Evening star., 1938-06-11
CHANGE IS SEEN
|NNE|GHBORHOODS
Decline Nowadays Is Rapid
Unless Protection Is
Given, Says Expert.

Since the turn of the century the
neighborhood factor in American life
has undergone distinct change,
Robert H. Armstrong, president of the
Manhattan Chapter of the National
Association of Real Estate Boards,
points out in the current journal Of
the American Institute of Real Estate
Appraisers, technical quarterly of the
institute.
AT first slowly. and then at pace
Of continued acceleration, neighbor-
hoods have tended to decline" he
said. 'Valumes have been written
concerning the passing of the rugged
tndividualist. 1t must now be real
fsed that the rugged individualism of
neighborhoods as such has also passed
out of existence.
so strong has this trend become
that today changes from without
rather than from within are the de-
termining factors in judging the value
OF most real estate. Buildings. of
course, become outmoded and worn
out, but when this rate of change is
compared to the rate of neighborhood
change 1t is slow indeed. 1t might
be stated in general that buildings
have a normal life expectancy of two
or three times that of the neighbor-
hoods that surround them.
Life to Be Shorter Yet.
Furthermore, with the tempo of
modern life becoming faster during
each decade, We shall have to look to
the neighborhoods to have a con-
tinually shorter life unless something
Is done to preserve them.
There are many reasons why. The
most important is probably contained
In the tendency of the Nations urban
centers to grow at the cost of rural
communities.
However, it is possible to preserve
neighborhoods and for them to have
a longer life than they have had
heretofore.
1T must be remembered that our
great cities can rot at any point, and
will unless measures are taken to con-
troll this hazard to property values
Our days of haphazard growth are
over. 1t must now be recognized that
to preserve neighborhoods may be of
greater and more praiseworthy
achievement than to build and to
create neighborhoods."
Legal Protection.
AS to legal protection against blight
he lists zoning, deed restrictions and
community organization. But he
warns: Legal protection is impor-
tant as to the time element; in too
many cases protection has been
adopted after the damage has been
incurred" As to the protective effect
of good planning he says: Rate of
decline may take 10 years or it may
take hundred years, depending OH
the planning. The system of roads,
transportat ton, parks, and the likeli-
hood OF encroachment of undesirable
elements need careful planning for
the preservation of neighborhoods."
But what of the future? Which
neighborhoods will live and grow
which ones Will die or become infected
with dry rot and slowly decay? Mr..
Armstrong quotes Warren S. Thomp-
son, director of the Scripps Fcunda-
ton for Research in Population Prob
lens, as once stating that in 1885 the
demand for housing will be IS Der
cent more than in 1890. though the
population increase will be but l9 per
cent. That is because as the birth
rate declines We are becoming an older
population. So, for this population
increase, We shall probably see the
peripheries and suburbs of cities gain
and increase in size. This is hint
to the locations where our neignbor-
hoods are likely to develop.