher,
healthy sections outside the ancient
and medieval sites.
The result Of these various meas
ures has been the building up OF the
over Tiber section known as Pratt and
the high quarter above the ancient
city, which really lies In the Tiber bot
toms, known as Alta Roma, outside OF
Portia Pia and generally surrounding
the central station of the. State Rail-
way. In these quarters may be seen
blocks OF model apartment houses that
are not unlike In aspect those In the
newly built uptown sections of New
York City, the suburbs OF Chicago,
kansas City, or Cincinnati. With the
Improvement OF the street car com
munications, the poorer people are al
so gradually removing far outside the
ancient walls and building little homes
on the Campaign Romano which thirty
years age was a bandit-infested desert
allied with the ruins OF ancient Rome.
Meanwhile ancient and medieval
Rome is being cleaned up and beauti-
fed. While many Of the famous pal
aces are still inhabited by the owning
princes, they are slowly abandoning
them, subletting parts for business Of
fees and living apartments, them
selves building new palaces and villas
on the Janiculum, the Via Nomentana.
and elsewhere.
The effort Of the italian government
to give employment to laborers whom
the war has thrown out OF their reg
uIar positions has in some instances
stimulated work on new public build
ings, and when the war is over 1t Is
expected that the ambitious project
of tearing down some OF the sdualfd
dwellings near the Vatican will be put
into execution and new streets laid
forming a proper vista to St.. Peters.