Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-07-01
LACK OF HOMES
DELAYS CUPID
TComtinued From First Pagcl

persons were placed the nrSt tnTee
days in rooms or whole houses; then
the supply began to wane.
The real old human interest stuff
same along when an ambitious
man. high up in the State govern
ment, protested that he was bound
to make good on his pledge to a
beautiful lady to have home for
her by July. Luckily. at that mo-
ment. word came of two unfur-
niShed houses, but unluckily, the
strenuous one arrived a minute too
late. Another feature, with no hu-
NOR to it for renters, Is the OBJ
lection to children. There was the
instance of a railroad brakeman
with wife and two kiddies VINO was
willing to take lease at $50 a
month, but the owner said the
neighbors complained at the pros
Feet of children and the house
finally went to a spinster.
Building Code Needed
Harrisburg is a great city. but
it, must take care for the future"
is the slogan of the housing conf
mittee. Zone of the great crimes
here is Iot-hogging,' which could
easily be stopped If we had build
Ing code to go by. There is no code
here, as in almost every city IN
America. There is nothing to pre-
vent an owner from utilizing every
inch for building, regardless OF the
neighbor's ventilation or sanitary
situation. There was the case of tho
man, against whom many protests
have come in. He built in between
his house and his garage another
building, thus shutting off and
okliterating an attractive view that
the whole block had relished, for
each owner took pride in keeping
UP a beautiful back yard. Ruined,
| the attraction of the spot" is the
charge, and increased the insurance
rates for neighbors. The committee
have figures to show that the city
of Minneapolis has been made to
look grotesque by this very sys-
tenn.
Up-to-date the committee has
placed zoo persons with rooms or
houses and thanks are expressed to
many house owners who, leaving
the city for the summer months
have rendered their residences for
families who must have temporary
dwelling place. On hand now are
about seventy rooms desirable for
fine. Some observers here say the
reopening of the saloons will dc
much toward making a bad situa-
ton worse.
Detached House i'm Demand
The big demand is for detached
houses of six and seven rooms, with
small yard. renting for about $30
Hundreds of such could be rented
instantly. is the opinion of the COM
mittee. The correspondence from
out-of-town is enormous, showing
the demand for homes here; these
come mostly from prominent busi-
nessmen. The Y. NJ. c. A, knights
of Columbus and the real estate
firms are cooperating gladly to help
the committee, and a request is
made to-day for any and all per-
sons to send word to the Chamber
of Commerce of any houses. rooms
or apartments for rent, no charges
being involved.
Housing reform does not neces-
sarily mean cheaper houses" is the
emphatic assertion from the COM
mittee. People do not want badly
kept houses, and protiteering should
not be charged against the city
owners en- maSse. With taxes very
high this profiteering talk stops
new building to some extent. A
standardized system of rents, pro-
viding for proper legal profit on
houses, which invariably deteriorate
in value, should be fixed. The in
stances of profiteering are compare
lively rare. In one case a man re-
ported that he was paying $40 for
two rooms in North front street;
many are paying from SIS to $40
for three-room apartment.
The Chamber OF Commerce bu-
reau has done some splendid things
in the way of accommodations. Two
war veterans, each with wife and
two children, were found living in
three small rooms; they were found
bigger apartments in the outskirts
of the city.
The most vital thing needed here,
in the committees belief, is system
of zoning which constitutes not
only a definite recognition of equal
ity in ownership but also an i'm
portant protection of taxable values.
The term ''zoning" has come to
be used to mean the regulation of
buildings in city. 1t signifies such
regulation of the height, area and
use of buildings as will protect each
landowner from the impairment OF
his share of light and access, as will
protect his ears from unseemly noises,
his nose from unpleasant smells and
his eyes from offensive sights.
Proper protection of the owner in
these respects enhances the value OF
his land and conserves the value OF
his building. Owners cannot have
such protection for themselves with
out conceding the like protection for
their neighbors. Appropriate regu-
lation demands such rules that no
parcel of land in the city can be
used in such fashion that all sim
liar land could not be improved with
buildings of like kind without dis
advantage to each and all of them
This is only common fairness, cor
porate equality.
Each street will accommodate a
certain amount of traffic, pedestrian
and vehicular. Each lot of land on
that street is entitled to its proper
tionate share of access along the
street. The welfare of each owner
demands that no one owner shall
make greater use of the street than
the size of his lot entities him to
have. There is a direct relation be-
tween the facilities afforded by the
street for traffic and the light and