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Citizens Housing and Planning Council (CHPC)

Citizens Housing and Planning Council is a non-profit research organization, which for over 70 years, has been providing research and advocacy to New York City.

Contents

1 History 1a 1940s and 1950s

1b 1970s and 1980s

1c 1990s

1d 2000 onwards

2 The Board

3 The Archives

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 Wagner 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.

1940s and 1950s

During the 1940s and 1950s, it warned against the ghettoization of the city’s growing minority populations. The Council 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, and remains a leading advocate for improving housing and neighborhood conditions.

1970s and 1980s

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 1970's and 1980's.

1990s'''

In the 1990's 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.

2000 onwards

The Council is focusing 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, and the importance and impact of regional housing strategy.

The Board

CHPC’s board includes practitioners and experts in the fields of urban planning, architecture, zoning and land use law, housing finance and development, and community development. They provide a practical perspective that enhances the Council's quantitative research and insight on issues affecting the City's future.

The Archives

Over the last seven decades, CHPC has amassed a vast and unparalleled 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 Roosevelt, Robert Moses, 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

References