Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-03
CHANGES IN LIVING
DEMAND ABOLITION
OF ALLEY NOVELS
Continued From First Page.)

Continued From First Page.)
Of alley houses on which rentals were
secured are in the groups So to $2.99
1899 houses) and So to $500 (S42
houses. OF the vacant street houses
investigated, A rent for 50 to $3.50, 122
rent for So to $500, 1852 rent for "a to
S4.99, 1872 rent for S. to $500. Then
the number begins to fall of rapidly.
OF the alley houses investigated 2O6 rent
for 81 to $4.P9 and 40 rent Tor IS
to $500.
So while the alley houses begin at q
lower rental and the street houses go
to a higher rental, there Is an overlap
which includes the majority of both
street and alley houses investigated.
This statement has to do primarily
with comparative rentals. Incidentally,
however, attention was paid to the
structural and sanitary conditions of
the street houses. The records of the
committee show that the majority of
the street houses are In good or fair
condition.
The studies made by the staff Of the
National Capital Park and Planning
Commission cover 126 inhabited alleys
containing 10 or more dwellings and a
few smaller alleys. These studies show
openings on streets; 1913 with sewers
and three without sewers; 119 with
water mains and seven without water
mains; 119 with street lamps and seven
without street lamps; ITO paved and Is
not paved.
Average Assessed Value Is $95S.
They show that 1928 of the alley
dwellings are of brick (184 of them va
cant at time of inspection) and 1875 are
of frame construction C15 of them va
can't. They show that the average
assessed valuation of an alley dwelling
nearly all are little one-family houses
is $525 for the building and $433 for
the land, an average total per dwelling
of 1858. OF the l26 inhabited alleys
studied, 81 are within one block of q
street inhabited by colored residents, II
are within two blocks, "a are within
three Knocks, This indicates that re-
moval Of alley jewellers does not neces-
sarily mean removal to any great
distance
The bill appropriating the $4,000, 900
revolving fund and authorizing the
United States Housing Commission to
purchase or condemn the alley prop
erty, dispose of it for desirable pur-
utilization of the land, Mr.. Ihlder
points out, represents a new departure
In the efforts of American cities to
clean out their plague spots.
But" he continues, mo other city
has faced problem quite like that
presented to Washington by its hidden
alley dwellings. There are several
housing trusts, such as the Mulanphy
Fund in st. Louis, first established to
aid immigrants to the West, which long
have concerned themselves with i'm
provement of housing conditions There
are also limited dividend companies
whose primary motive Is improvement
of housing conditions. While these
usually have selected new sites for their
DEVELOPMENTS, some have occasionally
cleared sites by demolishing old build
inrs. This is q definite objective OF
housing In New York at present. In
Europe work more nearly analogous 10
that here proposed has been carried on
for many years. Slum clearance Is
familiar proposition In Great brlIam
and on the Continent.
Perhaps the nearest American ap-
proximationS to what is proposed Tor
Washington are the limited dividend
companies created by the New York
State housing law and two older cor
porations, one in Philadelphia and one
in Boston. Inc NEW 4OIk OIdtS AAOIlSAtB
law grants power Of condemnation IN
order that parcels in separate owner
ship may be assembled into economic
units"
Cites Philadelphia Organization.
The City Of Philadelphia, he points
out, has a somewhat similar organiza-
ton to that which the United States
Housing Corporation would constitute
in washington, which handles the
stephen Girard estate and other estates
left to the municipality. The receipts
from the Girard estate alone were more
than So OOo, 900 in 1928.
The act under which the united
States Housing Corporation was created,
Mr.. Ihlder points out authorized an
expenditure of $10,000,000 to build or
acquire housing accommodations Tor
Government employees in the District
on condition that "the expenditure shall
he made with a view to caring for the
alley population of the District when
the war is over, so far as can be done
without interfering with war housing
purposes" The corporation had not
actually started building, however, When
the Arrnistice was signed.
The present bill would reauthorlze
one of the primary original purposes
in creating the housing corporation.