Evening journal., 1918-01-11
Wilmington Business Men
to Build Homes for Workers

monthly rental plan Mr. Nolen said
that he was not going to criticize any
one but he was going to tell some
plain facts He lauded the citizen
ship Of Wilmington, saying that he had
never in an his travels. met such a
fine character as William p. Bancroft
who was q publicsprited scitizen,
striving 10 benefit the city.
Houses 10 Help Win War.
IT may seem an exaggeraiion 90 say
that the success of the American armies
end their allies on the western front
in France. depends or at least may soon
depend directly upon the number and
character of workman homes, built
IN Wilmington and a few other places
lrine The next six months Mr.. Nolen
continued "Yot this is the case. 70 has
been stated positively 10y high govern
ment officials, by heads of shpibuild-
ing concerns. and other war industries.
by leading city officials and by direc-
tors Of the National Chamber of Com
merce And &c may seem an equal ex-
aggeration TO affirm that the future of
Wilmington as am orderly attractive,
desirable, growing industrial city. de
pends, or may depend upon The decis-
ions that are TO be made I'm connection
with the meeting this evening.
City is Challenged
Another result is higher rents,
some time could DE probably occu-
pied IN congratulaling Wilmington
upon iis growth and prosperity. upon
lbs citizenship. The well directed ac-
iivities Of the Chamber OF Commerce
and upon the opportunity which the
city presents for a good housing move
mcni
The housing survey now ln opera
li0n VIII follow somewhat the lines OF
similar surveys IN other industrial
cities 10 should be kept ia mind.
however. that the survey itself can do
nothing 10 can neither provide money.
buy land or build houses lt can and
should however. present such facts
and such a program as TO start the
wheels
An interesting exhibit has been
brought together probably the most
comprehensive that Wilmington has
ever had, showing housing operations
here and ia other cities and even IN
England
ut does not take long for q visitor
90 Wilmington 10 discover the merits
and defects of its characteristic hous-
ing The row type prevails. While,
as "a type houses built in that foshion
are not necessarily bad, the results IN
Wilmington. as a rule. are far FROM
good Some streets present The aspect
not Of O colony of homes, but of a CON
yulsi0n As a whole The results in
most sections are ugly Grade and Yul-
gar. most of which could have been
changed boy good planning and reason
able regulation, without any material
additional cost
Wilmington has the densesi popula-
tion per acre of any city of the iOOWO
class in the United States AS com
pared with The average density of all
The cities of the 100000 class i'm the
United States it has q density four
times as great as the average. 10 even
exceeds in density such large and close
ly huilt-up cities as Philadelphia and
Baltimore. This is not only unfortunate,
but unnecessary. 10 is due in part TO the
restricted city limits. but The main eX-
PLANTATION. 7 believe, Is the low standard
OF the building ordinances az the city.
and The meager allowances OF land and
open spaces allowed in connection with
workngmens homes. The standards
fall below what would be required by
the United States Government as @
basis for Federal aid 20 housing
Advantages Of Homes.
There are many advantages IN better
housing The ones which need en-
phasis, however, are the financial and
economic BY better housing Is meant
the location Of residential districts with
due resard TO the city planning, especi-
ally IN the matter of transportation.
recreation and what is known as 2On-
ing. or building districts. Cheap land
should be utilized i'm large areas with
wholesale planning and wholesale Op-
erations. The detached house should
usually have a lot about 50X60 feet or
1000 square feet The row house
should have an average of 20X90 feet
or 800 TO 1000 square feet. Ten houses
90 the net acre is enough for detached
or semi-detached buildings and 20
houses 30 the acre is q desirable maxi
mum for houses built 10 rows OF
shorter groups Of say four six or eight
houses each. Better housing also means
the careful planning of streets. blocks,
lots, Fairgrounds, parks, school sites,
etc
THE house itself should, Of course.
have a good floor plan and what we call
modern Improvements These are es-
sential. so also are light, air. ventilation
and privacy. To these can usually be
added, without additional expense, q
good appearance, in other words, an
appropriate architecture. The fine
DEATHS.