First Tenement Housing Act

1) Leading up to, and directly following the industrial boom we saw America’s greatest cities change in many way. These changes were particularly evident in the slums of New York. There were multiple legislative actions taken by both the federal and state governments to fix these low-income living areas. The very first notable legislative action was taken by the state of New York in 1867 and was entitled “ The First Tenement Act”. This act required windows in every rom and fire escapes for safety reasons. In 1879 the “Second Tenement Housing Act” stated that in order for a window to fulfill the First Tenement Act’s window requirement it must face as source of fresh air and light, rather than an interior hallway. In 1887 ad addition …show more content…
Initially the PWA was supposed to be a program that granted low-interest loans to public and private groups to fund construction of new low-income housing. Due to a low number of applicants only programs were funded by the federal government. This was the first time that the federal government would fund the construction of a federal housing project. Four years later the Housing Projects Act was made permanent and more projects were approved to be built. The question now was where should these new projects be built? It was decided that the best course of action would be for the government to destroy the slums and build new projects where the slums had formerly …show more content…
The same act that created HUD created rent subsidies. So basically this means that private organizations can build privately-constructed housing for low-income families. So instead of the federal government financing further construction of low-income housing a private company can build apartments and rent them out to low-income families. The families can, in turn, petition the government to subsidize their rents. So they can rent the apartment with the help of the government as long as they need it, and when they get back on their feet they can pay for their own apartment elsewhere. The government doesn’t own the housing, so they don’t have to maintain the apartment or carry the financial burden. I think this government program is far more effective than the housing projects. There isn’t a perpetuation of poverty because you live in a relatively financially diverse community. Instead of concentrating the poverty in one area, this allows those who need financial aid from the federal government to find low-income housing in any neighborhood, and chose where they live rather than being presented with one option. This is a realistic way to avoid a creation of slums while aiding those who need