Further, says Mr. Wilbert: "Many other benefits have occurred-such as payrolls of contractors; $250,000 of customers' service lines installed; very material increase in livestock feeding by individual ranches; better fire protection; additional plumbing in rural areas; tremendous convenience."

HARRISONBURG, VA.

A prime example of central business district activity in smaller cities is being carried out in this city of about 12,000 people.

Two adjoining projects are well under way. New construction is providing for new commercial uses-a service center, a supermarket, a bank, and small retail shops. They are giving new economic vigor to this Blue Ridge city.

One of the projects is completed and close-out of the second is expected by the end of 1967.

HOQUIAM, WASH.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer carried this editorial on the 10,762 population city:

Hoquiam could be tagged a typical American town. However, its geographic location, combined with its background and non-typical environment, make it unique from other towns of similar size. In the first place is its name-Hoquiam is an Indian word meaning "hungry for wood."

Hoquiam is still hungry for wood; its major industry is the manufacture of wood products. From early morn to dusk, the trucks carrying logs roll down the main thoroughfares of the city. Hoquiam is unique in other respects. It is the most westerly municipality in the most Western State. It is also a gateway town -the gateway to the ocean beaches and the Olympia Peninsula.

Though born in a rich setting of natural beauty, Hoquiam is not a pretty town. The grim extent of decay in its commercial district and the resultant economic loss one day caused some of the citizenry to sit up and take a wide look. 50% of downtown was vacant.

The future looked bleak. The mayor and a citizens committee got busy. Federally-assisted urban renewal was proposed. A referendum was held, and when the votes were counted, the result was 3-1 in favor.

Ugly, outdated buildings are being replaced with bright new functional buildings. A new concept for downtown Hoquiam is no longer the visionary hope of the few, but a tangible reality that is being grasped by many for the first time. Twenty-four businesses have received HUD relocation payments. Among them is the Oriole Confectionary, which was in a building to be demolished. The confectionary was located a block away in a privately remodeled building. Since making the move with the aid of a small business displacement payment and reimbursement of moving expenses and equipment loss, its business has more than doubled.

HOT SPRINGS, ARK.

The $41.2 million Civic Center renewal project in this city of 28,377 has sparked an increase in business.

One businessman's experience is typical of the trade improvement in the community. He protested vehemently when told he would have to move from his old location, contending that he would lose business. Finally he moved his business with the help of the local Public Agency remodeling his "new" structure. A little over a year after this move into the better building, the owner reports his business has increased more than 100 percent.

IOWA SMALL CITIES

FHA mortgage insurance programs have helped business all over Iowa. Last year applications for mortgage insurance were received from 213 communities. Of this number, 160 had 5,000 or less population, including the town

of Runnells, with a population, as of the 1960 Census, of 322. There were 30 communities with a population between 5,000 to 10,000 from which applications were received and 23 communities with populations in excess of 10,000.

The applications originated with 152 mortgagees, including 135 from Iowa. Two of the applications were from the Bode State Bank in Bode. The community has a population of 430.

The Denver Savings Bank of Denver, Iowa, produced one application. It has a population of 831.

And the Polk City Savings Bank of Polk City had an application. The population of that community is 567.

JEFFERSONVILLE, GA.

This letter was written to the Regional Administrator of HUD by D. Y. Califf, mayor of this city of 1,013 residents:

"We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude and sincere thanks for the generous assistance [involving a loan for a new water system].

"The accomplishment of this project has stimulated our people with a certain pride and enthusiasm. This project has been the basis for many better and needed things in our community.

"New homes and new people have become a part of the community. A young doctor has located here, and in his words, 'I believe the accomplishment of this project is the beginning of growth for this community.' Plans are completed for construction of a much-needed hospital. Contacts are being made for industry developments, and we have found that a good water system is a priority feature to the industry seeking a location." Jeffersonville has recently applied for a HUD grant to help it build a neighborhood center.

JONESBORO, LA.

The economies of Jonesboro and towns nearby have been increased significantly by construction of Jonesboro's Sunrise and Terrace Park public housing projects.

Cost of the projects, exclusive of land and equipment, was $387,000. Plumbing work, electrical service, and concrete work was contracted to firms in West Monroe, La. (population 15,215), El Dorado City, Ark. (population 25,292), and Jonesboro, Ark. (population 3,848).

The Jonesboro Housing Authority paid approximately $10,000 for electricity to the town from 1959-1964. Payments in lieu of taxes for the same period totaled $4,381.

At the end of the Federal contract payment period of 40 years all units in the two projects will belong to the town of Jonesboro.

KENNER, LA.

Kenner is a working-class community of 17,000 about five miles from New Orleans. The town lacked sewers for its northern section. A HUD grant of $154,000 helped Kenner finance a sewer system for this area, and tie into a consolidated system with other communities in the region.

Kenner also had two converted school buses as its only public transportationand they were about worn out. A HUD mass transit grant of $49,060 helped the town buy new buses, improve its facilities, and connect up with the mass transit system of the area. The advantages of a good sewer system and public transportation to local business are obvious.

KEOKUK, IOWA

Through HUD urban renewal assistance, this city of 16,300 has completed redevelopment of its downtown area. This has saved and strengthened the local business already there and has attracted new commercial investment.

KINLOCH, MO.

Ninety-eight percent of the families are at poverty level, though many would never admit it; almost 65 percent of the adults have eighth-grade educations or less; and more than 20 percent of the work force is unemployed.

This is the story of Kinloch, a Missouri community of 6,500 in the St. Louis metropolitan area; an all-Negro community where half of the families have incomes under $3,000. An additional one-third of the families in town live on less than $2,000, and the remaining 15 percent exist on family incomes of less than $1,000 a year.

Only a major effort could keep their children from becoming poverty parents themselves.

Through its Water and Sewer Facilities grant program, the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing what it hopes will become part of that effort; a $684,900 grant to help provide employment for Kinloch workers and a long-range, progressive future for them and their city.

The Kinloch story is not typical in the annals of small cities helped by HUD's Water and Sewer grant program. The city is unique, with a depth of public need more critical than that of any community helped to date under this program.

Kinloch is "typical" only in the sense that the Missouri community is one of some 223 localities across the nation that have been helped to help themselves. Since the first grants in April 1966, HUD has committed more than $114,300,000 for water and sewer facilities.

Located in St. Louis County, densely-populated Kinloch is one of the few remaining sections in the metropolitan St. Louis area that does not have a sewerage system. The HUD grant is helping provide one-a waste collection system that will become part of a coordinated system for the St. Louis metropolitan

area.

HUD's Assistant Secretary for Metropolitan Development, Charles M. Haar, anticipates that the installation of sewers in Kinloch will mean considerably more than a drastic reduction in the public health problems facing the community. "The Kinloch project will stimulate economic growth and industrial development in the city, creating many job opportunities. Most certainly it will increase property values, provide a broader tax base and develop long-range employment,' Mr. Haar said. "It is expected also to generate a considerable number of jobs for Kinloch people in follow-up work related to the project."

As with Kinloch, one-third of the projects approved under the program, as of November 30, 1966, have been in communities of 10,000 population or less, in keeping with the congressional directive that consideration be given to small urbanizing areas, as well as the large metropolitan complexes.

LAURINBURG, N.C.

This city of 8,200 used HUD urban renewal assistance to raze an ancient court house and jail and build a new court house for $600,000.

A second renewal project, calling for $1,250,000 HUD assistance will provide offstreet parking for a new retail complex in the central business district.

LICK BRANCH, KY.

This small town of only 500 population has obtained a HUD reservation of $27,591 to help it build a neigborhood center to include a health clinic, library, kitchen, and a multipurpose room.

LITHONIA, GA.

This is a very old community of 1,667 residents on the outskirts of Atlanta. It has had one urban renewal project assisted by HUD funds, and now its businessmen have a critical need for further assistance. A large new suburban shopping center has been built a few miles away on a new expressway, and mer

chants know their trade may drop off sharply unless they can improve their own business district.

Lithonia applied to HUD for assistance with a 17-acre urban renewal project for the business district. The Department first investigated the feasibility, and this study indicated the project would be a sound one. Now this city can obtain HUD survey and planning funds to get on with this work.

LYNNVILLE, IND.

A new water system has just been completed for Lynnville, whose 409 residents have been depending on individual wells and cistern or water hauled into town on trucks. It was financed with a $231,000 HUD Public Facility Loan.

Although it has a good location and potential for economic growth, Mr. Edward Schumacher, President of the Town Board of Trustees, says new business has been reluctant to come in to Lynnville because it had no public water system. The community will step up efforts to attract new business now, he says.

The project-a raw water intake, water treatment plant, storage tank and distribution system, will get its final inspection by HUD officials on Wednesday, March 22.

MARQUETTE, MICH.

This city of 20,000 has in final planning a downtown renewal project, under a $660,000 Federal grant commitment, involving both clearance and rehabilitation. The project will revitalize commercial businesses in the town, and will provide modern office space for the town's growth, for professional use and for new investment.

MARYVILLE, TENN.

This city of 10,348 (1960 Census) is seeking HUD urban planning funds so it can proceed with an urban renewal project in its central business district. Maryville also has applied for $1,179,000 in HUD funds to carry out an ambitious Code Enforcement campaign in the city.

One open space tract has been acquired with a HUD grant, and the city has applied for $233,000 more to acquire two other open spaces.

M'ALESTER, OKLA.

This southeastern Oklahoma city of 20,800 has been growing strongly, thanks in large part to HUD assistance with planning, sewerage, urban renewal, and other programs.

Says City Manager Carroll J. Fry: "In our area, as in so much of rural America, the major obstacle to growth has been a lack of private investment funds and risk capital. The Federal programs are stimulating investment by business all over our part of the state."

McAlester was helped by HUD with planning advances that have led to the city's Community Renewal Plan, comprehensive city plan, and water plan. The city recently completed its urban transportation plan, first in the state. A Public Facility Loan enabled the city to expand parking facilities in the central business district. "This has been of great assistance," Mr. Fry says, "in attracting new industry and business to McAlester."

Expansion of the sewerage system, he reports, enabled the city to attract a large North American Aviation plant, which now employs 300 workmen including 125 skilled machinists.

The urban renewal project on the east side has had "a spin-off effect," Mr. Fry says. "Construction of business and commercial buildings downtown were doubled last year."

He expects to apply next month for a Model Cities planning grant to prepare for further attacks on McAlester's growth problems that cannot be solved through piecemeal programs.

MERCEDES, TEX.

In 1956, when Mercedes began to plan its urban renewal program, the future of the city of 13,000 inhabitants seemed dim. It had been in bankruptcy since 1941. A drought had dealt a serious blow to the already weak economy. The city had no plan for future growth.

A million-dollar urban renewal program was begun in a 58-block area of mud streets and shacks with open-pit privies.

A year and a half later, urban renewal activity had generated enthusiastic leadership all over town. Substandard housing was cleared; dirt streets were paved; the sewer system was extended into areas that had never had public sewers before.

Rehabilitation of 600 structures is planned, at an average cost of $2,000 per structure, or a total of $1.2 million. This rehabilitation program will stimulate business and provide a significant number of jobs.

It is estimated that $4 million worth of new housing will be built with FHA assistance.

In 1966 the city operated with more than $17,000 in the black, as compared to a $106,000 deficit in 1964. Tax evaluations have increased from $7 million in 1953 to $12 million at present.

The most hopeful development for this town is that several industries have approached the city with interest in locating industrial plants in the area. One has already been established in Mercedes.

MIAMI, OKLĄ.

Much of the business and trade of the town of Miami, Oklahoma was going to nearby Tulsa and Joplin until its downtown urban renewal program was undertaken in June, 1963.

HUD's approval of Miami's renewal plan and reservation of $1.43 million to carry it out gave a renewed spirit to its 12,870 citizens. The project has not yet been completed, but already business has shown a definite increase and trade is returning.

Specifically, the following businesses report increases in sales since renewal activities were started:

Underwood's Photography Shop reported that sales of portrait photography during the first four months of operation after completion of their building rehabilitation had already surpassed total sales in the same category during the entire year preceding.

Discount Tire Shop was relocated from a substandard building to a new location. Sales have increased better than 50 percent.

The 59-Minute Cleaners was relocated into standard quarters as a result of urban renewal. They have reported a definite increase in business activities. The Army Surplus Store relocated into a rehabilitated structure in the project area. An increase in sales estimated at 70 percent has been reported since moving into the new location.

Miami Jewelry has rehabilitated its quarters, presenting a very attractive place of business. Reports from the owner indicate that sales have doubled since rehabilitation.

Botts Wholesale Candy Company was relocated from substandard quarters into a new location and reports indicate a definite increase in sales since relocation.

With such a beginning completion of the project should present one of the greatest promotional examples possible for the urban renewal movement.

MILAN, ILL.

This city of 4,500 has a $426,000 Federal reservation. It has in planning the clearance and rehabilitation of its central business district, in order to restore local business and resolve transit problems on an adjoining bridge.