St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1962-07-20

plying lower local taxes) plus the
attractiveness Of a federal subsidy
are usually sufficient to override
local objections. Citizen participa-
ton is limited largely to support
of conservation or rehabilitation
projects; it is Of practically no
relevance to the far more impor-
tant matter of selecting clearance
projects and assigning priorities
among the many renewal posi-
bilities.
Perhaps the most far-reaching
and disturbing ethical questions
are those raised by what happens
to people caught up in renewal
programs planned for their neigh
borhoods. This is the stage at
which planning is put to the acid
test Of social, financial and engin-
eering feasibility. The latter two
are less important than the first.
Thus far redevelopment has Great
ed as many social problems as it
has solved. True, slins are torn
down - but the displaced resid-
ents usually move on to help over
crowd other deteriorating neigh
borhoods, thus fastening the day
when they too become eligible for
renewal. Meanwhile the old slum
dwellings are replaced by new
apartments too expensive for the
former residents, or by public
housing - increasingly becoming
the dumping place for the dis
inherited Of our society. New ghet-
tos based on economic, racial and
dependency factors replace old
ones based on the same factors.
The emphasis is on shelter, not
on people, and the result is social
chaos.
The 1854 amendment to the
housing act of 1949 placed a new
emphasis on the prevention of
slums, but the results cry out for
a new approach based on moral
considerations. The real causes are
all too often ignored as the guilt is
focused on the people who moved
in rather than on those who moved
out and abandoned the area to
money-hungry landlords. This as.
signment of guilt is in sharp con.
trast to that which has prevailed
through three decades of fedora
assistance to agriculture, with the
, whole nation, including all former
farm residents, held responsible
and taxed for a rehabilitation
and conservation" program rang
ing from soil conservation to price
supports, and the farmer consid
cred a victim rather than a crea
tor of the problem. Though be-
, ginning is being made at getting
, at the real cause of slums, thus
far it is only a beginning. Anc
the emphasis on the speculative
profits implicit in urban renewa
has made much Of the research sc
/ far completed irrelevant to the &C.
tual dynamics of the process.
An Issue Neglected by ChurchmeI
One could go on and list many
other problems and abuses in
volved in urban renewal: made
quate provision for relocation OF
minority groups forced to move
time after time in the path OF
urban renewal; the plight Of the
small businessman displaced from
his place of business, with his
clientele so widely scattered that
it is impossible for him to make
a fresh start; the contrast be-
tween the huge public subsidy pro-
vided for the large developer and
the total lack of financial assist
ance extended to the individual
homeowner obliged to make cost
ly, often uneconomic, improve
ments in a rehabilitation area; the
isolation of the urban renewal pro-
gram from the other functions of
local government; the inordinate
delays that provide a golden OPP
portunity for land spectators to
step in and purchase properties at
distress prices from owners finan-
cially unable to wait for the gov
eminent to make up its mind; the
ever present problem of racial pre-
JUDGE, frequently the most i'm
portant factor in determining
boundaries and priorities of re-
newal projects. The problems are
more common and widespread than
are the answers.
Where does the Christian and
the church fit into this complex
picture? What contribution can
the gospel offer? How can the
church speak to this highly COM
plicated issue? Thus far one SEN
ses that the church has been look
ign at urban renewal as a proper
ty owner rather than as teacher
and an exponent Of ethical values,
as a potential developer Of land
rather than as Christ's agent for
the renewal of people, as a tenn
porary resident of the city rather
than as a symbol Of Gods perman-
ent and ever abiding concern