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25-556: In his address to Congress on 4 January 1935, Roosevelt called for five major goals: improved use of national resources, security against old age, unemployment and illness, slum clearance , and a national work relief program (the Works Progress Administration ) to replace direct relief efforts. It included programs to redistribute wealth, income, and power in favor of the poor, the old, farmers and labor unions. The most important programs included Social Security ,

50-473: A limit of $ 808 million per year. Federal subsidies helped alleviate potential hurdles in acquiring land with high purchase costs. In some cases, cities were unwilling to progress with slum clearance unless significant amounts of the original upfront cost could be reclaimed by sale of the improved land. Estimates from the National Association of Home Builders suggested that subsidies authorized to

75-804: A second term in the 1948 presidential election with a platform promising to provide for slum clearance and low-rent housing projects. Truman was elected to a full term in 1948 with the Democrats also reclaiming the House of Representatives and the Senate . In his 1949 State of the Union address unveiling the Fair Deal, Truman reiterated his desire to pass comprehensive housing legislation. The Senate had successfully passed bills allocating federal aid for public housing in 1946 and 1948, although these efforts died in

100-639: A while. Many were ended during World War II because unemployment was no longer a problem. These included the WPA , NYA and the Resettlement Administration . Social Security and the Wagner Act, however, survived. Most of the major laws had been under consideration by New Dealers for years. However, agitators on the left, especially Huey Long of Louisiana, were gaining strength and may have forced Roosevelt's hand. Other historians point to

125-423: Is a public housing project built during the late 1950s on slum clearance land formerly occupied by tenement blocks. Housing Act of 1949 The American Housing Act of 1949 ( Pub. L.   81–171 ) was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of President Harry Truman 's program of domestic legislation,

150-801: The 1952 presidential election , President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to the requirement of having decent housing for Americans forced to live in slums as a "moral obligation". In 1957, Congress began planning for new legislation that would help to clear slum areas, having authorized the federal government to provide $ 1.25 billion of funding since 1949 to cities for regeneration or demolition of run-down neighborhoods. States that were promised funding included $ 143 million for New York , $ 83 million for Illinois and nearly $ 29 million for Massachusetts . Some states, such as Florida , Mississippi and South Carolina , did not pass laws that would have allowed their communities to participate in slum clearance schemes. The Eisenhower administration intended to reduce

175-753: The Fair Deal . During the Roosevelt administration the National Housing Act of 1934 which established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Housing Act of 1937 were signed into law, the latter of which directed the federal government to subsidize local public housing agencies. On April 12, 1945, Vice President Harry Truman became president on the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Truman campaigned for

200-714: The National Labor Relations Act ("Wagner Act"), the Banking Act of 1935 , rural electrification , and breaking up utility holding companies . The undistributed profits tax was only short-lived. After trying since 1920, millions of organized World War veterans demanded their bonus. They never convinced FDR but New Deal liberals in Congress passed the Bonus Bill of $ 1.5 billion to 3 million veterans over FDR's veto. Liberals strongly supported

225-403: The "wrong" type of people to be living in the city, helpless to prevent it without proper policy or controls in place. Between 1932 and 1952, eradication of slums was federally supported, yet nearly every city still contained neighborhoods with derelict or unsafe housing. The Emergency Relief and Construction Act of 1932 approved slum clearance loans and new low-rent housing, yet New York City

250-554: The House of Representatives on both occasions. During the 81st Congress , Republican Sen. Robert A. Taft sponsored the legislation with Democratic backers Allen J. Ellender and Robert F. Wagner . On April 21, 1949, the Senate approved the legislation by a vote of 57–13, with all but two of the "nay" votes coming from Republicans. The House of Representatives voted 227–186 in favor of the bill on June 29, 1949. President Truman signed

275-562: The National Housing Act of 1934 by reauthorizing the FHA for six weeks and raised by $ 500 million the amount the FHA was allowed to offer as mortgage insurance. Title III - Low Rent Public Housing Required that public housing authorities demolish or renovate one slum dwelling unit for every public housing apartment they built. Title IV - Housing Research Provided funds and the authority to conduct extensive research into

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300-464: The bill into law on July 15, 1949. Source: Title I - Slum Clearance & Community Development & Redevelopment Authorized $ 1 Billion in loans to help cities acquire slums and blighted land for public or private redevelopment. It also allotted $ 100 million every year for five years for grants to cover two-thirds of the difference between the cost of the slum land and its reuse value. Title II - Amendments to National Housing Act Amended

325-485: The budget for the Urban Renewal Program from $ 250 million to $ 175 million for the 1958 fiscal year, however following protests from city mayors across the country, Congress ultimately chose to increase the budget to $ 350 million. As of June 1966, projects which had gained approval had clearance intended or completed for over 400,000 houses, displacing over 300,000 families. Within the clearance areas, 35%

350-555: The domestic policy agenda, including the eradication of slums. Congress in 1949 approved the Housing and Home Finance Agency to offer local assistance with renewal projects with grants between 66 and 75% of the project cost. In some cities, slums were cleared solely for aesthetic reasons with little regard for those displaced. Despite 6.5 million new housing units built between 1945 and 1952, some cities saw an expansion in slum areas. While slum clearance did not feature prominently during

375-581: The influence of millions of organized World War veterans who wanted their bonus. Slum clearance in the United States Slum clearance in the United States has been used as an urban renewal strategy to regenerate derelict or run-down districts, often to be replaced with alternative developments or new housing. Early calls were made during the 19th century, although mass slum clearance did not occur until after World War II with

400-479: The introduction of the Housing Act of 1949 which offered federal subsidies towards redevelopments. The scheme ended in 1974 having driven over 2,000 projects with costs in excess of $ 50 billion. Contemporary slums have been dated back to population growth in industrial cities during the Industrial Revolution , where workers would crowd into subdivided or makeshift dwellings because no new housing

425-672: The lack of attention given to the potential of regenerating existing structures deemed to be dilapidated . Some slums may have been viable for inexpensively cleaning up through use of stricter safety and sanitation enforcement. In the mid 20th century, a housing court was established in Baltimore with the power to impose penalties for violations of agreed codes of practice, which in turn helped to regenerate around 16,000 slum properties. The Housing Act of 1949 offered federal subsidies to local redevelopment projects, allowing local agencies to clear and sell blighted land for redevelopment, up to

450-497: The late 19th century were successful in razing the Mulberry Bend area, then deemed to be one of the most blighted sections of the neighborhood. Mar Vista Gardens is a housing project completed in 1954 built on an abandoned celery field. Construction paused in the early 1950s when a 6.4 acre strip of land was discovered to be county territory and was annexed in 1952 as part of slum clearance measures. Manhattanville Houses

475-450: The maximum amount could have cost in excess of $ 12 billion. The act was hindered by defensive priorities, with clearance grants deferred if the project was not consistent with defense requirements. Clearance of slum and blighted areas could be justified as serving the defensive effort as these areas were considered the most vulnerable in the event of enemy attack. In 1951, 32 cities and towns surveyed indicated that much of their cleared land

500-541: The new direction, and formed the long-term voter New Deal Coalition of union members, big city machines, the white South, and ethnic minorities to support it. In reaction, conservatives—typified by the American Liberty League —were strongly opposed but not as well organized at the grass roots. Big business took the lead in opposition. Few liberal programs were enacted after 1936; liberals generally lost control of Congress in 1938. Old programs continued for

525-627: The primary reason for government intervention. In 1949, the Senate Banking and Currency Committee stated in its report that 1 in 5 urban families lived in slum conditions. Federal law required cities to relocate displaced residents in safe and sanitary permanent residences prior to demolition of their slum home, with priority for available public housing. A report in 1950 suggested that over 6 million dwellings, representing around 20% of all city housing, did not meet minimum sanitation standards. Following World War II , housing issues became top of

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550-707: Was available. Congress authorized $ 20,000 for a survey of large city slum conditions in 1892, although did not take any action until the final year of the Hoover administration in 1932. The definition of a slum was classed by the Federal Housing Act of 1937 as "any area where dwellings predominate which, by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangements or design, lack of ventilation, light or sanitation facilities, or any combination of these factors, are detrimental to safety, health or morals". Clearance programs garnered some criticism, particularly at

575-604: Was proposed for residential redevelopment while just over a quarter was reserved for streets and footpaths. Although initially starting with wide political support, it became controversial over time. Federally subsidized clearances ended in 1974, after funding over 2,000 renewal projects at a cost of around $ 50 billion. Proposals for slum clearance came as early as the 1820s in relation to the Five Points neighborhood in Lower Manhattan , New York City. Efforts towards

600-500: Was the only place where development occurred under the act. In 1933, the act was replaced with the National Industrial Recovery Act which focused on slum clearance and home construction for low-income families and produced nearly 60 projects that built around 24,500 new houses. The first federal slum clearance program was proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, citing the high cost of land as

625-589: Was to be reused for private residential developments, with some public housing also included. Some slum clearance projects suffered delays as a result of local resident hostility towards clearance and forced migration. In some neighborhoods, foreign-born and minority ethnic residents occupied some of the worst city center housing, yet they feared moving away from their own language and cultural groups. African Americans in particular felt strongly that their areas and houses were targeted for urban renewal through means of ethnic cleansing and that they would be classed as

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