Evening star., 1954-05-11
Last Families
Bid Farewell
To Dixon Court
D. c. Lund Agency
First Major Alley
Effort Completed

The last few families to be
rehoused from slum ridden
Dixon Court dwellings by the
District Redevelopment Land
Agency are expected to move
today.
Fifty of the SO families which
a few months ago inhabited the
squalid. crowded alley homes al
ready have moved, in the land
agency's first concentrated re-
housing effort under the Area
B redevelopment program.
The other three will vacate
today. One family, an adult
couple, will move to public hous-
ing at Langston terrace on Ben
ming road. A single woman will
move to another of the court
dwellings to private housing.
The third family. with 10 mem
bers, will be rehoused temporar-
lily in an RLA-owned house in
Southwest Washington. officials
hope to place the family in pub
lie housing when the East Cap
itol street dwellings open in
June.
Relation to Big Job Seen.
Completion of the Dixon Court
rehousing program was viewed
as vitality important in relations
to the entire southwest redevel-
opment program because of the
bad conditions there.
1T showed up all the bad
problems we are likely to run
into elsewhere" said James G.
Banks, RIA relocation director.
I'VE certainly don't expect to
see anything as bad-in that
concentrated form-anywhere
else"
OF the so families who already
have moved, Mr.. Banks said:
Twenty-Five went to public
housing.
Eight moved to decent, safe
and sanitary" private housing.
2 Families Move Temporarily.
Two families, one with 10 chill
dren and one with IL, were moved
temporarily to other RLA-owned
homes nearby. In each case, the
families got better homes, with
inside baths. running water and
utilities they did not have be-
fore. officials hope both these
families will be placed soon in
the new East Capitol street pub
lie housing development.
Eighteen families moved on
their own to homes which the
agency does not consider de
cent, safe and sanitary" The
agency has sent letters to each,
urging them to take advantage
OF RIA relocation services. Tech
nically, the agency's rehousing
duty is fulfilled when it offers
decent, safe and sanitary"
dwellings, but officials said they
intend to keep urging such fam
lilies to come back for help.
Actually, Mr.. Banks said, most
OF the 18 who found inferior
homes on their own moved else
where in the Southwest area. It
is likely, therefore, that as the
redevelopment program expands,
they will have to move again.
Two Kinds of Problems.
MIR. Banks said the greatest
problems his Office found were
with elderly single persons with
low incomes, and with unmarried
couples living together.
In the case of common-law
marriages, however. he said. the
couples with children nearly all
were anxious to help in finding
new homes. The problem came
from childless couples where the
attitudes of normal family rela-
tionships just don't exist"
The So families which occupied
Dixon Court represented a total
of IS adults and SO children.
They ranged in nature from
families with one adult and 10
children to those with three
adults and no children.
Dixon Court is the alley net
work within the block bounded
by Third. Fourth, H and streets
S.W. The RIA has title to prop
critics in this entire block through
its first exercise of eminent do
mian powers in the 76-acre B
Area.