The Rise of James Rouse

James Rouse was an American urban planner, real estate developer and civil activist. He founded The Rouse Company and pioneered urban planning development in the US. He was born on April 26, 1914 in Easton, Maryland. His father, Willard Rouse, lost his bid for the state attorney for Harford County, he moved the family to Easton. Rouse spent his boyhood there. He was home-schooled by his mother until he reached second grade. He transferred to a public school after that. He lost both of his parents to sickness at 16. Thereafter, their family home was foreclosed. His brother Bill funded his schooling.

Soon the family was unable to fund his school fees because of money problems so the family appealed to the husband of his oldest sister who happened to be a Navy officer based in Hawaii. He was declared as his sister’s dependent and secured his connections with the Navy. With this, Rouse was able to continue his studies at University of Hawaii. Another scholarship was secured by his family so he transferred to the University of Virginia. He continued his political science while working as waiter. Later, he decided to move to Baltimore and continue on his own.

At Baltimore, Rouse worked with St. Paul Garage. Although he could not drive, he was fortunate to find this job when he convinced his supervisor that hiring and teaching him to drive would be better than firing him. After one year at St. Paul, Rouse was hired by the Federal Housing Administration as clerk for loans to Maryland banks. He qualified to take law so he borrowed from Guy Hollyday who was seeking FHA loan for Title Guarantee and Trust Company at that time. He went to University of Maryland law school while Hollyday mentored him.

After graduation, Rouse became partner of the Moss-Rouse Company, a mortgage banking firm. Eventually, this became the Rouse Company. Rouse Company specialized in FHA loans. Rouse hired Churchill Carey, who worked for a company that granted loan capital to Moss-Rouse Company.

When the World War II was over, Rouse established the Citizens Housing and Planning Association. The organization’s mission was to rehabilitate the decaying housing stock in The Baltimore Plan. This was the beginning of Rouse’s participation in the Dwight D. Eisenhower’s National Housing Task Force where he introduced urban renewal.