AICP Housing Flashcards
State and Local Government Roles for Housing
• Statewide Building Codes and Consumer Protection Agencies • State Housing Finance Agencies • Local Housing Authorities • Local Regulatory Environment
Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG)
1974–allows federal funds to be used to improve blighted areas and created Section 8 program for rent subsidies. Annual entitlement grant and must be used for either:1) benefit low/moderate income hosueholds2) prevent blight or slums3) address communities needs of urgency due to serious or immediate threats
Urban Development Action Grant Program (UDAG)
1977 - created through amendments to 1974 Housing Act to encourage public-private partnerships on redevelopment areas. Provided air to distressed cities by using federal funds to spark private investment on development projects. Cut funding for Section 701 comp planning program.
HOME Program
1990 - authorized by the National Affordable Housing Act to increase home ownership and affordable housing opportunities and provided funds for housing rehabilitation. Largest federal block grant to creating affordable housing for low income households. $ goes to site improvements, demolition, relocation and acquisition. Jurisdictions that apply for home funds must provide a 25% match of federal funds they receive. Must set asside15% of allocation for housing to be owned or developed by community housing devepment orgs.
HOPE VI
1992 - Provided federal funds to redevelop severely distressed public housing. intended to address physical improvements, improve management and provide services.
Housing and Community Development Act of 1974
authorized the Urban Homesteading Demonstration - use the government’s existing housing stock to increase homeownership for families that would otherwise be unable to improve their housing. May include properties acquired through tax foreclosures, purchase, donations or other methods
Housing Act of 1949
Called for construction of 800,000 ne w housing units and created federal urban renewal program. 1st comprehensive housing legislation –tied federal $ to slum clearance and redevelopment, BUT you had to have a comp plan
Housing and URban Development Act of 1965
created HUD, rent subsidies for lower income groups, home loans with reduced interest rates, and subsidies for public housing construction. First secretary - Robert Weaver
National Housing Act of 1934
Established FHA, responsible for expanding housing construction jobs. Created a program to insure private home mortgages. Developed minimum design standards for homes finances through program, directed at upper/middle class, which were incorporated into zoning and building codes. Meant that the houses lower class ppl could afford were zoned out.10% downpayment and 25 year repayment. Changed how homeownership worked, since now major suburbs were being built with this and VA fund programs. increased homeownership form 40% in 1940 to 65% in 1983.
Housing
HUD, EDA, CDBG § National Housing Acts (1934-1954) § Fair Housing Act (1968)
Joseph Hodnut
Hudnut’s own architectural designs were conservative, but as an educator he promoted modern design, and in the 1930s, he brought the German modernist architects Walter Gropius—founder of the Bauhaus—and Marcel Breuer to the Harvard faculty.Their move to the United States led to a change in American architectural education, away from historicism to an architecture that relied on craft and modern industrial techniques.
Housing Act (1934)
Part of the New Deal passed during the Great Depression in order to make housing and home mortgages more affordable. It created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). hese policies had disparate impacts on Americans along segregated lines (see Redlining):Author Richard Rothstein says the housing programs begun under the New Deal were tantamount to a “state-sponsored system of segregation.”The government’s efforts were “primarily designed to provide housing to white, middle-class, lower-middle-class families,” he says. African-Americans and other people of color were left out of the new suburban communities — and pushed instead into urban housing projects.
Housing & Community Development Act, 1974
primarily by creating the Section 8 housing program, which provides rental assistance to low-income individuals and families, and establishing the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program that allows communities to receive funding for various housing and community development projects; it is considered a major piece of legislation aimed at addressing housing needs in the United States.
Key points about the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974:
Section 8 Housing:
This program, introduced by the Act, is a key component of affordable housing in the US, offering rental assistance vouchers to low-income families to help them rent privately owned housing.
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG):
This program provides federal funding to cities, counties, and states to support community development activities like housing rehabilitation, economic development, and infrastructure improvements.
Citizen Participation:
The Act emphasizes the importance of citizen involvement in the planning and decision-making processes related to community development projects.
Impact on Public Housing:
The Act marked a shift away from solely constructing public housing projects, moving towards a more market-based approach with rental assistance programs like Section 8.
Housing Act of 1959
Provided federal matching grants for comprehensive planning effort to higher level governments (MPOs, state, region etc). Offered subsidies to nonprofits and public agencies to construct public housing for rent
Housing Act of 1954
Set new targets for public housing and targeted slum prevention and urban renewal (not clearance). Provided funding for smaller cities, gave Section 701 funds to help cities create comp plans, zoning and subdivision ordinances. 1st to offer money to rehouse families displaced by urban renewal.
Housing Units Methods:
Similar to extrapolation but good at a local level.
Housing and Community Development Act of 1977
terminated funding for local comp plans through 1951 housing act. Created UDAG
Housing Act (1954)
The 1954 Act provided funding for 140,000 units of public housing, giving preferential treatment to families that would be relocated for slum eradication or revitalization. In 1965, federal housing programs came under the purview of the new United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). If you are in a small- to mid-size community, chances are that planning began with a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 701 grant made to your community between 1954 and 1981. If your city did not receive a 701 grant directly, it may have participated in a council of government (or similar association of local governments) that prepared comprehensive plans using 701 funds. Even if this assistance did not reach your community directly or indirectly, your community may have emulated those communities that had their plans financed by 701 by developing plans with other grants or its own funds.
Housing Acts of 1934 and 1937
The Housing Act of 1934 and the Housing Act of 1937 were both New Deal programs that expanded housing opportunities for Americans. The 1934 act established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), while the 1937 act created the United States Housing Authority (USHA).
Housing Act of 1934
Created the FHA to help first-time homebuyers
Provided government-backed loans to stimulate the construction industry
Helped make homeownership more accessible to middle- and working-class Americans
Housing Act of 1937
Established the USHA to oversee public housing
Provided federal subsidies to local housing authorities to build public housing
Empowered the FHA to clean up slum areas
Housing Acts of 1949 and 1954
The Housing Act of 1949 and the Housing Act of 1954 were both pieces of legislation that expanded federal involvement in housing. The 1954 act amended the 1949 act, shifting the focus from new construction to the preservation of existing housing.
Housing Act of 1949
Established a national housing policy
Authorized federal loans, grants, and advances to help clear slums and redevelop urban areas
Expanded the public housing program
Increased the FHA mortgage insurance program for non-defense housing
Housing Act of 1954
Amended the National Housing Act of 1934
Provided funding for public housing
Gave priority to families displaced by slum clearance or revitalization
Introduced the term “urban renewal”
Housing & Urban Development Act, 1965
The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 was a law that expanded federal housing programs and created the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act on August 10, 1965.
Goals
Improve living conditions in urban areas
Provide housing assistance to low- and moderate-income families
Promote orderly urban development
Actions
Increased funding for existing housing programs
Created new programs for rent subsidies, housing rehabilitation, and mortgages for veterans
Established HUD as a cabinet-level agency to coordinate federal housing programs
Created a leased housing program to make privately owned housing available to low-income families
Provided matching grants to localities for community centers, water and sewer facilities, and urban beautification
Impact
The act was a major revision to federal housing policy and was intended to give urban interests a voice in federal housing policy.
Tenement Housing Law, 1901
The New York State Tenement House Act of 1901 was a law that improved the living conditions in tenement housing in New York City. It was part of the Progressive Era and was one of the first laws of its kind in the United States.
What did the law do?
Banned windowless interior living spaces
Required new buildings to have indoor bathrooms
Required new buildings to have improved lighting
Required new buildings to have fire safeguards
Required new buildings to have proper air ventilation
Required new buildings to have outward-facing windows in every room
Required new buildings to have an open courtyard
Set minimum size requirements for tenement housing
How did the law come about?
The New York State legislature created the Tenement House Committee in 1894 to examine tenement housing conditions
The committee’s work led to the passage of the 1901 law
What was the impact of the law?
The law dramatically improved tenement conditions
The law made it mandatory for tenements to have indoor plumbing, ventilation, and fireproofing
NY Tenement House Law
The New York State Tenement House Act of 1901, or “New Tenement Law,” was a housing reform law aimed at improving living conditions in New York’s tenement buildings. Technically a tenement was any building that housed three or more families, but the term had come to mean housing for poor families that lacked proper amenities. The law set requirements for new buildings to improve light and air quality for residents, including external-facing windows in each room, an open courtyard, improved ventilation, indoor toilets, and better fire safety. 1901
Tenement Housing Law 1867
The Tenement House Act of 1867 was the first law in New York State that regulated tenement housing. The law defined a tenement, set construction requirements, and established minimum standards for sanitation and safety.
What did the law require?
Definition: A tenement is a building that is rented out to more than two families per floor, or more than three families in total
Windows: Each sleeping room must have a window or ventilator
Fire escapes: Each tenement must have a fire escape
Toilets: Each tenement must have a toilet for every 20 residents
Sewer connection: All new tenements must be connected to the sewer system
Drainage: New tenements must be graded and drained
Why was the law passed?
The law was passed in response to the poor living conditions in tenements, which were often home to working-class families
The law was also a response to the intolerable conditions that rioters experienced during the New York draft riots of 1863
What was the impact of the law?
The law helped pave the way for more rigorous housing legislation in the future
The law led to the development of new building plans, such as the “dumbbell” blueprint, which provided air to all rooms
CATHERINE BAUER
Today’s debates about public housing have a familiar ring to those who know the work of Catherine Bauer, who described many of the problems in her 1934 book, Modern Housing. Bauer’s views had a strong influence on the housing legislation of the New Deal, but in the 1950s she became an equally articulate advocate for long-range planning to guide metropolitan growth. In a 1951 essay titled “Social Questions in Housing and Community Planning,” she laid the foundation for what would later be called social planning.Catherine Bauer was a leader of the “housersâ€â€”advocates for high-quality public housing in the U.S., a cause that gathered steam during the Great Depression. After studying at Vassar and Cornell, Bauer deeply researched the European worker housing designed by Le Corbusier and other early Modernists. Her 1934 book Modern Housing was an indictment of America’s failure to build comfortable, dignified housing for ordinary people amid a national housing shortage. Following the insights from her book, Bauer largely wrote the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, which created America’s public-housing program. She also served on the leadership of numerous planning and housing organizations and agencies.At a time when there were few opportunities for women in architecture and planning, Bauer Wurster (she married architect William Wurster in 1940) worked her way to the pinnacle of those fields, becoming the first woman appointed to the faculty of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. In the 1950s, Jane Jacobs, then an editor at Architectural Forum, criticized Bauer Wurster’s ongoing faith in top-down social-housing projects, while Bauer Wurster argued that these kinds of interventions were necessary to fight segregation—a topic Jacobs hardly ever confronted head-on.Bauer Wurster’s accomplishments are not widely recognized today. But in a moment of increased interest in housing policy in America—and a renewed push for public housing—she could be more relevant than ever.
US Housing Act of 1937
Wagner Steagall - Provided $500 mil in home loans to the development of low-cost housing and tied slum clearance to public housing
