The Housing Act of 1954 marked a historic turn in housing policy and federal-city relations. The act replaced public housing with commercially oriented urban renewal. It also served to redefine urban liberalism. Before 1954, New Deal class divisions characterized debates about the role of the federal government in the cities; after 1954, a new, powerful alliance of mayors and business groups-led by the Eisenhower administration-created consensus around urban redevelopment policies. The change in the trajectory of policy and politics is explained in this article by a model that emphasizes the importance of state institutions, interest groups, and ideas.
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