Evening star., 1937-02-14
his own ideas about keeping down the
population, and as result Holland
was not congested."

Ills own IDEAS dpOut keeping DOWN the
population, and as a result Holland
was not congested."
IN ANSWER to the argument that
all Washington's slum dwellers
should be segregated in one desig-
mated area Of the city, as has been
suggested in some quarters. Mr.. Ihlder
replied:
Every community should care for
its own people These men and wom-
en- work in the sections, or in the
vicinity of the sections, where they
have chosen to live. Why should they
be driven, say, to the distant reaches
Of the Southeast, when they work
each day in the extreme boundaries
Of the Northwest? You can't solve
the slum problem by showing them
out OF sight They are human beings,
with rights as well defined as yours
and mine. Elimination of the slum
districts, to be sure. but rehabilita-
ton as well. We have proved, in the
communities will soon show you,
that people can be housed comfort
ably and decently for little more than
they pay for these miserable shelters
1t is our duty to provide such decent
homes for them"
AS We drove past the Government
buildings that line this section of
Washington the fact was pointed out
that in demolishing certain areas
low-cost houses are not erected on
the sites.
Some sites, now used for slum resi-
dental purposes. are better suited to
commercial purposes" Mr.. Ihlder ex-
planned. In these cases We establish
a suitable commercial enterprise on
the demolished site and the housing
project is located in less expensive or
purely residential neighborhoods. I'm
gong to show you an instance of that
here
We turned into a cleared area that
was now in use as a parking lot. It
was completely covered with automo-
biles, parked for the day at a charge
OF Is cents. Thimble court, Colum-
bia terrace and O'Brien court once
occupied this area. with as sorry
dwellings as those we had just left.
Now, surrounded by modest and in
some cases poor dwellings that the
authority had decided to leave stand
ing, the area was an attractively
planted square. Closely cropped green
lawns banded its entrance and clumps
of arborvitae were spaced on either
side OF the drive as it led up from the
street.
We demolished so slum dwellings
to clear this lot" explained the oi-
rector. I'VE have established a
policy Of conservatism with respect
to the ones marked for destruction
Now those houses along there are
very unsatisfactory dwellings from
many angles, but we have left them
standing. They cannot exactly be
called slums."
THE income from this parking lot
goes into the authority fund for
the present. II the Government de-
sires the site for public buildings it
will be turned over for that purpose.
If it does not, the authority may build
an apartment upon the site when
funds are available, to be rented a:
low cost. When slum dwellings are
demolished and houses not erected to
replace them, as in this instance, tile
authority helps to locate those fam
lilies that cannot find dwellings for
themselves. For this purpose a "re-
housing assistant" has been engaged.
One of the lots in connection with
this area faces on a street restricted
residentially, so it could not be util-
lied as part of the parking lot. 1t
is being loaned to the Stevens Public
School for school gardens. This erst-
while slum area is on F street, between
Twentieth and Twenty-first streets
northwest.
From here we drove in a straight
line to Southwest Washington to an
alley community. for extending in
every direction from this center runs
series of inhabited alleys-one mot
ley, unsightly tangle of rickety, mar
row dwellings, tumbling shacks, gar
bage cans and boxes overflowing their
contents beside every doorstep, and
wan children screeching at one an
other.
In one respect this section differed
from other alley areas in that it was
flooded with sunlight in the early
afternoon of our visit.
II wish we could even things up
some" said Mr.. Ihlder, lin distribu-
ton of some Of this light to the other
alleys, for. strange as 1t seems, it is
a detriment here to the health Of the
Inhabitants"
I couldn't understand this at first.
There Is 50 much Of It," explained
the director, that in the Summer,
when it beats down on these low roofs
and against those thin wooden walls,
1t is sitting and so overpowering out
Of doors against all this corrugated
tin and cobblestones and bricks that
the mothers keep their children in
side the darkened houses practically
all Summer. We have q record for
rickets in this section and 1t is trace
able to that"
RY THIS time I was ready for the
revivifying effect Of accomplish.
ment. We drove to Southeast WASH
ington, where, between Twelfth and
Thirteenth streets, the Alley Dwelling
Authority has conducted its first ex-
pertinent in low-cost housing. Here,
fronting o green square, planted with
trees that are the gift Of the daughter
Of Mrs. Archibald Hopkins, and lined