Citizens Housing and Planning Council (CHPC)
Encyclopedia
Citizens Housing and Planning Council is a non-profit research organization, providing research and advocacy to New York City
on affordable housing and sound urban planning
for over 70 years.
in crafting the National Housing Act
of 1937 and its advocacy helped to encourage NYC to maintain economically integrated public housing, well located in neighborhoods with access to services and transportation.
During the 1940s and 1950s, it warned against the ghettoization of the city’s growing minority populations. CHPC supported litigation and legislation opposing racial discrimination in housing, advocated for development of low-rent and racially integrated housing in the face of local opposition, and fought against attempts to place public housing in isolated areas of the city devoid of basic services. CHPC also stressed the need for preserving and renovating low-rent private housing long before that concept became conventional wisdom.http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB061EFA3C5F1B7A93C7A91789D95F4C8385F9&scp=1&sq=citizens%20housing&st=cse
The Council's research helped to shape the City's policies regarding the large inventory of tax-foreclosed housing that was abandoned and left to decline in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, CHPC provided the analysis and advice when the City sought to rethink its policies regarding tax foreclosure
and privatization. This led to the successful preservation of this critical housing resource. Since then, the Council has focused its research and advocacy on issues related to the City's growth and the transformation of the old industrial landscape into mixed-use areas. Issues have included the use of government condemnation, inclusionary zoning policies, the critical need to address parking, the actual impact and effects of gentrification
, tax policies to encourage housing construction and affordability, the importance and impact of regional housing strategy, examining global Best Practice in affordable housing, and training the new generation of civic-minded industry experts.
. Previous Executive Directors have included Roger Starr and Clarence Stein
.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on affordable housing and sound urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
for over 70 years.
History
The Citizens Housing and Planning Council of New York was founded in 1937 by a coalition of intellectuals and activists who worked closely with Senator Robert WagnerRobert Wagner
Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
in crafting the National Housing Act
National Housing Act
National Housing Act may refer to:* National Housing Act of 1938, the first significant federal housing legislation adopted in Canada* National Housing Act of 1934, the first significant federal housing legislation enacted in the United States...
of 1937 and its advocacy helped to encourage NYC to maintain economically integrated public housing, well located in neighborhoods with access to services and transportation.
During the 1940s and 1950s, it warned against the ghettoization of the city’s growing minority populations. CHPC supported litigation and legislation opposing racial discrimination in housing, advocated for development of low-rent and racially integrated housing in the face of local opposition, and fought against attempts to place public housing in isolated areas of the city devoid of basic services. CHPC also stressed the need for preserving and renovating low-rent private housing long before that concept became conventional wisdom.http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB061EFA3C5F1B7A93C7A91789D95F4C8385F9&scp=1&sq=citizens%20housing&st=cse
The Council's research helped to shape the City's policies regarding the large inventory of tax-foreclosed housing that was abandoned and left to decline in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s, CHPC provided the analysis and advice when the City sought to rethink its policies regarding tax foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
and privatization. This led to the successful preservation of this critical housing resource. Since then, the Council has focused its research and advocacy on issues related to the City's growth and the transformation of the old industrial landscape into mixed-use areas. Issues have included the use of government condemnation, inclusionary zoning policies, the critical need to address parking, the actual impact and effects of gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
, tax policies to encourage housing construction and affordability, the importance and impact of regional housing strategy, examining global Best Practice in affordable housing, and training the new generation of civic-minded industry experts.
Staff
CHPC's current Executive Director is Jerilyn Perine, former Housing Commissioner for New York City's Department of Housing, Preservation and Development under Mayor Rudolf Giuliani and Mayor Michael BloombergMichael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
. Previous Executive Directors have included Roger Starr and Clarence Stein
Clarence Stein
Clarence Samuel Stein was an American urban planner, architect, and writer, a major proponent of the "Garden City" movement in the United States.- Biography :...
.
The Board
CHPC has a huge board which includes practitioners and experts in the fields of urban planning, architecture, zoning and land use law, housing finance and development, and community development.CHPC Archives
Over the last seven decades, CHPC has amassed a vast archive of primary source documents, including:- Early drafts of FDR's New Deal housing programs
- Surveys and reports, from the 19th century onwards, that led to the creation of the Tenement House Act, the establishment of the Tenement House Department, the subsequent creation of the Department of Housing and Buildings, and its later separation into two distinct agencies
- Surveys and reports that set out the details of the work of these departments
- Personal correspondence between CHPC board members and prominent public figures such as Eleanor RooseveltEleanor RooseveltAnna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, Robert MosesRobert MosesRobert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
, Fiorello LaGuardia, Al Smith, and William O’Dwyer - Rare government reports and memoranda
- Legislative debates
- Original site planning and neighborhood analysis for housing developments from the 1930s to the 1960s; particularly public housing
- Surveys from all decades detailing NYC neighborhood populations
- Original marketing brochures for developments
- The first tenant application forms for a variety of public housing sites and subsequent tenant opinion surveys