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Temple Cites State Efforts To Eliminate Slums

To meet the rising concentration
of population in urban
centers and the all-too-often
bleak environmental conditions,
ways must be found to improve
the quality of life for every Virginian.

"The total strategy against
poverty involves all three levels
of government: federal, state, and
local," says T. Edward Temple,
director of the Division of Planning
in the Virginia Office of
Administration. His comments
are recorded in the October issue
of the University News Letter.

Asserting that "we cannot continue
to be proud of our cities
that allow human beings to live
in squalor and decay," Mr.
Temple observes that Virginia
has attempted to face the problems
of the poor through the
implementation of the Economic
Opportunity Act and the creation
of local community action
organizations.

Programs to eradicate slums
and improve housing must be
accompanied by efforts to provide
education, vocational training,
and health services for the urban
poor.

Even though these goals may
be carried out, he notes, the
central city still seems to furnish
little hope for the type of environment
sought. "The golden
towers of our dream cities have
crumbled into slums, the automobiles
have taken over our
streets, the air has become
polluted."

To answer these dilemmas, the
1966 General Assembly passed
an act creating a Virginia Metropolitan
Areas Study Commission
and the new Division of Planning.
It also provided for the
position of a Commissioner of
Administration in the Office of
the Governor. It is the first time
in the long history of the Commonwealth,
the Director adds,
that planning has had "a place
under the sun."

In attempting to structure the
new Division of Planning, emphasis
has been placed on the
continuation of the local planning
assistance program. "It is
in this program that we hope to
give more extensive planning aid
to the large number of rural
communities."

Federal funds are available for
local communities which qualify,
the government providing two-thirds
of the cost and the locality
one-third. "We are at present
giving consideration to the possibility
that the state may be able
to pay the local share of the one-third
through the use of our planning
staff," Mr. Temple writes.

Along with the cooperation of
the three levels—federal, state,
and local — intergovernmental
technical assistance is likely to
grow in importance. 'The increasing
urbanization of our
society," he says, "imposes new
burdens upon local government,
many of which were designed
basically to serve rural, sparsely—
populated areas."

The expansion of technical assistance
for local units is an indispensable
key to the strengthening
of government at the local
level.