Connor here: Don’t forget. In all stories of abundance, zoning and other “innovative” solutions, the proven obvious solution is national housing for those who need it.
Benjoseph, professor of landscape architecture and urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was originally published in conversation.
In 1918, World War I gained intelligence overseas, and the US government became obsessed with radical experiments. It quietly became the country’s largest housing developer, designing and building over 80 new communities in 26 states in just two years.
Yousebe’thile built barracks and lines of the same house. They were thoughtfully designed neighbours with parks, schools, shops and sewer systems.
In just two years, the federal initiative has provided housing to around 100,000 people.
Few Americans know that they understand such ambitions and the efforts of public housing. Many homes still stand today.
But as an urban planning scientist, I believe that this short, historic moment is sponsored by the closed agency street.
Government mobilization
When the United States declared war with Germany in April 1917, federal authorities realized that the production of ships, vehicles and weapons was at the heart of the war. To meet the demand, a housing for sufficient workers was needed near shipyards, ammunition plants and steel factors.
Therefore, on May 16, 1918, Congress allowed President Woodrow Wilson to provide housing and infrastructure to industrial workers who are essential to national defense. By July, the Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson had allocated today’s US$100 million (approximately $2.3 billion today) for the efforts tasked with overseeing it via the U.S. Housing Corporation.
Over the two years, the agency designed and planned over 80 residential projects. The sub-development was small and consisted of dozens of residences. Others have come closer to the size of the new town as a whole.
For example, Cradock near Norfolk, Virginia is planned on a 310-acre site, with over 800 single-family homes being developed on just 100 acres of 100 acres. It is founded in Dayton, Ohio, in a 107-acre community that includes 175 independent homes and a 107-acre community that mixes over 600 semi-hulled homes and row-edged books, and includes schools, shops, community centers and parks.
Ideal design community
Please note that the Housing Corporation was simply not committed to providing shelter.
STIS architects, planners and engineers aimed to create a community that was not only functional but also beautiful. They were drawn to the Garden City movement of the late 19th century in Britain. This is a planning philosophy that emphasizes the balance between low density housing, the integration of open spaces, and the built and natural environment.
Milton Hill, an area designed and developed by the US Housing Corporation of Alton, Illinois
Importantly, Insertad simply creates a complex of apartment units, similar to a public housing project that MOS families can ultimately own.
This approach reflects the beliefs of policymakers that property ownership can strengthen community responsibility and social stability. During the war, the federal government rented Togerez’s home to the design of a global regulatory interest rate to ensure fairness while covering maintenance costs. After the war, the government began selling homes to tenants who lived in them through a vast installation plan that provided a path to ownership practice.
It was built by the US Housing Corporation, a detached house in Davenport, Iowa. National Archives
The Housing Corporation’s scope of work was nationwide, but each planned community incorporated into the growth of local accounts and local architectural styles. Engineers often built streets that were adapted to natural landscapes. They spaced the houses in a well-maintained yard to maximize light, air and privacy. No residents were far from the greenery.
In Quincy, Massachusetts, for example, the agency, built in a 22-acre neighborhood, was built with 236 homes designed primarily in colonial revival style to provide a river shipyard in front of the nearby area. The development was laid out to maximize access to viewing, green spaces and waterfronts while maining density through compact street and lot designs.
On Mare Island, California, the developers found a residential site on a steep hillside near a naval base. Rather than flattening the land, the designers created incremental roads and incremental lots that worked on the slopes, protecting the landscape and minimizing erosion. The result was a 52-acre community with over 200 homes, many of which were designed in the Crabsman style. There was also a school, a store, a park and a community centre.
Infrastructure and innovation
Along with the construction of the home, the Housing Corporation invested in critical infrastructure. The engineers have installed more than 649,000 feet of modern sewer and water systems, ensuring that their new community sets high standards for sanitation and public health.
Attention to detail widened the house. The architects experimented with efficient interior layouts and space-saving furniture such as Fustaway beds and built-in kitchens. The sub of these innovations came from private companies, a platform for demonstrating new housing technologies.
For example, one company designed a fully furnished studio apartment with furniture that can be fitted or hidden, changing the space from living room to bedroom to dining rom that day.
To manage the large-scale management of this initiative, the agency developed and published the first set of planning and design standards in the United States. The BESE manual covered everything from block composition and road width to lighting fixtures and tree planting guidelines.
It was built by a single-family home in Bremeton, Washington, by a usage company. National Archives
Standards emphasized functionality, aesthetics and long-term livability.
Architects and planners who worked for the Housing Corporation carried ideas private practices, academies and housing initiatives. Many of the planning norms still in use today, including street tiers, lot recession and mixed aspiration zoning, were first tested in these wartime communities.
Many of the planners involved in experimental New Deal community projects, such as the Greenbelt, Maryland, worked for or for residential designers and planners. The impact is clear in the layout and design of these communities.
A short but slow inheritance
With the end of World War I, political support for federal housing initiatives quickly faded. The Housing Corporation was dissolved by Congress, and many planned projects were not completed. Others have been incorporated into existing towns and cities.
However, many neighbours built among this mass still exist today, and are integrated into the fabrics of the country’s cities and suburban areas. Residents of places such as Aberdeen, Maryland. Bremeton, Washington. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Watertown, New York; and New Orleans may not even lead to federal housing experiments, even missing out on homes in their community.
The house on Lawn Street in Quincy, Massachusetts was built by the U.S. Housing Corporation. Google Street View
The Housing Corporation’s efforts have shown that, although short, large public housing is badly designed, community oriented and can quickly regress. For some time, depending on the situation in the foreign country, the US government managed to build more buildings than homes. It demonstrates that it can build communities and lead governments to play a key role and find innovative solutions to complex challenges.
With Ken the US facing a housing crisis once again, the legacy of the U.S. Housing Corporation serves as a reminder that bold public action can meet urgent needs.
