PUBLIC POLICY

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PUBLIC POLICY

• Decentralization and abandonment of our cities
• Chapter 13

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Federal Road Act of 1916 Interstate Highway Act
of 1956

• Both these public policies directed government
  spending on transportation to the automobile and
  truck.
• Urban expressways, in combination with the
  emerging trucking industry, led to massive
  decentralization of industry and housing.

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New Deal Policies

• The Federal Housing Administration (FHA, est.
  1934) and the GI Bill (1944) insured long-term
  mortgage loans for home construction
• This was meant to put people back to work in the
  building trades after WWII was over.
• Most new homes were located in new residential
  developments in the suburbs, neglecting the inner
  city.

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FHA Policies

• Favored the development of single-family over
  multi-family projects.
• FHS-insured loans for repairs were of short
  duration and were gradually small.
• Therefore families were better off buying a new
  house that was in the suburbs than updating an
  older home in the city.

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Restrictive Covenants

• FHA favored suburban locations for FHA loans
• Property needed to be rated by an unbiased
  professional
• This requirement was intended to guarantee that
  the property value of the house would be greater
  than the debt.
• This policy encouraged bias against any
  neighborhood that was considered a potential risk
  in terms of property value.
• This lead to restrictive covenants written in
  property deeds, which prohibited certain
  undesirable groups from buying property.
• Maps were created that lead to redlining, an area
  considered high risk by the banks.

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REDLINING EFFECTS

• Encouraged construction of single-family homes in
  the burbs
• Discouraged center-city locations
• Intensified the segregation of residential areas
  and actively promoted homogeneity of residential
  areas.

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United States Housing Act, 1937

• Intended to provide public housing for those who
  could not afford private housing
• It did encourage the construction of many
  low-income housing units
• Most of these units were built in the inner city,
  thereby contributing to the view of the burbs as
  the refuge of the white middle class

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The RESULT of the United States Housing Act

• Segregate the races
• Concentrate the disadvantaged in the inner cities
• Reinforce the image of surburbia as a place of
  refuge for the problems of race, crime, and
  poverty.