Evening star., 1933-11-25
WORK Of CLEARING
CAPITAL SLUMS TO
BEGIN THIS WINTER
Preliminary Report on Sites
Completed by Advisory
Committee.
LACK OF LOW-PRICED
HOUSING "DEPLORABLE"
Rent Investigator Ring Of Utilities
Commission Says Problem Goes
Further Than Slum Conditions.

Indications that actual pick and
shovel work may be started this Winter
on the Districts Slum clearance pro-
gram were seen in developments in
Public Works Administration and other
official circles this week.
Progress was made toward this goal
with the completion of the preliminary
report of the District of Columbia Ad-
visory Committee on Housing Sites.
which was due to be submitted to
Chairman Frederic A. Delano Of the
Committee on Slum Reconstruction and
Lo&-coSt Housing today.
Public Works Administration officials
promised prompt action on any compre-
hcnSive plan which may be submitted
to the housing division on the District
of Columbia situation.
Coincident with these developments
James Ring. rent investigator OF the
Public Utilities Commission. announced
his Investigations have revealed de-
plorable lack of low-coSt, sanitary hous-
ing in the District.
Sanitary Needs Serious.
Ring, who has been giving study TO
the housing problem for the last few
months. said that below the rent level
of $50 month it is virtually impossible
to find any housing that IS not either
sadly dilapidated or lacking in ordinary
sanitary conveniences
The situation he said. gees further
than matter of "slum clearance. II
has to be carried forward through
carefully worked cut plan in order to
prevent depletion of fair values in areas
bordering slunls, he maintains.
The first tentative report received by
Chairman Delano is understood to have
suggested number of sites, from which
two may be selected, for clearance.
Means for their evaluatiOn, phase OF
the problem, is being given careful
study.
A digest of the many proposals SUBJ
rnitted by civic and other organizations
for meeting the housing problem, to-
gether with proposals for co-ordlnatlng
the work of all local agencies interested
in the subject, is understood TO pc EN-
braced in the Advisory Committee re-
port.
An important feature of the studies
thus far made is that Of devlslng some
means Of housing families ousted by the
demolition of sites chosen for the low
cost housing experiment. tenants o!
buildings now standing IN certain OF
the blighted areas now pay rents on SO
low a scale that it would be olfncult
to find quarters within their means IN
other parts of the city, it was eX-
planned.
Two Responsibilities.
THE District here faces two distinct
responsibilities, according to John
Nolen, jr., city planner of the Natlonal
Capital Park and Planning Commission
and vice chairman OF the executive
Board Of the District of Columbia Ao-
visory Committee, which is cooperating
with the Public Works Administration
en- the housing program. 1T must pro
vide light, airy, sanitary housing Wlthln
the reach Of the lover income classes.
After that it is up to the social organl-
zations to teach these tenants of the
new low-cost housing project to keep
their habitations light. airy and sanl-
tarv. The first may, with all It's dlIn-
culties. prove the simpler task"
At the Office of Director Robert p
Eohn of the public works housing unit
il was made plain that the danger OF
breaking up one large slum area only
10 have the tenants recreate slum con-
c!tions in better communities t ll1Io
which they chance to drift is 1uliy
recognized
ties in London, Manchester, Brussels
and Berlin along this line have been
thoroughly studied" said Jefferson
Hamilton, assistant director. The
difficulties encountered in those cities
are traceable in large part to the forms
of construction followed, hence our in
sistence on the formation of local archl-
tect committees to cooperate with the
housing division in working out plans
which will not only fit the peculiar
needs of each community, but which Will
also have some appeal to the people
such projects are designed to aid"
At Beacon Tree. 18 miles from the
West End slum center OF London, IS
located the worlds greatest loW-cost
housing project, half of the cost being
raid out of government funds. II was
pointed out. This consists OF 24,00o
modern, light, airy. soundly constructed
homes built in 1882. to rent at less
than SIS a room, and occupied as fast
as they were completed. Unfortunately,
they we're identical in design and bullt
without overmuch attention to appear
ance within or without. To-Day, IN
consequence, thousands attracted to the
development year or two ago are
again to be found in the congested
sections Of the metropolis.
New York Experiences Studied.
The experiences of New York housing
authorities in number of attempts at
slum clearance have likewise come IN
for scrutiny by research workers OF the
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