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1932 › Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic) › Housing and slum clearance

Slum clearance and modern housing for the urban poor as a "human necessity" among public works

pledge_forwarddirectional_stancecandidate_directevidence A Infrastructure & Public WorksRelief, Welfare & Social Insurance similar solutions · similar reasoning

Solution

Count tearing down slum areas and building modern housing as essential public works eligible for federal cooperation with states and cities — while questioning new buildings that leave slums standing.

Rationale

Public works must be "honestly essential to the community"; better housing for the poor qualifies.

Statements (1)

1932-10-13 · Radio address on unemployment and social welfare, Albany · generalcandidate_direct ✓ verified

I am much interested in providing better housing accommodations for the poor in our great cities. If a slum area can be torn down and new modern buildings put up, I should call that almost a human necessity

Source: Radio Address on Unemployment and Social Welfare From Albany, New York (1932-10-13)

Follow-through

partial

The PWA Housing Division built about 50 projects (1934–37) and the FHA (1934) insured mortgages; large-scale slum clearance and public housing waited for the Wagner-Steagall Act of 1937.

Mechanisms

Date	Type	Name	Effect	Consistent?	Source
1934-06-27	statute	National Housing Act (FHA) charted on: Index of construction contracts awarded (cost-adjusted) · Unemployment rate (BLS, 1948–) · Unemployment rate (NBER series, 1929–1942)	Mortgage insurance rather than slum clearance.	partly	Franklin D. Roosevelt: Domestic Affairs \| Miller Center

Assessments

partial William E. Leuchtenburg — Franklin D. Roosevelt: Domestic Affairs | Miller Center

The FHA and Fannie Mae financed home buying; slum clearance came later and smaller.

A reorganized Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) spun off subsidiaries such as the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae") that, along with the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) made it possible for millions of Americans to buy or renovate homes.

Other positions on this issue

Extend the federal housing program toward adequate housing for those in slums; encourage private building — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936 directional_stance

1932-fdr-slum-clearance-housing · created by claude-fable-5-1 · review: unreviewed