URBAN RENEWAL

To The Editors of The CRIMSON:

I read your article on "Urban Renewal" in the March 6 CRIMSON with great interest. Your portrayal of the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority's failure to mobilize the community in favor of the Donnelly Field project illustrates one of the chief reason why urban renewal often falls flat or is highly unpopular with residents of the areas affected by projects.

To be frank, however, I found your analysis of the reasons for defeat of the Donnelly Field project covered only half the story, at best. Under federal urban renewal regulations, before a project can be submitted to the Housing and Home Finance Agency for approval of federal loan and grant, the governing body of the community must approve the project. In the case of Cambridge, the nine-man City Council is that body. Donnelly Field failed because the Council voted down the final project plan 5-4, after previously approving it at various preliminary stages.

The reasons for the City Council's disapproval are complex and controversial. Certainly your point concerning community hostility is a part of the explanation. But there are more deep-seated factors involving the politics of the City Council. To a large degree, the Council is spilt between members who associate themselves with the institutions - Harvard and M.I.T. - and members who base their vote-getting ability on opposition to the universities. The latter group has voted against urban renewal.

The proportional representation system, by which Cambridge Councilmen are elected, is another contributing factor to defeat of a controversial issue like urban renewal. PR makes it possible for a Councilman's election to hinge on a very small number of votes. If a Councilman supports an urban renewal project which will alienate a few voters, he jeopardizes his chances for reelection.

This is a very sketchy outline of some of the additional factors you might have considered in your article.

Finally, there are several factual errors in your article. There is no such body as the "Federal Housing and Homes Agency." You are referring to the Housing and Home Finance Agency, one of whose branches, the Urban Renewal Administration, handles the federal grants for urban renewals projects. The authorization for federal urban renewal grants comes from the 1949 Housing Act as amended, most significantly in 1954 and 1961. The mortgages you mention in your final paragraph are insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which is theoretically another branch of the Housing and Home Finance Agency but tends to be quite independent in its operations. Jack Krauskopf '63