In 1940, CHPC conducted a study of the moving habits and attitudes of 1219 New York families. The ‘sub-committee on Tenant-Landlord Relations’, part of CHPC’s Housing Management Committee, scrutinized the factors that compelled tenants to move homes; a process that causes “a drain on family resources no matter how happy the outcome”.

The study’s major findings were:

1. Lower rent was the chief reason for moving given by Manhattan tenants;

2. More than 1/4 of Manhattan tenants wanted more value for money;

3. 1/4 might have been induced by their former landlord to remain;

4. Tenants claim they are … Read more…

In 1961, CHPC commissioned the first Executive Director of the Chicago Housing Authority, Elizabeth Wood, to conduct a study entitled Housing Design: A Social Theory.’ Ms Wood was a public housing pioneer who advocated racial and economic integration and the designing of workable neighborhoods.

Beginning with the sentence “Like all who have loved public housing for a long time, I have felt angry and frustrated at the sight of public housing projects that have the bleak, unloved look of army barracks and institutions”, this fascinating report covered  recommendations for ways to make public housing more livable by providing facilities … Read more…

In 1961, CHPC commissioned the first Executive Director of the Chicago Housing Authority, Elizabeth Wood, to conduct a study entitled Housing Design: A Social Theory.’ Ms Wood was a public housing pioneer who advocated racial and economic integration and the designing of workable neighborhoods.

Beginning with the sentence “Like all who have loved public housing for a long time, I have felt angry and frustrated at the sight of public housing projects that have the bleak, unloved look of army barracks and institutions”, this fascinating report covered  recommendations for ways to make public housing more livable by providing facilities … Read more…

On Wednesday July 13th, CHPC, along with Enterprise Community Partners, held a unique evening event to celebrate New York City’s housing policy history.

Guests from across the housing industry were invited to take part in a dramatic table reading of two pieces from CHPC’s incredible archive.

In rich poetic detail, reports from the first ever New York City code inspectors, describing their experiences of the Lower East Slums at the turn of the 20th century, were actually read by real-life code inspectors today! We were delighted to welcome so many code inspectors, including Vito Mustaciuolo, Deputy Commissioner for the … Read more…

From its mid-nineteenth century origins as a suburb of Manhattan to the 1898 consolidation of New York City to its modern incarnation, Astoria, Queens has always one of the city’s foremost and most multicultural commercial and residential centers.

The recently approved Astoria rezoning proposal aims to preserve the character of the neighborhood by employing “contextual zoning districts.” These revised designations are more limited than the districts that have been in place since the original zoning in 1961, and will more closely mirror the scale, density, and character of existing buildings.

In light of this rezoning, we searched our archives to … Read more…