Housing Flashcards
the Public Health Movement
second half of the 1800’s
the first model tenement
1855, NYC
Tenement House Act of 1867
the first major housing code in the U.S. The Act required all rooms within tenements to have windows, but it did not require windows to open to the outside.
Tenement House Act of 1879
This law required that windows open to outside air, which resulted in the dumbbell tenement housing type with open air shafts. This form of housing, referred to as “Old Law Tenements,” was built throughout New York City starting in 1879, but often had poor lighting, little air, and little space.
How the Other Half Lives
1890, Jacob Riis
highlighted the plight of the poor in New York City
Tenement House Law of 1901
outlawed dumbbell tenements. The new housing code was vigorously enforced by the City.
The City required inspection and permits for construction and alterations. It also required wide light and air areas between buildings, as well as toilets and running water in each apartment unit.
Neighborhood Unit Concept
1929, Clarence Perry
part of the Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs.
The Neighborhood Unit Concept defines a neighborhood based on a five-minute walking radius, with a school at its center. Each neighborhood is approximately 160 acres.
Public Works Administration (PWA)
1934 following the Great Depression, provided 85 percent of the cost of public housing projects. This was the first federally supported public housing program.
National Housing Act
1934
It established the Federal Housing Administration with the purpose of insuring home mortgages.
Resettlement Administration
used New Deal funds to develop new towns throughout the U.S. Three of these were the “Greenbelt” communities of Greendale, WI, Greenhills, OH, and Greenbelt, MD, which are all in existence today.
U.S. Housing Act 1937
provided $500 million in home loans for the development of low-cost housing.
tied slum clearance to public housing. In addition, Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937 authorized project-based rental assistance where the owner reserves some or all of the units in a building for low-income tenants
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act
1944, GI Bill
guaranteed home loans to veterans. The result was the rapid development of suburbs.
Housing Act of 1949
was the first comprehensive housing legislation passed in the U.S. The Act called for the construction of 800,000 new housing units and emphasized slum clearance.
Housing Act of 1954
called for slum prevention and urban renewal. Additionally, the Act provided funding for planning for cities under 25,000 population. The 701 funds were later expanded to allow for statewide, interstate, and regional planning.
Housing Act of 1959
made federal matching funds available for comprehensive planning at the metropolitan, regional, state, and interstate levels.
Housing Act of 1961
provided interest subsidies to nonprofit organizations, limited-dividend corporations, cooperatives, and public agencies for the construction of public housing projects for low and moderate income families to rent.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Formed in 1965
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965. The act also put into place rent subsidies for the poor, home loans at reduced interest rates, and subsidies for public housing projects.
Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act
1966, the launch of the model cities program
The Act provided financial incentives for coordinated metro area planning for open spaces, water supply, sewage disposal, and mass transit. It also established a loan guarantee program to encourage the development of “new communities.” The Civil Rights Act of 1968 made racial discrimination in the sale or rental of housing illegal.
Fair Housing Act (FHA)
Part of Civil Rights Act, 1968
This was an expansion of previous acts to prohibit discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and since 1974, sex. Since 1988, the act protects people with disabilities and families with children.
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968
provided for the construction of six million subsidized housing units. The Act also authorized monthly subsidies for private houses for low-income families.
Pruitt-Igoe
a public housing development first occupied in 1954, was demolished in St. Louis 1972. Its demolition marked a shift away from high-rise concentrated public housing.
Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG)
created under the Housing and Community Development Act. This grant program provides flexibility for communities to use federal funds for the improvement of blighted areas. The CDBG program consolidated six categorical urban programs into one. Additionally, the Act created the Section 8 housing voucher program (amending the 1937 legislation) that provides rent subsidies for low-income housing.
National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Act of 1974
significantly updated in 2000, regulated manufactured housing units (sometimes called “mobile homes”) for the first time.
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
1975 federal law that requires financial institutions to report mortgage data to the public.
