128 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



piled high with the remnants of discarded automobiles. Suburban 

 housing projects have risen with little attention being given to see 

 that they fit in with over-all plans of development for the community. 

 Similarly, little attention is paid to the aesthetics of setting or design. 



Suburban growth, which increased by a staggering 50 percent 

 between 1950 and 1960, is beginning to show the same signs of 

 haphazard construction that characterizes our large cities. In the 

 rush to accommodate the large exodus of people from the cities, we 

 are re-creating the same unhealthy and unhappy environments which 

 they are seeking to escape. This urban spillover is becoming an 

 increasingly urgent matter that is going to demand more and more 

 of our time and energies. 



What are some of the guidelines we already have to meet these 

 growing problems, and where can we go from here? 



With the Housing Act of 1961, we launched our first frontal 

 assault on the open space problem. Under title VII of that legisla- 

 tion I was successful in having $75 million authorized for open 

 space use. As of April 30, 1965, this program had made 360 grants 

 to communities in the acquisition of more than 136,000 acres of 

 land to be devoted to permanent open space. The continuing vitality 

 of this program is demonstrated by the fact that 141 of those projects 

 were approved during the current fiscal year. 



But like any program which is new, there were defects, and we 

 now must begin doing something about them. Localities wishing 

 to make use of Federal assistance have run into a number of obstacles 

 because of inability to meet matching fund requirements and because 

 of the restrictive criteria governing the use of funds upon which the 

 initial program was based. 



The bill which I have just introduced would provide for increasing 

 the Federal contribution toward acquisition of this land by State 

 and local agencies from the present maximum of 30 percent to 50 

 percent. In addition it would make money available for develop- 

 ing the land as well as purchasing it. I am hopeful that this will 

 take some of the pressures off city governments which are squeezed 

 the hardest between costs of providing more and more local services 

 and the need to purchase rapidly disappearing open space. 



Under the 1965 housing bill, many new programs are foreseen 

 which will encourage local experimentation and innovation, that 

 should dress up and expand our parks and open space facilities. 



Tree planting and a more tasteful use of shrubbery and flowers 

 would be possible to enhance the landscape. 



