Suchergebnisse

Housing, neighborhood, and environmental priorities were transformed in the late seventies by events of the decade. An upsurge in new construction had brought steady, nearly universally diffused improvements in the housing stock. But by 1980, the record high costs of shelter threatened to erode living and housing standards. Rising costs had uneven, inequitable effects. Low-income renters bore the brunt of inflation, while high-income homeowners benefited most from real estate windfalls and a federal, tax-code tilt toward homeownership. The rental stock in mature, northern cities was further decimated by out-migration. The outward trek, selective by race and class, accelerated in the seventies, sharpening neighborhood polarities and isolating minorities and dependent, female-headed households. Scattered, low-density developments also impeded housing, energy, and environmental conservation efforts. Social and demographic changes had fueled an enormous pent-up demand for housing, fed by the huge baby-boom generation and the mushrooming of small, adult households. But as America entered the eighties, the postwar, steady, upward trajectory of change may have passed its peak.

Factors affecting housing, neighborhood, & environmental priorities during the 1970s are discussed. Objectives of federal housing policies since the 1930s are reviewed, & program performance is assessed in the areas of home & neighborhood improvement & homeownership. Rapid construction of new units & rising costs are seen as producing inequitable effects: (1) disproportionate increases in housing costs for low-income renters, with higher income homeowners benefiting from tax protection; (2) migration out of older northern cities, isolating minorities & dependent F heads of households in lower quality Ur housing; & (3) scattered, low-density developments that adversely affect housing, environmental, & energy conservation efforts. Demographic trends toward fewer "traditional" families & more small adult households are considered to increase these pressures. New indicators, eg, individual home & neighborhood cost monitors as environmental quality & energy-use measures, are stressed for use in future public housing policy. 8 Tables, 10 Graphs. Modified HA.

Social Indicators, 1976 documents the success of the nation in solving the housing problems of the 1950s, in eliminating both a severe housing shortage & many substandard dwellings. Housing has improved greatly for all income classes (including the poor), for all races, & by all standards of measurement, but wide disparities remain. This suggests great relative deprivation in a society with such universally high standards. A massive upsurge in housing construction--greater than rising demand--brought changes in the quality of the housing stock & in location as well. The transformation of residential settlement patterns & the growth of extensive metropolitan cities have had profound effects on housing & community life. Because of racial & social barriers in local housing markets, polarities between metropolitan neighborhoods have increased. None of these pervasive changes emerge in the indicators. Nor do they address such contemporary concerns as rising housing costs, deteriorating neighborhood conditions in poverty areas, & the environmental & energy implications of emerging low-density housing patterns. Thus, readers are likely to underestimate the scale & nature of the housing shortage & misread the direction of future trends. 4 Tables, 4 Charts. Modified HA.

Social Indicators, 1976 documents the success of the nation in solving the housing problems of the 1950s, in eliminating both a severe housing shortage and large numbers of substandard dwellings. Housing has improved greatly for all income classes, including the poor, for all races, and by all standards of measurement, but wide disparities remain. This suggests great relative deprivation in a society with such universally high standards. A massive upsurge in housing construction, greater than rising demand, brought changes not only in the quality of the housing stock but in its location as well. The transformation of residential settlement patterns and the growth of extensive metropolitan cities have had profound effects on housing and community life. Because of racial and social barriers in local housing markets, polarities among metrpolitan neighborhoods have increased. None of these pervasive changes emerge in the indicators. Nor do they address such contemporary concerns as rising housing costs, deteriorating neighborhood conditions in poverty areas, and the environmental and energy implications of emerging low density housing patterns. Thus, readers are likely to underestimate the scale and nature of housing deprivation and misread the direction of future trends.