The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-08-17
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. Hss.fN, Director.
Washington. d. G.
HOUSING IN ST. LOUIS.

81. lSOAlS.
St Louis. Mo. Aug. 14.-st Louis
is one of the few cities which has de-
,-sed and successfully put into opera
lion a practical scheme for relieving
the housing shortage. 1t is building
houses-just as fast as it can get ma
terials with which to build them
Nearly a hundred brand-new homes
have already sprung up where a few
months agS there were only vacant
Slots. and it is expected that a hundred
more will be ready for occupancy by
/ the end of this year.
! St Louis is a. great home-city and
! its citizens are extremely proud of this
! fact. St Louis may not be beautiful
and it may not be interesting, they
are fond of telling you, but as a home
city it is a shining example. Thus,
you can see how the scarcity of houses,
which has been deplored but other
wise ignored by other communities,
would stir st. Louis more than any
other calamity.
The st. Louis Home and Housing
Association was the result of this agi-
tation. This is a two million-d dollar
corporation, supported by the Cham
/ Der OF Commerce and the City Com
mercial club, for the purpose of build
| ing cheap and comfortable homes in
various sections of the city and coun-
try, wherever the need appears great
/ est. 1t was originally intended that
the houses would be for the benefit of
industrial workers. the manufacturers
| subscribing to the fund deciding that
it would be more practical to club to-
gether and build in one group instead
of building in separate groups for
their different plants.
Workers Do Not Buy.
AS it has turned out, however. the
wage earnerS of st. Louis have not
made the slightest attempt to take
advantage of the houses so far pro-
vided In spite of the fact that they
kare undoubtedly bargains, at the pres
| ent cost of building materials, and in
spite of the fact that the working man
! is supposed to be rolling in wealth
these days. there has been a surpris-
1 ing lack of response from the work
ing classes. 1t seems incredible, but
/ the only way TO explain it is that. the
working classes cannot afford to buy
! the houses.
| Wage earners have only a small
amount of capital and small wages to
invest in real estate" explained Mr..
Nelson Cunliff, the st. Louisan, who
Home and Housing association. They
used to buy wo-thousand- dollar
! houses, paying $500 cash and the bal
ance over aSteng period of years. Now,
with the cost of building materials
| 240 per cent higher than it was be-
! fore the war, house which would
/ have cost two thousand dollars in 1914
costs today approximately $1,000 or
| $4,000. This is beyond the means of
the average working man.
! But the houses are in great de-
mand among the salaried people-the
so-called middle class of st. Louis
/ who are anxious TO Vacate flats that
have undergone 500 per cent in
crease in rent. For them these houses
are very good proposition"
! He drew some photographs from
fthe drawer of his desk. They showed
the various types of/houses under con-
istruction, most OF them comforta BILE,
solid-looking brick domiciles. with at
tractive facades and neat back yards
! extending to an alley. We have seen
many more attractive looking houses
for eight and nine thousand dollars,
but that was in the east. before the
war.
ST. Louis likes Brick.
| ST. Louis not only loves homes, but
| it loves brick homes, and it has some
rigid building restrictions against the
use of frame, tile or stucco. OF course,
| this is the center of the brick indus
/ try, and it is only loyal to keep the
/ home fires burning. Anyway, the
houses of the St Louis Housing asso-
citation have brick walls and contain
five or six rooms, with hardwood
/ floors; tile bathroom floors;s modern
toilet and plumbing fixtures and the
most improved kitchen equipment:
They are also located on improved
streets. so that all costs OF improve
ments are covered in the purchase
price of the houses and do not crop
UP unexpectedly later in the form OF
special taxes.
| The selling price OF the houses
ranges from 800 to $500. These
/ de AC-
cording to the association, only by IN
shutting the most rigid economies IN
the buving of land and in building.
Whenever possible, land was bought
on streets which had been improved
before the war. for which the associa-
ton paid SIS a front foot. Building
materials have been bought in huge
quantities and at cash, so as to take
advantage of all possible discounts.
While the association acts as a general
| contractor and sublets most of the
items of construction. 1t handles its
own carpenter work. thereby effectins
a saving of 25 per cent on the lowest
| contract price.
| one of the most interesting features
of this, housing enterprise is the
scheme of payment. This calls for 20
per cent cash on the price Of the
| house, and the balance in ten or
| twelve years On the ten-year plan
the purchaser pays S14.So per year On
every thousand of the selling price,
after the 10 per cent cash payment has
been deducted. On the twelve-year
plan, he pays 1895 per thousand q
debt. The. association will not permit
a man to invest more than 81 per cent
of his monthly income in one of their
/ houses feature of the transaction
which is clearly specified in the deed.
We figure that man can easily
spare 20 per cent of his income for
rent" says Mr.. Cunliff, and 10 per
cent for a good investment. If he
spends more than this on a home, the
payments are apt TO prove a strain
and he is likely ultimately to prove a
bad risk