Agree, Melani. I studied that whole phenomnon in grad school, and I
believe you are right. Although there are many individual-person factors
that contibute to either the demise or upraising of a community, certainly,
in Philadelphia, like many large urban areas, the feds have played an
important role, whether intentionally, nor not.
M. M. Harvey, MPP, MPH
Administrator of Quality Management
Office of the Health Commissioner
1101 Market Street, Suite 840
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 685-5690
fax - (215) 685-5398
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Sent by: To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL
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.purple.com cc:
Subject: Re: [UC] "... when things
were really bad around
here ..."
10/13/03 08:43 PM
Please respond to
MLamond
Although you two, Wilma and Fred, probably know this well, everyone on the
list may not be aware of how much of the "credit" for white flight and
abandonment of cities needs to be given to the FHA. It used to be
difficult to get
long-term financing to buy houses, and there were many time in the early
20th
century when people simply couldn't get mortgages. The Federal government
came
up with FHA mortgages to solve this problem, but for many years, the
underwriting process was heavy on noting neighborhood characteristics and
adamant about
excluding "mixed" areas. Even areas with more than one religion were
considered "mixed" and therefore excluded - I remember reading a history
with quotes
about turning down a loan because of a "creeping Jewish influence" in the
neighborhood. So in a place like what we now call University City, as soon
as the
population became diverse, no one could get these long-term, low-rate FHA
mortgages - OR loans to repair properties. While white homeowners had an
option
- to move to the suburbs, where they could get FHA mortgages in new
suburban
(white) housing developments - black homeowners didn't have that option.
I'm not making any excuses for white flight, but this predicament does add
another layer to the reasons for it. If the next generation wanted to stay
in
the old neighborhood, live near the parents, and buy a house of their own,
a
mortgage wasn't available. (But they COULD get an FHA mortgage in the
suburbs...) If their parents died and left them the house but they needed
to fix it
up, they couldn't get a loan to do that. (But they COULD keep it, in
deteriorating condition, and rent it to someone who couldn't buy, while
they bought a
brand-new place across the city line...)
Whether it's redlining, white flight or inequity based on race which makes
a
listserv reader angry here, we owe all of these problems to our Federal
government.
Melani Lamond
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