People move in because they can't find anything better.
Between Thirty-first and Thirty-ninth streets east of State Street seventy-eight blocks were surveyed. There were seventy-eight frame and 1,523 brick and stone buildings, 620 single houses, 559 double, 254 accommodating three or more families, and nine apartment houses. Of this group 51 per cent were of Type C. The property and general surroundings showed age and the beginning of rapid deterioration everywhere; in some cases there had been attempts to care for the premises and in some cases neglect was obvious. The streets, except Michigan Avenue and South Park Boulevard, showed much neglect, and the alleys generally were dirty. Many of these houses were occupied by their Negro owners. Negroes were found to occupy about 40 per cent of these Type C houses.
Conveniences.—In these two parts of the South Side area conveniences and ordinary sanitary facilities are often absent. Gas is the common form of lighting, and often it is not used. Family-history data revealed that there were about as many homes without as with bathrooms. In a large number of buildings families were obliged to use common toilets located in halls or back yards. The dwellings were out of repair in some respects in nearly every instance. Defects of this kind were often in the plumbing. Leaky toilets or water pipes were common complaints. Some toilets did not flush. Some sinks were leaky, as were some of the roofs. In some houses windows or doors were broken, loose, or sagging. Some houses were very dirty.
On the West Side a situation not essentially different was found among the Type C dwellings. Possibly baths were a little more frequent. Occasionally there was a furnace, though stove heat was most common. Gas was the usual means of lighting. The situation as to toilets was about the same, and the buildings, being chiefly old, were usually out of repair in some respect. The number of brick and frame dwellings was about equal. There were more double houses in proportion to the single ones, and none that had three or more families. Five-room dwellings were most numerous, and there was little indication of overcrowding.
Neighborhood conditions.—Only two blocks in the West Side area were rated as merely "fair," four in the North Side area were dirty, while only one in the Ogden Park area was not cleaned. In the North Side and Ogden Park areas distinct efforts were observed to keep yards clean. Premises showed signs of care and attention, though an occasional vacant lot showed use for dumping. Alleys in all three districts gave evidence of neglect. Some were badly littered with garbage and rubbish.
IV. "TYPE D" HOUSES
Type D housing is the least habitable of all. The houses were usually dilapidated, and in many cases extremely so. Most of the buildings are among the oldest in the city. They were occupied only by Negroes at the foot of the economic scale, many families living from hand to mouth, frequently in extreme poverty.
This class of houses predominates in those parts of the South Side area from Twelfth to Twenty-second Street along State Street and Wabash Avenue, and from Twelfth to Thirty-ninth streets and Wentworth Avenue. Many Negro dwellings in the North Side area and about 35 or 40 per cent of those in the West Side area were of Type D. Even in the area of the South Side between State Street and Lake Michigan many of the older frame and brick buildings fall into this classification. It is safe to say that 43 per cent of the housing for Negroes is of this type.
Most of these dwellings were frail, flimsy, tottering, unkempt, and some of them literally falling apart. Little repairing is done from year to year. Consequently their state grows progressively worse, and they are now even less habitable than when the surveys quoted at the beginning of this section were made. The surroundings in these localities were in a condition of extreme neglect, with little apparent effort to observe the laws of sanitation. Streets, alleys, and vacant lots contained garbage, rubbish, and litter of all kinds. It is difficult to enforce health regulations.
Although there has been protest by Negroes against the necessity of living in places so uncomfortable and unhealthful, improvement comes slowly. Contentment with such insanitary conditions is usually due to ignorance of better living. For the poorest buildings low rents are offered to encourage continued occupancy and to forestall requests for repairs. Prompt vacating of many of these houses usually follows when a family can secure better accommodations in a better neighborhood.[23]