1950s
Summary
The national government continues to help cities address problems of urban decay by financing redevelopment of central cities. Meanwhile, mortgage programs encourage home building and homeownership, which encourages migration from cities to suburbs.
In response to local government concerns about the lack of flexibility in federal rules, requirements, and policies regarding housing and urban development, the federal government provides training to improve the capacity of local governments to plan and execute projects.
To address national security concerns and to generate economic growth, the national government constructs the national interstate highway system.
Housing and public facilities remain segregated under the policy of "separate but equal."
Influences
- Cold War.
- Air conditioning makes living in the south and west more attractive.
- Corbusier and Modernism influence planning and design.
- Literature critically assessing the impact of suburbanization and redevelopment emerges:
- "Suburbia: Its People and Their Politics," Politics of Suburbia, Robert C. Wood (1958).
- Politics, Planning, and the Public Interest (1954) describes the problems of building public housing in Chicago.
- U.S. Supreme Court rules that separate is not equal (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954).
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Policies and Programs
- Low-interest financing is made available to nonprofit and limited-dividend private housing developers who provide housing for the elderly (Housing Act, 1959).
- National highway system created (Interstate Highway Act, 1954, and Federal Highway Act, 1956).
- State of New York provides financing for middle-income housing (Mitchell-Lama Act, 1955).
- The urban renewal program seeks to revitalize central cities while providing general planning and capacity assistance for smaller cities (Housing Act, 1954).
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Institutional Roles
- The federal government encourages better local planning and stricter building codes.
- Congress increases the federal budget for housing and urban development programs.
- Public housing and urban renewal programs are implemented through quasi-independent local government public housing and urban renewal agencies.
- Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR, 1959) researches intergovernmental problems and recommends solutions.
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Methods, Tools, and Practices
- Regional shopping centers and strip malls are built to service the suburban market.
- High-rise public housing is built in major cities to expand the supply of low-cost housing.
- Relocation assistance is provided to families and business displaced by urban renewal.
- Municipal bonds are used to finance infrastructure improvements.
- Mortgage interest deduction (authorized by 1913 income tax law) is widely used and becomes an important incentive for homeownership.
- HHFA ensures safe minimum housing standards through stricter building codes.
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Lessons and Outcomes
- Broken neighborhoods, "white flight," and out-migration from cities occur due to a combination of federal highway assistance, FHA mortgage insurance programs, urban renewal, residential and industrial suburbanization.
- Rust belt cities decline with migration to the suburban industrial sunbelt.
- Local governments recognize the importance of coordinated planning across sectors and political boundaries.
- Private foundations support innovative urban redevelopment approaches.
- Insurance companies build large rental projects in suburbs.
- Pittsburgh's urban renewal program serves as a model of how urban redevelopment can work.
- Experience shows urban renewal and redevelopment takes much longer than anticipated.
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