Seattle Model City Program

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Federally sponsored urban redevelopment program; terminated 1974.

From the description of Records, 1966-1974. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70927559

Funded primarily through the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development under authority of the federal Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 to reduce social and economic disadvantages in designated neighborhoods, provide maximum training and employment opportunities, and establish health services for residents of the city's central area; later extended to three other disadvantaged neighborhoods; funding ended in 1974.

From the description of Central administrative files, 1968-1974. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70925125

From the description of Reports, studies, and evaluations, 1968-1975. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70925126

Model Cities Program

In response to urban problems of poverty and race in the United States, Congress passed legislation in November 1966 to initiate a demonstration effort known as the Model Cities Program. Called the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Act of 1966 PL 754, the primary goal of this legislation was to improve the quality of urban life. The Model City Program goals and objectives were to reduce social and economic disadvantages in designated neighborhoods, provide maximum training and employment opportunities, and establish health services for residents. Financial and technical assistance was made available to cities, through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to ameliorate social, economic, and physical conditions in needed neighborhoods. City agencies were required to coordinate their efforts and the program emphasized the citizen participation. The goals of the program were to coordinate and concentrate federal, state and local resources, develop innovative programs, and to involve local residents in the planning and development process.

Eligible cities received one-year planning grants to prepare Comprehensive Plans. Implementation and on-going planning occurred over a five-year demonstration period. Seattle was the first city chosen to receive federal funds. The planning process involved creating a Comprehensive Plan in the first eight months, quantifying five-year objectives for the Model Neighborhood Area and developing first-year action plans and programs.

An extension of the Model Cities program was launched August 1, 1972 by the Nixon administration to provide for more review, involvement, and cooperation by various levels of local government and citizens, with less review at the federal level. Nixon approved $2.3 billion to fund model cities from 1969 to 1973. Model Cities funding was terminated June 20, 1975.

Seattle Model City Program

The Mayor and City Council supported an ad hoc committee, which first met in November 1966, to prepare a grant application. The committee defined the Model Neighborhood as the Central Area, Pioneer Square, and the International District. The population of this geographical area comprised about 10 percent of the city's population and about 61% of the city's non-white population. The initial application stated "Seattle is a city which is still short of the crisis situation of the older urban centers…The Model neighborhood is in the initial stages of decay, not the final stages….It is because we do still have time that we have developed the sense of urgency to attack our problems now."

The program was administered by the City's Executive Department. Walter Hundley, 38, was announced as the program director in December 1967. Hundley came to Seattle in 1954 to serve as a minister of a nondenominational church and later joined the State Department of Public Assistance. In 1967 he was Director of the Central Area Motivation Program, an anti-poverty project in Seattle. Hundley was chosen by a 10-member citizen's committee, headed by Charles Brink, Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Washington.

The major components of the administrative structure for SMCP consisted of an Advisory Council, Steering Committee, staff, and task forces. The Advisory Council consisted of over 80 members representing organizations within the Model Neighborhood.

Task forces worked with staff on planning. Based on work done by the Task Forces, Hundley reorganized and rewrote the drafts and submitted to HUD. HUD announced in December 1968 that Seattle's First-Year Action Program was the first to be approved for funding. The First-Year Action Program proposed projects in nine areas which corresponded to the focus of each task force. The areas included: Arts and Culture, Education, Employment and Economic Development, Health, Housing, Law and Justice, Physical Planning and Environment, Welfare, and Youth. From 1968 to 1971, the SMCP was successful in planning, developing, and implementing a variety of effective programs. Programs were developed in collaboration with the model neighborhood, which included, community activists, and a variety of agencies at local, state, and federal levels.

In 1971, Seattle was one of 16 cities chosen to participate in the Planned Variation or city-wide expansion. The Seattle Model City Program received $5.2 million in federal funds and the program was expanded to include three additional neighborhoods: north Seattle, southeast Seattle, and southwest Seattle. Walter Hundley was appointed to a city-wide post by Mayor Wes Uhlman and Louis C. Warner was appointed manager of the east branch, the city's original program. Jim Hurd and then George Clark were managers of the Southwest Branch; John Ybarra, Jr. was manager of the Southeast Branch; the North Branch manger was John Mitsules.

Seattle's Model City funding ended in 1974 and the program was transferred that year to the Department of Human Resources for closeout. Following the loss of funding, many projects were continued under the auspices of community organizations, larger institutions, City agencies, and other governmental entities. Some received ongoing funding through the Community Development Block Grant program.

From the guide to the Records, 1967-1975, (Seattle Municipal Archives)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Seattle (Wash.). Building Dept. Building Department annual reports, 1894-1977. Seattle Municipal Archives
creatorOf Seattle Model City Program. Central administrative files, 1968-1974. Seattle Municipal Archives
creatorOf Seattle Model City Program. Reports, studies, and evaluations, 1968-1975. Seattle Municipal Archives
referencedIn Building Department Annual Reports, 1894-1979 Seattle Municipal Archives
referencedIn Seattle Parks Department Property Acquisition Records, 1908-1977, 1966-1975 City of Seattle SeattleMunicipal Archives
referencedIn Shepro, Theresa Aragon de. Theresa Aragon de Shepro papers, 1962-1979. University of Washington. Libraries
referencedIn Theresa Aragon de Shepro papers, 1962-1979 University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
referencedIn Seattle Parks and Recreation Department Model City Project Records, 1968-1974 City of Seattle SeattleMunicipal Archives
referencedIn Walter T. Hubbard papers, 1964-2002 University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
creatorOf Records, 1967-1975 Seattle Municipal Archives
referencedIn Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Parks and Recreation. Urban beautification program grant applications, 1966-1972. Seattle Municipal Archives
creatorOf Seattle Model City Program. Records, 1966-1974. ND Univ of Washington Libraries (OCLC Worldshare ILL Beta)
referencedIn Hubbard, Walter, 1924-2007. Walter T. Hubbard papers, 1964-2002. University of Washington. Libraries
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Clark, George (Seattle Model City Program branch manager) person
associatedWith Hollingsworth, Dorothy, 1920- person
associatedWith Horwood, Rosemary person
associatedWith Hubbard, Walter, 1924-2007. person
associatedWith Hubbard, Walter T. person
associatedWith Hundley, Walter person
associatedWith Hurd, Jim (Seattle Model City Program branch manager) person
associatedWith Mitsules, John person
associatedWith Seattle (Wash.). Building Dept. corporateBody
associatedWith Seattle (Wash.). City Clerk corporateBody
associatedWith Seattle (Wash.). Department of Parks and Recreation corporateBody
associatedWith Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Parks and Recreation corporateBody
associatedWith Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Parks and Recreation. corporateBody
associatedWith Shepro, Theresa Aragon de. person
associatedWith United States. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Model Cities Administration. corporateBody
associatedWith Warner, Louis C. person
associatedWith Ybarra, John, Jr. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
United States
Washington (State)--Seattle
Seattle (Wash.)
Seattle (Wash.)
Seattle (Wash.)
Washington (State)
Seattle (Wash.)
Washington (State)--Seattle
Subject
Education
Business, Industry, and Labor
Children
City and town life
City planning
City planning
Community development
Community health services
Community leadership
Community life
Community life
Economic development
Education, Preschool
Politics and government
Greenbelts
Health and medicine
Health services accessibility
Health services accessibility
High school students
Housing
Housing
Housing rehabilitation
Labor supply
Legal aid
Middle school students
Music
Neighborhood
Neighborhoods
Occupational training
Occupational training
Parks
Parks and Playgrounds
Playgrounds
Public works
Sports and Recreation
Urban renewal
Urban renewal
Occupation
Activity

Corporate Body

Active 1968

Active 1974

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