Veteran's Housing in West Ridge, 1946-1947

To contact us Click HERE

A few months ago I wrote about an example of Defense Housing in Rogers Park built for war workers in 1942.  These were the result of strict Federal guidelines permitting only defense-oriented projects to receive priority use of building materials.  With the end of the war in sight by 1944 the country began to prepare to absorb about 16 million returning veterans.  These soldiers had left in the middle of a decade-long housing shortage, and would be returning to all parts of the country, not just areas that had benefited from wartime construction. 

Below is a draft of an article intended for the upcoming issue of AREA Chicago.  It will probably change a bit once I get comments from the editors.
In September of 1946 the Chicago Tribune printed an article announcing plans for a 92 unit development intended for WWII veterans on 3.6 acres on Ridge Avenue, north of Devon. At the time this was a sparsely developed area, dotted with the single family frame houses and small truck farms which comprised much of the early character of West Ridge.

The architect was listed as Edwin H. Mittelbusher of Howard T. Fischer & Associates, Inc. Mittelbusher served as the Assistant Chief Architect for the Chicago office of the Federal Housing Administration from 1940 to 1945. Howard Fisher was the founder of General Housing, Inc. and pioneered the development of pre-fabricated housing. He served as the director of the development board of industrial housing for the National Housing Agency in 1946-1947. In short, this development was designed by people skilled at working within a bureaucracy.


Damen-Ridge Garden Apartments, 1946.  Perspective view from Ridge looking Northwest.

The project itself consists of eight two-story brick veneer buildings with hipped roofs arranged around green inner courts. The outer courts accommodate parking areas. The buildings are a restrained version of the Colonial Revival, with modern touches, such as concrete sun shades on the first floor corners and entrance stairs illuminated with large glass block windows. They were constructed as a combination of 4 and 5 room rentals. This project was initiated under the Veteran's Emergency Housing Program (VEHP), but between the time these buildings were planned and when they were completed the VEHP became functionally obsolete.

The Veterans Emergency Housing Program was developed and proposed by Wilson Wyatt, former mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, at the direction of President Truman. The initial goal was to create 2.7 million housing units within two years to serve veterans, many of whom returned to crowded conditions and shared housing situations. To accomplish this wartime price and wage controls were intended to be maintained and priority was given to housing development through a series of initiatives. The bill establishing the VEHP was signed into law in May of 1946.

Six months later Republicans took control of Congress and eliminated much of the economic controls, resulting in a sharp increase in costs in response to pent-up demands. The program had been responsible for over 1 million housing starts in 1946, but many stood half-constructed due to shortages of building materials. Soon a home that would have sold for $6000 in 1945 was priced at $8,000. This was at a time when many veterans were marrying and beginning a family. Rather than buy a home at an inflated price many chose to find rental housing. This is the era reflected by the buildings in West Ridge constructed specifically for the returning veterans.


2212-30 W. Farwell and 2213-31 W. Morse, 1946.

The construction of these brick buildings was advertised in the Chicago Tribune in November of 1946.  The architects and builders are listed as Charles and Arthur Schreiber, who established their firm in 1938 and later went on to design many modernist structures in the Southwest.  These 4 and 5 room rentals were intended to accommodate 74 veteran families.  They are similar to earlier courtyard buildings in the neighborhood, but with large sunken courts and parking along the alley.  The restrained details, portal windows, and limestone door surrounds suggest the Moderne style, which lent itself to construction on a budget. 

6102-6122 N. Hamilton, 1947.

In February of 1947 the Chicago Tribune published an article about these three buildings, which were constructed as cooperative housing for veterans and designed by architect Clarence Johnson. They're traditional in form and ornamentation, including decorative entrances, corner quoins, water tables and limestone details. These are located on wide lots but are quite shallow due to the cemetery immediately west. The cooperative ownership structure is unusual, and the article claims that this is one of Chicago's first cooperative apartment developments. Titles to these buildings were conveyed to a corporation, and each veteran buyer purchased shares of that corporation. Cooperative ownership was (and is) rare in Chicago, and has been largely eclipsed by condominium ownership. Of the three developments examined here, this is the only one which wasn't intended as a straight rental property.

While I don't intend this to be a comprehensive look at veteran's housing in Chicago (or even in West Ridge), it does provide some examples of the types of development which were feasible immediately following WWII. And in some ways it sets the stage for the suburban explosion of the 1950s, when affordable single family homes became widely available, changing the character of the American landscape.

Sources

1. The AIA Historical Directory of American Architects, 1956. Accessed online at http://communities.aia.org/sites/hdoaa/wiki/Wiki%20Pages/1956%20American%20Architects%20Directory.aspx
2. Chicago and Evanston Vet Apartment Units Approved. Chicago Daily Tribune; Sept. 8. 1946. Accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988). Pg. NA
3. Work Started on Three New Flat Buildings. Chicago Daily Tribune; Nov.10, 1946. Accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988). Pg. 43
4. Finish Homes in Early Vets’ Co-op Project. Chicago Daily Tribune; Feb. 23. 1947. Accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988). Pg. WA.
5. To Hear Only Thunder Again: America’s World War II Veterans Come Home. Mark D. Ellis. Lexington Books, 2001. Accessed through Google eBooks.
6. The Veterans Emergency Housing Program. William Remington. Law and Contemporary Problems, Vo. 12, No. 1, Housing (Winter, 1947), pp. 143-173. Accessed through JSTOR.

Livin' la vida online

To contact us Click HERE

Erin O'Brien circa 1973.

Dear Friends,

Your humble hostess will be conducting a workshop, Living the Online Life, at 7 p.m. on February 7th at the Cuyahoga County Public Library's Strongsville Branch.

This event is free, open to the public and frankly, it's going to kick ass. Follow the above link for details and registration.

Thank you for your continued support.

Love,

Erin

*  *  *

Next time, Doc, fill 'er up over in Collinwood

To contact us Click HERE



In 1985, we all were wholly entertained by Doc and Marty and a souped-up DeLoreon that could travel through time courtesy of the dregs Doc pulled out of Marti's trash and the DeLoreon's handy on-board Mr. Fusion.

Well folks, you don't need to wait until 2015. We're fueling vehicles with banana peels and stale hot dog buns right now--and I'm not talking about a few gurgling test tubes and beakers in some lab. Anaerobic digesters are popping up all over Ohio. I know. I wrote about them in my feature for the latest edition of hiVelocity.

I visited such an installation in Collinwood, which is an old-time Cleveland neighborhood where Quasar Energy operates an anaerobic digester. (Thusly named because it eats and processes food much like we do, with similar results. Keep the 7th grade humor to yourselves, please.)

People, these systems take just about any organic substance that has a BTU value and transform it into natural gas and fertilizer.

Refinery? We don't need no stinkin' refinery.

Quasar's tanks framed by the Cleveland sky.

The only problem I had with this story is that ever since I began the research, I wince each time I toss a potato peel or dump the coffee grounds while thinking, this should be fueling the Mini.

Back to the future indeed.

* * *

CHAGRIN FALLS: Ohio's New England

To contact us Click HERE

So you want to go to New England, but you’re afraid of running into Teddy Kennedy or John Kerry? Try Chagrin Falls close to Cleveland. Nestled in the hills of northeast Ohio on the border between Cuyahoga and Geauga Counties, Chagrin Falls is about as close to New England as you can get within a 60 mile radius of Youngstown. They film movies here, folks. It is a stunner, and the numero uno place where my wife and I go to get away for a few hours on the weekend. (Wait a minute…there’s Dennis Kucinich. Ohhhh Nooooo!!!!).
Chagrin Falls was built on the Chagrin River next to….guess what… the falls!!!! It is a four -seasons kind of town that offers its own delights any time of the year. In the summer, the entire village is strolling the streets, eating ice cream or candy purchased at the Chagrin Falls Popcorn Shop located right above the falls. The falls and the river are actually kind of impressive, and you can take the frame steps down into the gorge for an up close and personal. Across the street is the village park, lined with benches and trees and a playground filled with people enjoying a sunny day or a cool evening with their kids and dogs. And these are classy dogs. Where’s Norman Rockwell when you need him?
Autumn is probably the busiest time of year. No matter how you get there, the way into the village is tree lined and the foliage is spectacular. At Christmas, the village dials Hollywood for its absolutely perfect Christmas decorations, and the village stores do their fair share in helping you feel the love. Even the dead of winter offers its delights, especially if you are a tad moody on a gray winter’s day. Stop in at the Gamekeeper’s Tavern and have a drink in its convivial bar, or a hearty lunch or dinner in the restaurant. The atmosphere is as warm as it is cold outside.

Did I mention the Gamekeeper’s Tavern? The restaurant is located in The Inn at Chagrin Falls, which offers a diverse range of overnight accommodations for those looking for a weekend getaway, at prices that are surprisingly reasonable for the Cleveland area. (This is a rapidly growing regional hospitality group owning several venues. It recently purchased and renovated the Welshfield Inn on Rt. 422 about 15 miles east towards Warren). The restaurant is terrific and will be the subject of a coming review in Youngstown Eats. Another place to enjoy drinks and dinner is Blake’s (a Hyde Park Group restaurant) which is located overlooking the falls. Both of these places tend to be a tad pricey, but the food is good, and you can’t beat the ambience. There are also numerous other foodie choices located throughout the village, from pizza to burgers, to suit all price points and tastes.
Our favorite thing to do in Chagrin Falls, besides eating, is to shop. This is a great place for the ladies. Unlike many of these trendy areas which end up being nothing more than an extension of the local mall and attendant national chains, most of the boutiques are operated by locals. (No Pottery Barn or Williams Sonoma here). Chico’s is the most glaring exception. Prices run the gambit. The ladies will always find something. Find Me is a more pricey choice that has found favor with a number of Tippy wives (I mean Canfield women), but it has really good sales.
While the ladies go one way, the guys can head to several clothing stores catering to men. But I would skip all of them and go to Chagrin Hardware. How they keep inventory at this place is beyond me. You can spend an hour just looking at all of the different things this place sells, some of which I suspect have been there since the town was founded. Those that only shop at Home Depot don’t know what they are missing. This place alone is worth the trip.
Street parking is plentiful. Blake’s offer valet parking if you are desperate at dinner time, but it usually isn’t a problem.
Take the Ohio Turnpike to the Route 44 exit. Go north on Route 44 about 10 miles to Route 422. East on Route 422 (it is 4 lanes here) to Route 306 (the Bainbridge exit). Turn right off the exit; then take an immediate left onto Chagrin Road into Chagrin Falls. Allow an hour to get there, about 2 hours to shop and 2 hours for drinks and dinner. If you have some time, Breezewood Gardens is located in Bainbridge on Route 306 just north of Chagrin Road, and is worth the stop, especially in the spring and fall (Christmas is fabulous at this place).

Pittsburgh's SouthSide Works

To contact us Click HERE
Pittsburgh is one of my favorite cities…and one of my favorite things about my favorite city is the neighborhoods. Anyone who has attempted to get around Pittsburgh knows that the hills make it nearly impossible to get from here to there unless you know exactly where you are going. Add the rivers and bridges to the mix, even those who live there have established enclaves unto themselves, creating neighborhoods that are individual destinations. Pittsburgh’s Southside is one of those neighborhoods.

Pittsburgh’s Southside is geographically located between the Monongahela River to the north and Mount Washington and the Southside Slopes to the south. The main drag is East Carson Street in which there are three main subdivisions. Station Square is the furthest west of the various developments, located at the end of the Smithfield Street Bridge. As you drive to the east, you will encounter a gritty, eclectic neighborhood with second hand bookstores, tattoo parlours, antique stores, head shops, and restaurants to suit every taste and pocketbook, mostly local. This is a fun area, but is rapidly gentrifying as evidenced by increasing property values. Both of these, especially the two lane East Carson corridor, are worth separate trips to explore and enjoy.

At the top of the East Carson Street corridor, where two lanes turn into four, is the brand new SouthSide Works, located along the river. On its face, it resembles Legacy Village in Cleveland, much smaller, and Easton in Columbus, much bigger. Where it differs is that it was actually built into pre-existing buildings associated with a steel mill formerly located on the property. For the most part, it maintains an industrial feel, as do most of the new developments being built the further east you drive along East Carson Street.

For some reason, the developer opened the area in stages. In the beginning, there wasn’t a whole lot there. But progress has been steady, and as new buildings and stores have opened up, it is a pleasant place to walk around and enjoy, especially on a warm summer’s evening. All of these areas are defined as “mixed use”, in which the developer tries to intermingle condo housing, offices, and retail. Some of the efforts succeed, some of them don’t. But the nature of the Southside neighborhood is pushing this to success. If you want to live in the Southside but don’t want to have to put a ton of money into renovating the very old, existing housing stock, and would like to have a place to park your car, this is the place to go.

The SouthSide Works is built around a town square, the center of which boasts a Cheesecake Factory which can be described as nothing less than a Greek temple. When you walk into the square, you feel like you should pray to it. Surrounding the square are various establishments, including a Cineplex, and various other restaurants such as Claddagh Irish Pub, which is one of my favorite places. Upscale restaurants include the Hot Metal Grille (currently closed for renovations) and McCormick and Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant.

There is no major retail anchor such as Macy’s located here. But there is an assortment of smaller retailers, some of which have come to be standard in these types of developments such as the Z Gallerie and Sur la Table Kitchen Store. I really like its version of the Joseph-Beth Booksellers chain, which tends to get some big name people into the establishment to sign books, especially Pittsburgh sports figures.

Big things are in store for the SouthSide Works. Approval and financing have just been granted for a $10.5 million 17 dock project giving river access to the development, as well as a major hotel and spa to be constructed on the opposite side of East Carson Street. When built, this area will become a major hub of Pittsburgh activity and recreation. In the meantime, it’s worth a visit. There is ample parking on the street and several decks. One word of warning, parking is paid for at vending machine type apparatii that can be a bit intimidating and don't always work.
The SouthSide Works
East Carson at 27th Steets
1-877-977-1880

Veteran's Housing in West Ridge, 1946-1947

To contact us Click HERE

A few months ago I wrote about an example of Defense Housing in Rogers Park built for war workers in 1942.  These were the result of strict Federal guidelines permitting only defense-oriented projects to receive priority use of building materials.  With the end of the war in sight by 1944 the country began to prepare to absorb about 16 million returning veterans.  These soldiers had left in the middle of a decade-long housing shortage, and would be returning to all parts of the country, not just areas that had benefited from wartime construction. 

Below is a draft of an article intended for the upcoming issue of AREA Chicago.  It will probably change a bit once I get comments from the editors.
In September of 1946 the Chicago Tribune printed an article announcing plans for a 92 unit development intended for WWII veterans on 3.6 acres on Ridge Avenue, north of Devon. At the time this was a sparsely developed area, dotted with the single family frame houses and small truck farms which comprised much of the early character of West Ridge.

The architect was listed as Edwin H. Mittelbusher of Howard T. Fischer & Associates, Inc. Mittelbusher served as the Assistant Chief Architect for the Chicago office of the Federal Housing Administration from 1940 to 1945. Howard Fisher was the founder of General Housing, Inc. and pioneered the development of pre-fabricated housing. He served as the director of the development board of industrial housing for the National Housing Agency in 1946-1947. In short, this development was designed by people skilled at working within a bureaucracy.


Damen-Ridge Garden Apartments, 1946.  Perspective view from Ridge looking Northwest.

The project itself consists of eight two-story brick veneer buildings with hipped roofs arranged around green inner courts. The outer courts accommodate parking areas. The buildings are a restrained version of the Colonial Revival, with modern touches, such as concrete sun shades on the first floor corners and entrance stairs illuminated with large glass block windows. They were constructed as a combination of 4 and 5 room rentals. This project was initiated under the Veteran's Emergency Housing Program (VEHP), but between the time these buildings were planned and when they were completed the VEHP became functionally obsolete.

The Veterans Emergency Housing Program was developed and proposed by Wilson Wyatt, former mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, at the direction of President Truman. The initial goal was to create 2.7 million housing units within two years to serve veterans, many of whom returned to crowded conditions and shared housing situations. To accomplish this wartime price and wage controls were intended to be maintained and priority was given to housing development through a series of initiatives. The bill establishing the VEHP was signed into law in May of 1946.

Six months later Republicans took control of Congress and eliminated much of the economic controls, resulting in a sharp increase in costs in response to pent-up demands. The program had been responsible for over 1 million housing starts in 1946, but many stood half-constructed due to shortages of building materials. Soon a home that would have sold for $6000 in 1945 was priced at $8,000. This was at a time when many veterans were marrying and beginning a family. Rather than buy a home at an inflated price many chose to find rental housing. This is the era reflected by the buildings in West Ridge constructed specifically for the returning veterans.


2212-30 W. Farwell and 2213-31 W. Morse, 1946.

The construction of these brick buildings was advertised in the Chicago Tribune in November of 1946.  The architects and builders are listed as Charles and Arthur Schreiber, who established their firm in 1938 and later went on to design many modernist structures in the Southwest.  These 4 and 5 room rentals were intended to accommodate 74 veteran families.  They are similar to earlier courtyard buildings in the neighborhood, but with large sunken courts and parking along the alley.  The restrained details, portal windows, and limestone door surrounds suggest the Moderne style, which lent itself to construction on a budget. 

6102-6122 N. Hamilton, 1947.

In February of 1947 the Chicago Tribune published an article about these three buildings, which were constructed as cooperative housing for veterans and designed by architect Clarence Johnson. They're traditional in form and ornamentation, including decorative entrances, corner quoins, water tables and limestone details. These are located on wide lots but are quite shallow due to the cemetery immediately west. The cooperative ownership structure is unusual, and the article claims that this is one of Chicago's first cooperative apartment developments. Titles to these buildings were conveyed to a corporation, and each veteran buyer purchased shares of that corporation. Cooperative ownership was (and is) rare in Chicago, and has been largely eclipsed by condominium ownership. Of the three developments examined here, this is the only one which wasn't intended as a straight rental property.

While I don't intend this to be a comprehensive look at veteran's housing in Chicago (or even in West Ridge), it does provide some examples of the types of development which were feasible immediately following WWII. And in some ways it sets the stage for the suburban explosion of the 1950s, when affordable single family homes became widely available, changing the character of the American landscape.

Sources

1. The AIA Historical Directory of American Architects, 1956. Accessed online at http://communities.aia.org/sites/hdoaa/wiki/Wiki%20Pages/1956%20American%20Architects%20Directory.aspx
2. Chicago and Evanston Vet Apartment Units Approved. Chicago Daily Tribune; Sept. 8. 1946. Accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988). Pg. NA
3. Work Started on Three New Flat Buildings. Chicago Daily Tribune; Nov.10, 1946. Accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988). Pg. 43
4. Finish Homes in Early Vets’ Co-op Project. Chicago Daily Tribune; Feb. 23. 1947. Accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1988). Pg. WA.
5. To Hear Only Thunder Again: America’s World War II Veterans Come Home. Mark D. Ellis. Lexington Books, 2001. Accessed through Google eBooks.
6. The Veterans Emergency Housing Program. William Remington. Law and Contemporary Problems, Vo. 12, No. 1, Housing (Winter, 1947), pp. 143-173. Accessed through JSTOR.

Livin' la vida online

To contact us Click HERE

Erin O'Brien circa 1973.

Dear Friends,

Your humble hostess will be conducting a workshop, Living the Online Life, at 7 p.m. on February 7th at the Cuyahoga County Public Library's Strongsville Branch.

This event is free, open to the public and frankly, it's going to kick ass. Follow the above link for details and registration.

Thank you for your continued support.

Love,

Erin

*  *  *