SAFE, DECENT,
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
LONG BEFORE SHE WAS FIRST LADY, AND 40 YEARS BEFORE HUD WAS ESTABLISHED, ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, AS DIRECTOR OF THE ‘CITY HOUSING CORPORATION’ WOULD DECLAIM THE RAPID CONSTRUCTION OF APARTMENTS (TENEMENTS) THAT WERE ROBBING AMERICANS OF “REAL HOME LIFE” AND INDEPENDENCE THAT IS SO ESSENTIAL TO THE AMERICAN CHARACTER.
Then, as now, is is not just a matter of too little housing but “too little housing for those who cannot afford to pay higher rents.” Seeing that the government was not stepping in to fill this void she and a collaboration of stockholders formed a $2,000,000 capital fund (a HUGE amount of money when white collar workers were making $175 a month). Stockholders then agreed to limiting their income to 6% annually.
Thus Sunnyside Gardens was conceived and the idea of “safe, decent, affordable” housing came to life. “The object was not to find the bottom cost to be put over a family’s head, but the least cost at which a satisfactory environment could be created”. These “apartments” were not built to be rented, but rather sold; to foster home-ownership, and build capital for the City Housing Corporation. Play spaces were arranged so the mothers could watch children play from the kitchen and the none were more than two rooms deep to allow for outside light and air, a commodity sorely missing in the narrow tenements of the day. Monthly costs to homeowners were 30% below average costs for similarly sized homes in NYC with restrictions put in place to prevent speculation.
Sunnyside Gardens still stands today as a testament that housing for working class families that can be beautiful, sustainable and a stepping stone to inter-generational opportunity for families.