History of Public Housing

Around the same time housing authorities began skimping on construction expenses because of high project costs and decreased funding from Federal authorities. People were often crowded into ever smaller spaces. Many public housing projects encountered social problems such as concentrated poverty and increased crime. Even with the myriad of problems associated with high-rise public housing units public housing authorities continued to build more.

As problems continued to plague public housing, domestic policy priorities towards the creation of a comprehensive highway system. In 1956 the Interstate Highway Act was passed in Congress. Under the Act, the Federal government subsidized highway construction in an effort to connect cities. The Federal government usually paid 90% of the cost. As a result cities had little authority in determining the placement of roads and many new highways cut straight through towns because of this. Highway construction also escalated sub urbanization increasing the movement of the middle and high income households out of the inner city.

President Lyndon Johnson's administration instituted a war on poverty and passed the Housing Act of 1968 calling for more community involvement and the rehabilitation of slums. The Act tried to replicate Title 2 of the Housing Act of 1949 but was heavily abused by lenders and real estate developers. Following the housing Act came cutbacks in government spending for housing programs. The Brooke Amendment to the 1968 Housing Act placed a ceiling on rents and many Public Housing cut back further on building and maintenance.

In 1965, HUD was created to handle housing issues as well as community supportive services. The Fair Housing Act of 1969 prohibited racial discrimination in the housing market and gave HUD more responsibility. Although the Federal government continued to enact programs that assisted low income neighborhoods. It was becoming clear to policymakers that poverty is a more complex issue than they realized and housing alone is not a panacea.

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