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Burlington Commission on Human Rights, 1964-1965

Report on Urban Renewal Programs and Their Effects on Racial Minority Group Housing in Three Iowa Cities - Page 12

the Chicago office of the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency called on Des Moines city officials to work for public housing. [The letter] said the city should stimulate the interest of the community in the use of public housing as a valuable aid to relocation.

These comments of the Chicago office of the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency were one of several contained in a letter filed with the city Council and referred to the city's Urban Renewal Board telling Des Moines to improve its urban renewal program in three main ways: housing for families displaced by urban renewal, the Des Moines Freeway, and other public projects; housing code enforcement over the entire city; participation of more citizens in advisory committees involved in urban renewal. The letter did not list any deadlines, but indicated that Des Moines must improve in these areas within the next year.

A responsible local official should see that the needed planning is done so that the standard housing will be available when required to house all families displaced by public action.

Since there is opposition on the part of local business leaders to public housing, they should take the lead in working with this official to see that private housing is provided at prices the displaced families can afford through rehabilitation . . .

They should also see that some means is provided to finance rehabilitation for those owners who cannot secure financing through normal channels.11

In all areas where housing is made available by Federal funds it is provided on a nondiscriminatory basis and is available to nonwhite families if they can afford to pay rent. The City Council has gone on record as requiring open-occupancy in housing constructed in this area. On the other hand, the rental costs are higher than most families displaced by the clearing of the area can afford. They are reported to run from $80 to $100 a month. Max W. Krumrey, then the assistant director of the Urban Renewal office, was quoted by the Des Moines Sunday Register12 as saying, "The big criticism of of urban renewal is that developers build houses for the rich and tear down ones for the poor." This is the lowest-cost housing being built by private industry.
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11. Ibid.

12. Oct. 6, 1963.

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the Chicago office of the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency called on Des Moines city officials to work for public housing. [The letter] said the city should stimulate the interest of the community in the use of public housing as a valuable aid to relocation. These comments of the Chicago office of the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency were one of several contained in a letter filed with the city Council and referred to the city's Urban Renewal Board telling Des Moines to improve its urban renewal program in three main ways: housing for families displaced by urban renewal, the Des Moines Freeway, and other public projects; housing code enforcement over the entire city; participation of more citizens in advisory committees involved in urban renewal. The letter did not list any deadlines, but indicated that Des Moines must improve in these areas within the next year. A responsible local official should see that the needed planning is done so that the standard housing will be available when required to house all families displaced by public action. Since there is opposition on the part of local business leaders to public housing, they should take the lead in working with this official to see that private housing is provided at prices the displaced families can afford through rehabilitation . . . They should also see that some means is provided to finance rehabilitation for those owners who cannot secure financing through normal channels.11 In all areas where housing is made available by Federal funds it is provided on a nondiscriminatory basis and is available to nonwhite families if they can afford to pay rent. The City Council has gone on record as requiring open-occupancy in housing constructed in this area. On the other hand, the rental costs are higher than most families displaced by the clearing of the area can afford. They are reported to run from $80 to $100 a month. Max W. Krumrey, then the assistant director of the Urban Renewal office, was quoted by the Des Moines Sunday Register12 as saying, "The big criticism of of urban renewal is that developers build houses for the rich and tear down ones for the poor." This is the lowest-cost housing being built by private industry. __________ 11. Ibid. 12. Oct. 6, 1963. 12