Housing Policies, Sprawl, And Ch12 Test Questions & Answers

CHAPTER 12

Multiple Choice:

1. The following is true of housing in the U.S.:

a. we are becoming more mobile as a people.

b. renters constitute only 33 percent of all households.

c. eighty percent of all new homes are located in the suburbs or non-metropolitan areas.

d. some two-thirds of the housing increase was in the Northwest.

2. Which of the following can be said of housing today?

a. The housing stock in the U.S. increased at a rate over twice as fast as the population between 1975 and 2015.

b. Eight-out-of-ten new homes are built in the central city.

c. As of the 2010 census, 50 percent of married couples are homeowners.

d. Seventy percent of Hispanics own their homes.

3. According to the census, __________.

a. the U.S. population is increasingly mobile

b. the U.S. population consists of 80 percent renters

c. 25 percent of all rental units are headed by a female

d. four-fifths of married couples are homeowners

4. Over the last 50 years mobility in the U. S. has

a. increased sharply

b. increased slightly

c. decreased

d. stayed the same

1. The state discussed in the text with extremely high housing prices is

a. Arizona

b. New York

c. California

d. Texas

6. According to the text, the cost of owning a home in the United States has __________ since the 1950s.

a. decreased slightly

b. remained the same

c. increased slightly

d. increased greatly

7. In the 1950s, the average thirty-year-old male worker could carry a mortgage on a medium-priced home for 14 percent of his gross earnings. Thirty years later, it took __________ percent of his earnings to do so.

a. 7

b. 21

c. 30

d. 44

8. According to 2013 Census Bureau data __________.

a. married couples with children constitute less than half of all families

b. married couples with families are now 90 percent of the population

c. a tenth of all white children live with one parent

d. a quarter of all black children live with one parent

9. There are over 95 million households in the U.S. and __________.

a. married couple families are dropping as a percent of all families

b. family size is now 4.4 persons

c. 12 percent of all children live with only one parent

d. 40 percent of all households are made up of unmarried couples

10. Most households occupied by one individual living alone are recognized by the Census Bureau as belonging to the following household type: __________.

a. family

b. non-family

c. unmarrieds

d. nontraditional household

11. The Federal Housing Act of 1937 provided for the construction of __________.

a. shopping centers

b. office buildings

c. housing projects

d. government facilities

12. The federal housing projects built during the 1930s __________.

a. were rarely successful

b. housed the very poor

c. included the first shopping malls and suburban office parks

d. were generally successful

13. The federal government became involved in housing programs during __________.

a. the 1930s

b. the 1940s

c. the 1950s

d. the 1980s

14. The United States Government __________.

a. like most Western nations, has long been actively involved in the direct support of housing

b. has traditionally been involved in the housing of its citizens since the 1880s

c. has never had an official housing policy

d. became permanently involved in the question of housing during the depression of the 1930s

15. Public housing during the 1930s __________.

a. was specifically designed for working class people with jobs

b. was filled with the permanently poor

c. was rampant with drugs, gambling and crime

d. was all high-rises

16. The purpose for the creation of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) was __________.

a. to create low income housing

b. to eliminate substandard housing

c. to encourage middle-class movement into the inner city

d. to insure home loans

17. FHA subsidies had the effect of __________.

a. producing abandonments in housing

b. subsidized white suburbanization

c. spurring urban redevelopment

d. destroying familial values

18. The 1968 Fair Housing Act __________.

a. provided for urban redevelopment

b. put the government into the housing business

c. declared racial covenants illegal

d. was designed to hold middle-class families in the city

19. Upper- and middle-class housing is __________.

a. not subsidized in any way

b. subsidized by tax deductions on federal income taxes

c. exempt from zoning regulations

d. frequently red-lined by insurers

20. The practice of refusing to make loans in minority or mixed race areas is called __________.

a. racial covenants

b. intrusion

c. red lining

d. rent control

21. FHA policies after World War II __________.

a. encouraged loans in the city

b. encouraged racial integration

c. encouraged white suburban growth

d. were primarily intended for the urban poor

22. The government has the right to take homes for public use through __________.

a. urban homesteading

b. in loco parentis

c. eminent domain

d. cordon solitaire

23. The purpose of the U.S. Federal urban renewal program was to __________.

a. change patterns of land use

b. provide public housing for the poor

c. help middle-class areas upgrade

d. replace deteriorated housing for people with similar social class backgrounds and income levels

24. The greatest, most glaring weakness of urban renewal programs was __________.

a. the slow pace of rebuilding

b. the poor quality of sites

c. the displacement of low income families

d. the cost of the program

25. One of the primary goals of urban renewal programs in the U.S. was to change neighborhoods by building housing for the __________.

a. upper or middle income level populations

b. elderly

c. low income level

d. truly disadvantaged poor who could not afford private housing

26. Urban renewal programs have __________.

a. built more housing than they demolished

b. generally included considerable public housing

c. had a mixed record of success and failure

d. been a total disaster

27. In the United States, public housing programs __________.

a. originally were designed to house only those too poor to obtain decent and safe private housing

b. were spread out evenly across the city

c. have met with great success, overall.

d. were not intended to change the way people lived and behaved

28. Public housing in America can be seen as an expression of __________.

a. red-lining

b. architectural determinism

c. Darwinism

d. Neo-Marxism

29. United States public housing programs to house the poor can best be described as __________.

a. an unqualified success

b. generally successful

c. generally unsuccessful

d. there is no general agreement

30. Public housing finance and construction costs were paid for by __________.

a. the federal government

b. state governments

c. local, municipal governments

d. the private sector

31. Approximately ______ of young males aged 18-24 live at home with their parents.

a. 11 percent

b. 21 percent

c. 41 percent

d. 61 percent.

32. The text suggests that urban homesteading __________.

a. has great emotional appeal but major practical limitations

b. is an answer for the urban poor

c. is currently the nation's largest and most successful housing program

d. appears to work only in neighborhoods with very large numbers of abandoned houses

33. Urban homesteading __________.

a. has been a successful alternative to public housing

b. involves a limited number of homes

c. results in arson, abandonment and other crimes

d. involves mostly apartment buildings

34. Since the 1980s, private rehabilitation of older central cities has been encouraged by __________.

a. tax credits

b. increased urban homesteading

c. the FHA

d. the Title 325 program

35. Public housing program is being replaced by a voucher program that allows tenants to shop for a private housing unit. This program is also referred to as __________ housing.

a. HOPE VI

b. Title 235

c. Title 236

d. Section 8

36. The Urban Revitalization Demonstration Program, created by Congress in 1992, is also known as _________.

a. HOPE VI

b. Title 235

c. Title 236

d. Section 8

37. Initially the Section 8 Program experienced some difficulties. These include __________.

a. small numbers of applicants

b. sub-standard construction

c. lack of support from landlords and developers

d. mismanagement and fraud by the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development

38. HOPE VI projects are designed to involve __________ changes in public housing.

a. both social and physical

b. only social

c. only physical

d. neither social nor physical

39. According to the text, HOPE VI projects partially are based on the work of sociologist, __________.

a. E.W. Burgess

b. William Julius Wilson

c. Louis Wirth

d. Robert Park

40. HOPE VI projects __________ in order to integrate poor inner-city residents into the social and economic fabric of the city.

a. disperse poor people evenly throughout the city

b. give the poor housing vouchers

c. create new mixed-income neighborhoods

d. stimulate gentrification with tax waivers

41. With regard to mixed-income housing projects, the text concludes that __________.

a. they have been a disaster, displacing far more poor people than they have created homes for

b. they would have been successful except for the massive corruption that was involved with their implementation

c. generally, mixed income projects across the nation appear to have been unsuccessful

d. results appear encouraging, but because mixed-income housing programs are new, more time is needed to tell just how effective they will be

42. With regard to the “meaning of space” the text concludes that __________.

a. proper architecture, alone, is enough to prevent crime

b. the symbolic uses of space can be of practical use to architects and planners

c. the best-designed cities and housing can and will solve social problems

d. it’s really not possible to measure the symbolic meaning of space because people interpret space differently

43. Which of the following is one of Oscar Newman’s recommendations for improving the physical security of public housing complexes?

a. Position apartment windows to allow residents to naturally survey the exterior and interior public areas of their living environments.

b. Build high rise housing—above six stories—that enable residents to share close spaces.

c. Keep public housing in areas separate from the rest of the city where police control can be applied more uniformly.

d. Provide large open areas around public housing projects that help identify the projects, themselves.

44. Regarding growth control, the text claims that, to date, __________.

a. given recent court decisions it is now possible for towns to ban all growth

b. municipal zoning and other techniques to control growth have been very effective

c. only a limited number of environmentally active communities have actually tried to stop growth

d. the vast majority of Americans support “no growth”

45. According to the text, which of the following is true about growth and sprawl?

a. Growth and sprawl are equally desirable forms of progress.

b. Growth is defined as unbridled and poorly planned, auto-dependent residential development.

c. Suburban sprawl is better than suburban growth.

d. Growth and sprawl are not identical.

46. As a result of uncontrolled urban sprawl, the average U.S. driver spends the equivalent of __________ eight-hour workdays behind the wheel each year.

a. 25

b. 35

c. 45

d. 55

47. Which of the following statements about urban sprawl is true?

a. Urban sprawl occurs in metro areas that are losing overall population as well as in those that are experiencing population gains.

b. Urban sprawl is unrelated to other problems such as pollution and the loss of farmland.

c. Most people are unconcerned about urban sprawl.

d. Urban sprawl has little to do with quality of life issues.

48. The American Farmlands Trust estimates that the U.S. during the early years of the 21^st century was losing approximately __________ acres of farmland and open space to sprawl each year.

a. 500,000

b. one million

c. three million

d. five million

49. According to the text, although sprawl creates hardships for all, which of the following appears to be suffering the most from its consequences?

a. residents in the inner city

b. residents in outlying rural areas

c. residents in the zone of working persons’ homes

d. residents low-income first ring suburbs on the city edge

1. Smart growth assumes that while growth is inevitable _____________

a. low-density suburban sprawl and “leapfrog” development are not.

b. present housing strategies could solve it.

c. higher density designs cannot solve it.

d. smart growth approach is a panacea.

True-False:

51. Homeowners currently constitute two-thirds of all households.

a. T

b. F

52. As of the last census approximately 50 percent of all householders in the U.S. were homeowners.

a. T

b. F

53. As of the last census approximately four-fifths of all married couples in the U.S. were homeowners.

a. T

b. F

54. According to recent census data nearly equal percentages of whites and Hispanics own their own homes.

a. T

b. F

55. Between 1975 and 2010 the housing stock in the U.S. increased at a rate that was more than twice as fast as the population increased.

a. T

b. F

56. According to the text, new homebuyers today can look forward to increased demand and higher prices as the generation X age group buys homes.

a. T

b. F

57. Two-thirds of the increase in housing stock of the last two decades occurred in the sunbelt.

a. T

b. F

58. Since the 1960s, there has been greater mobility rates in the U.S.

a. T

b. F

59. Today, the current generation seeking housing carries a much heavier housing cost burden than did their parents’ generation.

a. T

b. F

60. The median age of houses in the U.S. is 60 years.

a. T

b. F

61. The Census Bureau recognizes two types of households: family and non-family.

a. T

b. F

62. Today, the average family size of U.S. households is 4 persons per household.

a. T

b. F

63. The Census Bureau reports that married couples with families represent approximately 75 percent of U.S. households.

a. T

b. F

64. The proportion of young adults aged eighteen to twenty-four living at home has continued to decrease since the 1960s.

a. T

b. F

65. Today in the U.S., more elderly women than elderly men live alone.

a. T

b. F

66. One of the problems with federal housing programs is that there has never been an “official” U.S. housing policy with clearly-stated guidelines to help formulate housing policy.

a. T

b. F

67. Federal housing projects built in the 1930s generally were successful and well-maintained.

a. T

b. F

68. The U.S. government’s official housing policy was formulated in 1990.

a. T

b. F

69. Public housing programs of the 1930s constructed housing, shopping centers, and office buildings in metro areas.

a. T

b. F

70. During the Clinton Administration (1995) the U.S. Secretary of Housing recommended that the Department of Housing and Urban Development get out of the business of managing public housing.

a. T

b. F

71. Housing in the U.S. has traditionally been considered a public concern and there is a long history of support for federal involvement in the housing of U.S. citizens.

a. T

b. F

72. Government housing policies of the 1940s and 1950s encouraged racial integration and fair housing.

a. T

b. F

73. Financing for new homes in the U. S. today is private with no involvement by the federal government in any way.

a. T

b. F

74. As recently as 2010 the FHA was insuring almost half of all outstanding mortgage debt on single family homes in the U.S..

a. T

b. F

75. Red-lining has been declared illegal.

a. T

b. F

76. Commercial and financial interests in the central cities supported urban renewal programs such as the Housing Act of 1949.

a. T

b. F

77. Urban renewal programs are both federally funded and federally run.

a. T

b. F

78. The Housing Act of 1949 provided for the use of public funds to buy, clear and improve the renewal site after which the ownership of the land would again revert to the private sector.

a. T

b. F

79. The concept of government support for housing is generally universally accepted and is supported by both Republicans and Democrats.

a. T

b. F

80. According to the text, the most glaring weakness of urban renewal programs in the U.S. was that they displaced large numbers of low-income families without adequate provision for their relocation.

a. T

b. F

81. An evaluation of the impact of urban renewal programs in the U.S. is that they were a noteworthy success.

a. T

b. F

82. According to the text, high-rise public housing projects in the U.S. are being phased out.

a. T

b. F

83. Public housing erected in the 1930s was designed for the jobless.

a. T

b. F

84. By the 1960s families living in public housing projects were increasingly female-headed, on welfare and without any expectation of moving into the middle-class.

a. T

b. F

85. During the Reagan and firs Bush Administrations (1980 to 1992) government subsidies for public housing were adequate to make repairs and maintain the adequacy of public housing.

a. T

b. F

86. There isnow a consensus that high-rise public housing projects shoul be replaced.

a. T

b. F

87. In the late 1980s, Congress allocated over $20 billion dollars to fix problems with the nation’s public housing.

a. T

b. F

88. Urban homesteading programs turn over abandoned homes to those who agree to stay and bring the homes up to code.

a. T

b. F

89. The first urban homesteading program was begun in Houston, Texas in 1968.

a. T

b. F

90. The text concludes that the record of urban homesteading as a means of rejuvenating inner city housing has been mixed.

a. T

b. F

91. Urban homesteading is an ideal option for the urban poor because the costs of renovation are so low.

a. T

b. F

92. According to the text, the rehabilitation tax credit program has been a boon to older cities.

a. T

b. F

93. The text claims that urban homesteading is the answer to most urban housing problems.

a. T

b. F

94. The Section 8 Program has largely replaced public housing programs.

a. T

b. F

95. According to the text, nationwide, approximately ten million low-income families received Section 8 rent vouchers.

a. T

b. F

96. In 1992, Congress created the Urban Revitalization Demonstration Program, commonly known as “HOPE VI”.

a. T

b. F

97. HOPE VI projects focus on providing rent vouchers to low-income families.

a. T

b. F

98. It has been determined that architectural design can increase the security and livability of housing projects.

a. T

b. F

99. According to the text, growth and sprawl are basically identical.

a. T

b. F

100. Sprawl occurs both in metro areas that are growing as well as metro areas that are losing overall population.

a. T

b. F

101. Smart growth assumes that low-density suburbs sprawl and “leapfrog” development is inevitable.

a. T

b. F

102. The term smart growth covers a variety of efforts to shape growth so sprawl is limited.

a. T

b. F

103. High-density designs can result in positive advantages, such as greater sense of community, walk to school, lower crime, and moderate taxes.

a. T

b. F

104. Los Angeles contains the highest density suburbs in the nation, and also has the highest gross population density of the nation’s twenty largest metropolitan areas.

a. T

b. F

105. The city of Detroit was declared Bankrupt in 2013.

a. T

b. F

Short Answer (in addition to those at the end of the chapter).

106. Describe the goals and consequences of the post-war FHA program to insure home loans.

107. Describe the goals and history of urban renewal programs from 1949 to the present. What have been the greatest strengths and weaknesses of the program?

108. Povide a brief history of the various federal approaches toward providing housing for the poor. How successful have these programs been? Why?

109. What are the greatest strengths and weaknesses of urban homesteading? What is the future of urban homesteading?

110. Describe the overall housing situation over the last two decades in the U.S. What trends can be seen in the future?

111. What spurred the advent of the federal government's involvement in housing? Describe the early programs, concerns and official policies.

112. Summarize the goals, problems and philosophy behind public housing. Give examples of the results.

113. Describe the philosophy behind urban homesteading programs. List six factors that potentially limit their success.

114. Does discrimination in housing still occur? Have federal policies hindered or encouraged discrimination in housing?

115. Discuss the rehabilitation tax credit program that Congress passed in 1981.

116. What is the philosophy behind HOPE VI programs? How are they set up and how effective have they been?

117. Discuss the importance of architecture in the design of public housing. What factors promote success in public housing? What factors lead to failure?

118. Discuss the difference between growth and sprawl.

119. What are the detrimental effects (costs and negative consequences) of suburban sprawl? What, in your opinion is the best way to control sprawl?

120. After reading the chapter, what seem to be the most successful approaches to providing save, livable and affordable public housing to the nation’s poor?

121. Discuss the strategies to accomplish smart growth. Specify advantages and disadvantages of smart growth as seen by opposing parties.