Evening star., 1945-03-18
A Possible Experiment
At Marshall Heights
1t Might Show Practical Side of
Urban Redevelopment
BIZ Ben McKel,Day.

6y 6GN MCh GttDUy.
OF all the alluring prospects offered
for that promised land known as post
war;" urban redevelopment Is one OF
the most enticing.
The idea, while not new, is novel
enough never to have been tried on q
large scale in this country and 1t is
therefore discussed in the pleasant alb
stract, without any burdensome detail
of experience. It emissions correction
of most of the mistakes which the city
planners attribute to the lack Of the
foresight which they now possess. It
means the eventual elimination not
merely of slun1s, but Of extensive
"blighted areas" and their replacement
by blocks of attractive mercantile es-
tablishments, correctly located with
reference to schools, recreation areas.
parking spaces and the new residential
neighborhoods Of pleasing homes BY
implication, the jails will be empty, the
hospitals unused except for contented
maternity cases and the highways will
be comfortably filled, but never con-
gested. by shiny automobiles, their
streamlined tanks presumably filled with
high-test gasoline.
Congress Is now considering urban
redevelopment legislation for Washing
ton and in the normal course Of events
may enact law on the subject.
The Districts Engineer Commissioner,
Col. Charles W., Kutz, Is q man of
few words, but with sound ideas based
on broadly practical experience over
many years as an oficer of the Corps
OF Engineers. Speaking Of urban re-
development the other day he said it
would be a good thing in certain cases
and he wondered why, instead of all
the tall talk that flows SO fast and free
concerning redevelopment of extensive
areas of congested Washington, some
thing specific is not undertaken, like
the redevelopment of Marshall Heights
Which sounds sensible Marshall
Heights offers opportunity for an ex-
cellent laboratory experiment, which
might be undertaken without biting of
more taxpayers than the planners could
chew. The balance sheets, after the
experiment, should provide pretty &C
curate guide as to the amount of rede-
velopment which it is economically wise
to undertake at one time. In addition
to monetary values, there would be a
rare chance to study the effect of re-
development on human values.
Legislation for redevelopment of Mar
shall Heights might be considered sep
arately If there is no likelihood of early
agreement on a city-wide, urban re-
development plan.
Marshall Heights probably is UNIQUE in
the District of Columbia Certainly there
Is no comparable area which represents
SO many faults of improper subdivision
and lack of city planning. It was laid
out as subdivision in April Of 1886 by
developer who followed the simple rule
Of getting the greatest number Of lots
for sale out of the area, regardless of
its Typography or the convenience of its
future residents. This may have been
the straw that broke the camel's back,
by act of Congress, were given control,
which they now exercise efficiently
through a co-ordinating committee Of
municipal and Federal of1cials, over
subdivisions. And it was laid out seven
years before there was a highway plan,
which explains it's 50-foot-wide streets,
following impossible grades, in place Of
the minimum width of 80 feet now re-
quired for roadways, parking and side
walks, following the contours of the
land.
It's history as real estate venture is
obscure until relatively recent times,
when lots were offered to Negro buyers
on terms as low as 50 down and 50 per
month. The sales prices, according to
the present. developer, ranged in the
neighborhood of 500 and $50 a lot,
most of the lots being 40 feet wide and
100 feet deep, with no space for alleys.
The Star is informed that most of the
lots have been sold, and many of them
have changed hands. But while the Dis
trict has run few water mains through
the 80-acre tract, with open hydrants
supplying free and unlimited water,
and at substantial public expense has
put cinders and scrapers on some of
the roadways to make them passable, it
can do nothing to grade and pave the
streets or supply sewers and water to
the homes. For the property owner as
sessment for sewer, water, sidewalks and
curbs would run to $3.50 per linear foot,
or 1920 per lot, compared with present
assessed values of about $120 per lot.
The assessment for such improvements
would exceed the value, to many of its
present owners, Of the land and many
if not most of them could not meet the
cost. If proper grades were followed in
the streets, some existing homes would be
perched on precipices above the road
cuts, while others would be buried be-
meath fills. And no fills can be made
on private property without the owners
consent.
But the people who live in Marshall
Heights represent sound type of citi-
zen. They were drawn there by the
elemental urge to own q bit of land
themselves. Some Of them built shacks
out of lumber scraps, and living there
built a better one Of corrugated iron
sheets, and, steadily progressing, built
still better one of cinder or concrete
blocks, timber or brick. There are some
attractive little homes, and there are
some unbelievable novels. But the resi-
dents have something in common. They
are home owners, with a little land
L.