Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-27
Better Housing

better housing
On March 10. The Star reported a
talk by DR.. Bertram M. Beck before the
Commissioners Youth Council, in which
he discussed the Zeckendorf proposal
for redeveloping Southwest Washing
ton. He expressed concern for the
present residents of the Southwest and
maintained that block-by block Neigh
borhood rehabilitation may have more
worthwhile and far-reaching conse-
quences than any plan for redevelop-
ment prepared by an outside group.
The Washington Housing Association,
as a citizens organization which has
worked for better housing conditions for
the past 20 years, has, of course, main
tanned the closest possible contact with
both redevelopment and neighborhood
rehabilitation as solutions to the Slum
problem.
1t seems to us important to stress the
fact that in the cause of better housing,
there is no either/or. single answer.
Slums will never be eliminated by any
one method-it must be combination
of many methods.
In the case of Southwest Washington,
it would be wrong from either an eco
nomic or Explaining point of view to
propose that rehabilitation take the
place of redevelopment More than
so per cent of the houses there are sub
standard and are not worth rehabili-
tating. Rock-bottom slums like these
must be torn down and the whole area
replanned and rebuilt.
The Zeckendorf plan, while reveal
ing enormous potentialitieS, will never
be put into effect unless it is wanted by
the people of Washington, including the
people of Southwest Washington Mr..
Zeckendorf himself has been the first
to say just that. He has also made
certain statements in answer to Ques-
lions about which VIVA has had deep
concern. For one thing, would the
zeckendorf plan result in fewer dwell
ings, thus reducing the population of
the area? We have been assured that,
on the contrary, it should be possible
to have an even larger population with
proper planning, without overcrowding
the land
Second. is there adequate provision in
the plan for low-income families?
Again. the answer given by Mr.. Zeck-
endorf is that the plan calls for a
population Of diversified income levels,
that there will be housing for low,
moderate and upper income groups,
and that public housing is also included
in the plan.
Third, we have been assured that the
area would be non-segregated and that
there would be no discrimination in
tenant selection because of race creed
or color.
There are other parts of the city
which are as bad as Southwest, and in
which only clearance and complete re-
development is feasible.
But there are even larger areas,
where blight has settled and is pro-
crossing but has not yet reached the
slum stage, where housing code enforce
ment and rehabilitation are essential
and practical. Such spot is the site of
the Housing Associations experiment
in voluntary rehabilitation-Opera
Triangle-which it is hoped will stimu-
late the surrounding neighborhood to
start improving itself through its own
efforts. In this kind of activity, District
enforcement agencies are to be called
in only after every effort has been
I1duc 10 persuade owners 10 TX up LQelc
properties voluntarily.
Block = by block rehabilitation is
highly desirable, as Dr. Beck has init
mated but only in particular areas.
We must never forget that while such
a program changes houses from the
substandard to the standard category,
it does not provide a single new dwell
ing unit. And Washington still suffers
from severe shortage of decent low
rent housing, especially for families
with children. Here is. where more
public housing is needed, especially for
those displaced by the other programs.
1t has been and will continue to be
the function of the Washington Hous-
ing Association to emphasize firmly the
interdependence and essentially of all
these solutions, and to make people
understand that widespread public sup
port is needed for total attack on the
Slums.
Hilda Cloud,
Executive Director. Washington
Housing Association.