The New Deal helped build The City
By: Katie Worth
Examiner Staff Writer
December 24, 2008
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| Faith in history: UC Berkeley historian Gray Brechin said that most of the structures in Golden Gate Park were built as a result of the New Deal, as well as dozens of city schools. (Mike Koozmin/Special to The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Imagine San Francisco without the Bay Bridge. Or the airport. Or Treasure Island. Or Aquatic Park. Or the zoo.
That is just a partial list of local landmarks that exist as a result of the New Deal, President Franklin Roosevelt’s economic policy in the 1930s to help dig the nation out of the Great Depression.
Those investments, which continued until World War II, put millions of people to work and created much of the infrastructure we still rely upon today, historians say.
As President-elect Barack Obama touts an economic stimulus package that many are calling the “New” New Deal, historians are continuing to track the legacy of the original.
The California Living New Deal project, a collaboration that includes UC Berkeley and the California Historical Society, has mapped thousands of projects across the state funded by Roosevelt’s economic stimulus package and there are thousands more to still identify. With the nation’s recent economic woes, the project is garnering widespread interest.
“Everywhere you turn, you’re hearing about the New Deal or about FDR or about the ‘New’ New Deal,” said Harvey Smith, board member of the National New Deal Preservation Association. “People realize there are obvious parallels between then and now. Both problems were caused by unfettered, unbridled, unregulated capitalism, and people see very clearly now that we need regulation again, and in fact, we need all the things that the New Deal brought us.”
Those things included massive investments in the nation’s infrastructure to shore up the depressed economy. Roosevelt authorized the treasury to borrow billions of dollars and with those dollars put people to work building schools, creating parks, constructing freeways and beautifying cities.
Thousands of artists were hired to paint murals — some of which can be seen in San Francisco at Rincon Annex, Coit Tower and the Beach Chalet.
Most of the structures in Golden Gate Park were built as a result of the New Deal, as well as dozens of schools, libraries and theaters throughout The City, according to UC Berkeley historian Gray Brechin, who is writing a book about the New Deal.
“A lot of it could have been done with machines, but instead there was an emphasis on craftsmanship,” he said.
Smith said studying the New Deal leaves him hopeful, even in this dire time.
“What the New Deal shows us is our country is perfectly capable of mobilizing when people are in need,” he said. “The New Deal shows us that you can tackle these problems and start to solve them. And right now, people are ready to be mobilized and ready to go to work.”
Critics debate the economic impact of the New Deal and say that despite the similarities between now and then, there are also differences that might make a large stimulus plan less effective than other solutions.
Private sector could flourish
A new New Deal could be a boon for Bay Area workers and businesses, if federal money is invested in the right things, experts say.
President-elect Barack Obama this month announced a massive stimulus package that analysts believe could exceed $1 trillion.
Yet to be determined is exactly how that money will be invested. Experts say Obama should take a clue from the original New Deal and invest in a variety of infrastructure projects.
During the 1930s, the federal government invested billions into projects to help the private sector be more productive: improving the nation’s highways, building new airports, making ports stronger and more efficient.
Such projects helped businesses get goods to market faster — and pay less to do so — and the private sector has reaped the rewards of that investment ever since, according to San Francisco State Professor of Economics Daniel Vencill.
Obama’s stimulus plan should do similar things, he said.
“What Obama’s advisors have been indicating is [federal dollars] shouldn’t just go to pork barrel projects — sports stadiums and such. What we really need is a better power grid, rapid transit, alternative energy, rebuilding our highways, adding more lanes — things that don’t compete with the private market, but actually increase the productivity of the private sector,” he said.
Projects like the California High Speed Rail, extending BART to San Jose and alternative energy generation are obvious targets of federal dollars — and all would bring money to the Bay Area, he said. — Katie Worth
New Deal’s legacy
Bay Area landmarks and infrastructure constructed as a result of the New Deal:
- Bay Bridge
- Treasure Island
- Caldecott Tunnel
- San Francisco, Oakland airports
- Hetch Hetchy completion
- S.F. sewer and water mains
- West Side Sewage Treatment Plant
- New Mint at Duboce and Market
- Old Federal Building
- Tennis courts, civilian and police stables, fly-casting ponds, archery range in Golden Gate Park
- Stern Grove rock work and trails
- City College of San Francisco
Art projects funded by the New Deal:
- Aquatic Park
- Beach Chalet
- Rincon Annex
- Coit Tower
- City College of San Francisco
- Presidio Officers’ Club
- University of California, San Francisco
- Laguna Honda Hospital
- Palace of Fine Arts restoration (PWA & WPA)
Source: California Living New Deal Project
On target: 2008 marks the 75th anniversary of FDR’s New Deal. California’s Living New Deal Project is a collaborative venture that seeks to document the impact of New Deal programs on the state. A partnership between the California Historical Society, the California Studies Center, and UC Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment Library, the project seeks to connect New Deal history to contemporary life. Learn more and become involved at livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu.
