The Wilmington morning star., 1940-07-21
REAL PROPERTY
SURVEY REPORTS
less Than A Third Of City's
Dwellings Are Reported
In Good Condition
BY O SPARROW

Franklin DeldQO hOOSeVSlt LII oAiS
Of his best-remembered addresses
once referred to the one-third OF
the population of the United States
, of America which is ill-fed, i'll
clothed and ill-housed.
Recently the Housing Authority
of the City of Wilmington, in pub
fishing it's annual report, was LOOK
ing for a catchy title. It considered
the title "One-Third of a City, but
abandoned it for the title shelter
Plus" which to many was much
less punchy and novel.
Why was the change made?
Behind such a minor matter as
the title of an annual report lies a
story the facts in which few Will
mingtonians will like to face. . a
story which presents forcefully a
problem which sooner or later must
be solved.
The reason the title of the report
was changed was this:
Much more than one-third OF Will
m~ington's population is ill-housed.
Supporting Data
Facts to back this statement are
found in a report made public yes
terday on the results of a real
property survey which was con-
Quoted here in 1889 by the WPA
under the sponsorship of the North
Carolina state planning board. The
nearly 5O-page report is replete
with factual information W h C n
should open the eyes of many,
written in interesting narrative
style rather than being presented
in the usually dry form OF tabu-
lated statistics.
For the first IA pages the reader
finds little of real interest, for
those pages deal with the reason
for conducting the survey, the his
tory of Wilmington and the degree
of accuracy of the survey.
In those first IA pages the reader
wades through such obvious state
ments as 1.-The city's problems Tin
housing) arise principally, as fur
Their analysis will show, from the
failure, during the depression per-
iod, to replace obsolete structures
and to repair and improve existing
ones to meet standards of ade-
quacy."
But turn that page and you find
the beginning of a chapter entitled,
Condition"
Here is the point where the re-
port begins to deal out punches,
mechanically and tellingly.
Considerably less than one-third
of Wilmington's dwellings are re-
ported to be in good condition."
the chapter begins. That in itself
is something to think about, but in
quick succession there follow such
statements as these:
cover a third (of the dwellings
in Wilmington are in need of mi
nor repairs. 80.
1875 Per Cent Need Repairs
"And 1875 per cent are classified
as in need of major repairs Or
unfit for use." The 1928 structures.
comprising 3,210 dwelling units,
which fall into these last two cate
gories present the greatest prob
lem of the city. In terms of COM
munity welfare the greatest pro-
portion of undesirable character
istics occurs among these struc-
lures. AS maps which will be found
elsewhere in this analysis reveal,
structures in poor condition are
rarely isolated, but rather tend to
blight whole areas, thus influencing
community relationships, health de-
1inquency and crime. 4
"More than one third of Whining
toms children live in these struct-
ures.
"They represent the greatest pro-
portion of low rentals, poor faciliti-
es, old and overcrowded dwellings
in the city. Of all dwellings in these
condition categories So per cent
rent for less than $40 a month,
and over 81 per cent rent for less
than SIS a month.
1.-THE low rentals which these pro-
perties command in turn reduce
real property valuation and tax re-
turns to the city. The cycle ex-
tends to force other structures in
the same area to fall into disre-
pair because of the depressing eff
feet of their rental value on neigh
borhood conditions. More than 80
per cent of the dwellings in poor
repair have inadequate sanitary
facilities, making them doubly I'm:
desirable.
Cor Are Unfit"
Tenant occupied units show a
considerably greater proportion in
poor repair than those occupied by
owners. While less than 10 per cent
of the negro population was found
are in poor condition, amost Al
per cent of the tenants in Whining
ton are housed in dwellings which
require either major repairs or are
unfit for use. Negro families con
stitute the largest group inhabitine
such structure. Over 60 per cen
of the negro population was found
in structures of poor condition, a:
compared with about IA per CEN
of the white residents. Dwellings ir
poor repair show a greater per-
centage of overcrowding than the
average for the city was as a
whole. The proportion of families
taking in roomers is also greater
among these living in houses in