Greensboro lias decided dial there arc altogether loo many shacks oi this type within ils corporate limits, so steps are
being taken to get rid of them as quickly as possible.
Greensboro’s Slum Clearance
It's
л
program dial will mc»an much in Ihe
iiiiprovc'iiiont of living* conditions in the
Onto City. as well as materially improving
the appearance of the town as a whole.
To most visitors and local residents,
Greensboro is thought of as a city of
beautiful, gracious residences, well-
kept lawns, and clean, bright streets.
But there is a scanty side to the
picture too, often unnoticed. For in
Greensboro, just as there arc in most
large cities, there are ugly, squalid,
dirty slum areas; slums that arc the
spawning grounds for juvenile delin¬
quency. crime, and disease; slums that
are a festering sore to the health and
beauty of Greensboro.
Recently, a government census re¬
port estimated that there were more
than 4.000 substandard houses in
Greensboro, providing living quarters
for some 15,000 residents. The worst
and most numerous of these were in
the Negro sections in the north and
east, where some 1.000 to 1.500 Ne¬
gro families live in slum housing.
The conditions in these substand¬
ard homes arc alike; outdoor toilets,
no running water in the house, leaky
or open roofs, defective electrical wir¬
ing; unsound floor and porch boards,
weak foundations, and general dilapi¬
dation.
To eliminate such substandard
housing has become a major task of
»i/ i:ici:\e >iii j: it
city officials and residents. A three-
pronged attack, aimed at eliminating
slum housing began in the fall of 1950
and has been so successful that other
cities throughout the state and South
are copying a similar plan of action.
In the last three months, the sub¬
standard housing division of the city's
public works department, has inspect¬
ed more than 250 slum housing units,
condemning 30 and ordering the rest
brought up to standard. Work is al¬
ready under way by properly owners
to bring their houses up to eity-build-
ing-eode standards.
Spearhead of the drive to eliminate
substandard housing is the Greensboro
Housing Commission, an advisory
hoard to the city council on housing
problems.
The housing commission was estab¬
lished just before World War II and
at that time the commission instituted
a program of slum clearance which
brought several hundred slum houses
in the city up to standard. This pro¬
gram was moving along at a fast rate
when the war brought it to a stand¬
still.
With property owners unable to get
building materials to make needed re¬
pairs, and with housing at a premium
because of the establishment of ORD
Army base in Greensboro, and the
city jammed with military personnel
and their dependents, the commission
had to postpone its project.
Then in 1 94(>, after the war, the
need for housing Greensboro's fast¬
growing population was so great, that
the housing commission again had to
defer its drive to eliminate slum hous¬
ing. But in 1950. after the city council
removed rent control and declared
that Greensboro no longer had a hous¬
ing shortage, the commission moved
into high gear.
Almost as soon as the council lifted
rent controls, the housing commission
instructed Public Works Director Hugh
I.. Medford to set up a substandard
housing inspection division and begin
a drive to eliminate the city's slum
housing.
John Fox, Jr., a graduate ol North
Carolina State College and a native of
Randleman, was chosen to head up
the new division, and he along with
city building, plumbing, and electri¬
cal inspectors teamed up to get the
drive against substandard housing un¬
de rw’ay.
THE STATE. March to. 195
