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Page 4 · column 4 of 9 · from the scan, no model involved
No Distress
To the editor: Am I entitled to declare that,Washington is pt#sically -and -.econbfnically -not as' distressed as Tnotft other' places in the country? In designating Washington ’ distressed, did HUD send anyone to take a look at the town to judge its stagnation and deterioration, or can we suppose that figures were put into a computer about the town and that these figures were compared electronically to a set of a priori “ideal” figures and because some anonymous person’s calculations weren’t agreed with. Washington's card was kicked out? Garbage in; garbage out.
Happy indeed should Washington residents be if only “a project could be caused \#hich wouldn’t have occurred in and of itself—just any old project which could ipso facto be designated progress. Certainly under the criteria employed, the establishment of the Inn Restaurant, built before 1940, and renovation of Clopton House, also built before 1940, wouldn't contribute to any of the statistics counted.
Indeed it is regrettable that 14.06 per cent of Washington’s population are at or below the poverty level. What kinds of projects can one imagine which might alter that fact? That is a question our community needs to ask itself if changing statistics is to result in meeting jwtnan needs.
If many of these individuals are in fact unemployable, what good would projects do them and hence the welfare of the whole community? It is at least hopeful that the growth rate is above the minimum of a distressed level designation, and at or near the level of that of the nation as a whole, one Washington can sustain
90.1%