Full Citation

Title: Clearing the Slums? Determinants of New Deal Public Housing Sites

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2014

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Abstract: Public housing during the Great Depression was touted as a way to provide large scale slum clearance in a bid to reinvigorate neighborhoods. Using a unique dataset that capitalizes on the timing of surveys of city-wide housing stock, this paper explores the economic and political factors that influenced the selection of neighborhoods for public housing across six cities between 1934 through 1940. The paper finds some evidence that housing officials selected densely populated neighborhoods with lower median rents. Yet, neighborhood characteristics associated with slums such as dwellings requiring major repairs were largely not statistically significant outside of Boston and Washington, DC. National politics also do not appear to be a significantly factor for public housing sites. However, there is evidence that public housing was located in areas that typically voted Republican in mayoral elections. This is perhaps an effort by housing authorities to limit potential criticism of any favoritism. Historical evidence suggests that court decisions which restricted the use of eminent domain for public housing as well as property speculation may have also limited the scope of public housing projects during the period.

Url: http://www.tmkollmann.com/Papers/Clearing Slum.pdf

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Authors: Kollmann, Trevor, M

Publisher: RMIT University

Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS

Topics: Housing and Segregation, Other

Countries: United States