The city denied a 1927 request of citizens in the area for sewer lines to be built in their neighborhood. There were too few residents in the area to justify the expense. But despite the effects of the Great Depression, development in the Washington Highlands area continued. In 1936 and 1937, more than 200 homes were built in the neighborhood, and in 1938 the city connected the area to the sewer system via the large Oxon Run sewer main. The sewer system brought even more substantial growth. Another 250 homes were built in the neighborhood in 1938, and 100 more were planned. Even so, large parts of Washington Highlands remained undeveloped: Many streets existed only on paper, and the southern end of the area was primarily still farmland.