Residential Relocation
Displacement Experience
For those displaced there were particular cases where families were able to move into better housing in the city’s western suburbs while other low-income and lower-middle class individuals accumulated additional, unexpected debt to move to new housing. In general, surveys by the South Omaha Sun found a few commonalities between most displaced persons. First, most agreed that they were unhappy to leave their old neighborhood where multiple generations had built their lives. Most had to borrow from savings and accept unexpected debt to move into new housing. Many also complained that they had to pay a full year’s worth in taxes on their property even if they lived there for less than half of 1960. Finally, all agreed that “the state had them under the gun” and that they believed they should have received more compensation for their property, but reasoned that they were unlikely to win in court and feared they would receive less money as a result (“The Human Problems in Relocation,” South Omaha Sun, 12 January 1961).
“The Human Problems in Relocation,” South Omaha Sun, 12 January 1961
Further controversies focused on the fairness of property appraisals. From 1960 through 1961, the South Omaha Sun followed citizens’ who moved out of the Sheelytown neighborhood, reporting that many citizens tended to receive values lower than what they expected. Although state officials eventually created an appeal stage after homes were appraised, allowing property owners to list reasons why they believed their evaluations were unsatisfactory, they were subject to the state’s review and the state rejected homeowners' objections of “not enough money” (“State Adds New Aid Step for Interstate Land Buying,” South Omaha Sun, 4 February 1960). Many displaced persons explained that they had to borrow FHA or conventional loans to subsidize part of their home purchase and to cover simple moving expenses while others dipped into family savings they once had expected would remain untouched.
Some homeowners such as Emma Jetter of 3704 S. 26th St., believed that appraisers’ assessments did not reflect a fair value of the brick house her family built in 1915. Jetter explained to South Omaha Sun reporters how she had rented out six rooms in her nine-room house to provide herself an extra monthly income of $120. Jetter, fearing that she would have to rely on her children’s financial support, contended that the government appraisers’ $15,000 assessment would not be enough to cover a new, similarly-sized home to rent rooms and make a comparable monthly income (“The People’s Voice,” South Omaha Sun, 4 February 1960).
While many homeowners reluctantly accepted relocation, a few homeowners resisted as individuals. Herman Merten at 2879 Frederick Street was one such individual. Merten, a stationary engineer at a local brewery, the Taxpayers Plan's financial director, and a father of six, filed a court appeal in October of 1960 challenging the state's $9,120 appraisal of his nine-room house. Merten contended independent appraisers placed its value closer to $17,500. In the midst of Merten's pending challenge, the Nebraska Department of Roads initiated condemnation proceedings and the court ordered the Merten's eviction and the state took possession of the property's title. On 29 March 1961, local police and movers physically removed the family and their possessions from their home despite the ongoing appraisal appeal. (“Road Battler Holds Ground,” Omaha World-Herald, 25 March 1961; “Mertens Put Out in Street—State Takes Home for Interstate Highway,” Omaha World-Herald, 29 March 1961). The Merten family's physical resistance, however, proved an exception rather than the rule.
Many of the individuals and families surveyed by the South Omaha Sun were of working-class background with limited savings. The Sun found that many of them remained within a mile of their older neighborhood while others received loans and accumulated new debt to purchase homes farther away from their former neighborhood. Some of them worried that what financial savings they had may not persist or be drained entirely should they get sick or lose their job. Thus the move associated with the Interstate jeopardized access to and the rention of a middle-class life. By 1962, state officials such as State Senator Eugene Mahoney of Omaha recognized that the state's compensation to homeowners was often low and did not fully cover the costs of moving and purchasing new housing ("Resettlement Pay Is Low," Omaha World-Herald, 7 May 1962). It would not be until later that year that Congress amended the Federal Highway Act to mandate that states must provide relocation assistance to displaced people. But that legislation would not go into effect until mid-1965. By then many of the homes caught in the path of I-80 and I-480 had been purchased or demolished for the Interstate's right-of-way.