Editorial Board: Fred W. Adams, Edith P.L. Gilbert, Patrick Henry Paul Kelly, Morton Leeds, Norman L. Linton, Theodore H. Savage, Harvey Weiner, HUD Challenge, The official Departmental magazine, is published monthly by the Office of Public Affairs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Use of funds for printing was approved by the Office of Management and Budget, September 18, 1972. HUD Challenge serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas and innovations between HUD staff throughout the country, HUD-related agencies, institutions, businesses, and the concerned public. As a tool of management, the magazine provides a medium for discussing official HUD policies, programs, projects, and new directions. HUD Challenge seeks to stimulate nationwide thought and action toward solving the Nation's housing and urban problems. Material published may be reprinted provided credit is given to HUD Challenge. Subscription rates are $6.50 yearly domestic, and $8.25 for foreign addresses. Paid subscription inquiries should be directed to: Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Manuscripts concerning housing and urban development are welcome. Send all editorial matter to: Editor, HUD Challenge, Room 4282 Department of Housing and Urban Development, PAGE 2: Secretary James T. Lynn presents the Administration's views on the importance of PAGE 12: HUD has administered the Fair Hous- ing Law for the five years since it was signed on PAGE 20: The Dallas Builders Group tells how they have applied the requirements of the Fair PAGE 22: Fair share formulas are being tried in several cities with varying success, but the model for all the plans is that of Dayton, Ohio, the first PAGE 30: The Director of HUD's Office of NEXT MONTH: In addition to articles dealing with the COVER: Equal opportunity in housing for all ethnic Dear HUD Challenge Readers: I am pleased to greet the readers of Challenge on the threshold of my service as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is certain to be an exciting and enormously challenging year for those who work in the Department and those on the outside who work with us. In the weeks and months ahead, we will be making an exhaustive review of the programs for assisted housing. In the course of that review, we will welcome the views of all those who are familiar with Federal housing programs. We also hope to receive suggestions for new or improved housing programs to assist the needy. During the coming year, Congress will again consider President Nixon's To those interested in the betterment of our Nation's communities and the improvement of governmental assistance for those communities, this will be a challenging time indeed. The Importance of Equal Opportunity in Housing By Secretary James T. Lynn April 11, 1973 marks a milestone in the Nation's progress toward fairness and equal opportunity, the fifth anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of that law guarantees equal housing opportunities for all of our citizens. We are devoting this issue of HUD Challenge to commemorate this progressive forward step toward the goal of equal opportunity for all and to remind us all of the important progress being made in this critical area of human rights. Why Fair Housing Is Crucial President Nixon aptly summarized the central role housing plays in the quality of life of every American. As the President has said, "Of all the services, facilities and other amenities a community provides, few matter more to the individual and his family than the kind of housing he lives in-and the kind of neighborhood of which that housing is a part." America is in the midst of the greatest housing production boom in its history. For the third year in a row, we expect to produce over two million units, plus another 5-600,000 mobile units. For the period 1971-73, we will have produced over six million units of standard housing and nearly one and one-half million mobile home units. This represents new housing for more than 20 million American citizens. American families are clearly on the move. As families move into the new housing, they leave older housing. This in turn sets up a chain of successive moves. For the majority of our citizens, this represents a process of unprecedented improvement in their quality of life-in their homes and neighborhoods. But for some of our citizens, artificial barriers of prejudice and fear have too long obstructed a fair chance to move into better homes and neighborhoods. The very progress most Americans are making in improving the quality of their homes and neighborhoods makes even more unjust the plight of those who through discrimination are denied participation in this historic national housing achievement. Dedication to eliminate racial discrimination and provide equal opportunities for all runs deep in the American spirit. We have, as a country, backed up this dedicatio with strong laws to guarantee the rights of our citizens. Nevertheless, there is ample evidence that racial d crimination in housing is still a major problem and th vigilant and vigorous enforcement of our laws is neede For example, census statistics show that racial concentr tions in many of our communities are increasing. Whe this has resulted from racial discrimination, rather tha from free choices by members of all races, there is cau for alarm and action. In other articles in this issue we will detail the lon sustained effort to overcome housing discrimination. But believe it is fair to say that no other Nation wit comparable racial minorities has made as strong an effo to eradicate behavior patterns rooted deeply in individu attitudes and values. President Nixon's Landmark On June 11, 1971 President Nixon issued a compre hensive policy statement on equal housing opportunity Because this policy statement spelled out in detail th policies of this Administration it is the Executive Branch basic charter in Fair Housing. The statement identified seven principles: 1. Denial of equal housing opportunity to a perso because of race is wrong, and will not be tolerated. 2. Such denial will not be tolerated whether prac ticed directly and overtly, or under cover of subterfuges or indirectly through such practices as price and credit discrimination. 3. To qualify for Federal assistance, the law require. a local housing or community development project to be part of a plan that expands the supply of low- and moderate-income housing in a racially nondiscriminatory way. 4. In terms of site selection for a housing develop. ment, the Federal role is one of agreeing or not agreeing to provide Federal subsidies for projects proposed by local authorities or other developers. 5. A municipality that does not want federally assisted housing should not have it imposed from Washington by bureaucratic fiat; this is not a proper Federal role. |