Browsing by Subject "Low-income housing"
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Item Apartment Complex for Low-Income Families(Texas Tech University, 1982-05) Zewede, Amaha SNot Available.Item Bamboo housing in Costa Rica: an analysis of a pilot program(Texas Tech University, 1990-08) Ham, Adrienne Camille BalatyPresent-day Latin American governments are hard pressed to provide solutions to their housing problems. Early attempts at providing the poor with traditional housing units constructed from modern Western materials failed, partly because of the facts of basic arithmetic: often a country's resources could not equal the tremendous need for housing units. Failure has also been rooted in the disinclination of governments to recognize that their supposedly "improved" environments were not meeting the social, psychological, economic, or cultural needs of the people. Many Third World governments arestill trying to plan and build cities which only exist in the minds of politicians, scientists, and engineers (Rodwin, 1987). Overdesigned public housing units are promoted under the mistaken notion that solid houses are the definitive answer to housing the masses. It might be argued that governments do not seem to realize that giving people access to employment and services, and elevating their self-esteem by giving them some voice in their own housing development, are worth far more in the long run in terms of housing satisfaction.Item Building healthy affordable homes : an assessment of the health dimensions of green communities’ building standards(2010-05) Jang, In Young; Mueller, Elizabeth J.; Paterson, RobertDespite the considerable improvements in housing conditions during the last decade, housing still remains a critical determinant of one’s health. Broader social and environmental issues that are associated with housing and health problems have emerged. Such issues include neighborhood characteristics, individual behaviors and associated health outcomes, social backgrounds, and housing affordability as well as the physical conditions of housing. Many low-income families’ substandard housing conditions make them suffer from housing-related health problems more seriously. This report suggests a green affordable housing program, in particular Green Communities, as one of the solutions to address this issue. To understand how Green Communities affects one’s health, this report evaluates existing Green Communities’ criteria against housing health performance criteria that are developed based on a literature review. After the evaluation, this report suggests how current green affordable housing practices can be improved to be a health promotion tool.Item Housing as sanctuary: an urban housing project for transients(Texas Tech University, 1990-05) Strickland, Gerald S.The project I have selected as a way of creating place is an urban housing project for transients in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This project relates to place in the following ways: First, by placing housing in an urban context, it is made recognizable through its scale and expression. Second, housing in an urban context can be made sacred and set apart, contrasting with its environment. Third, housing contains rituals, and designing for rituals results in the creation of place.Item Measuring the efficacy of low-income residential sustainability interventions(2011-05) Steubing, Jacob Wayne; Ward, Peter M., 1951-; Spence, David B.Volatile and rising global fuel prices present a tremendous challenge to our energy-dependent economy, and the ramifications are especially great for low-income households. Residential weatherization programs represent a tremendous opportunity to shield vulnerable populations, but the allocation of funding and assessment of efficacy has historically been fraught with political and procedural hurdles. This report examines the methods of assessing the efficacy of low-income weatherization and proposes a set of best practices.Item Rehabilitation models for the treatment of historic motels and motor courts(2013-08) Anderson, Jessica Lauren; Holleran, MichaelThis thesis presents owners, developers, and preservationists with models for the rehabilitation of motels and motor courts. The introductory section gives readers an overview of the evolution of the motor court and motel. It then focuses on the fates of motels and motor courts in the city of Austin, Texas, as an example of how owners and developers have dealt with the program type. The second section of this thesis discusses the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, a federal initiative to document and conserve the road itself as well as the “significant features associated with the highway” such as roadside stands, gas stations, and motels (“Route 66 Study Act,” 1990). This section also explores two examples of owner-led efforts to preserve motels along Route 66: Boots Court in Carthage, Missouri, and the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri. The remaining sections of this thesis focus on four models for the rehabilitation of motels and motor courts. Case studies include Hotel San José, a motor court that was redeveloped into a boutique hotel in Austin, Texas; the Park Motel, a cottage court transformed into rentable business space in San Antonio, Texas; Arbor Terrace, an extended-stay hotel converted into supportive housing in Austin owned by Foundation Communities; and Costa Mesa Village, an SRO community in Costa Mesa, California, housed in a former Travelodge. For each case study, I discuss the site’s history, the original and current configurations and appearance, what makes the project successful, and whether aspects of the project are sympathetic with the goals of preservation. When considering rehabilitation of an historic motel or motor court, developers should consider the configuration of the building and what model would best serve the existing program. Motels in tourist districts with space to provide both private and public functions may be well served to consider the boutique hotel model exemplified by Hotel San José. A motel in a business district with flexible interior spaces able to cater to a variety of tenants might look to the Park Motel and create rentable spaces for small businesses. Those interested in pursuing a nonprofit model for rehabilitating their extant building stock could consider how they could benefit their communities by becoming SRO housing like Arbor Terrace or workforce housing complexes like Costa Mesa Village. Regardless of the project, it is clear that access to private donations, bank loans, or local and federal assistance is integral to the success of a rehabilitation project. Lambert required a sizeable loan before beginning work on Hotel San José that could only be secured when the lender was confident in the return on investment; Neighborhood Revitalization Program funds have allowed Foundation Communities to continue adding SROs in Austin. Though the Perezes didn’t divulge the amount of money spent on their adaptive reuse project, Allison Perez Johnson said that return on investment displayed by property owned by the Perez Family Trust along Broadway Street in San Antonio helped them get approved for loans for their rehabilitation project. As for properties like Harvey’s Boots Motel on Route 66, rehabilitation becomes an ongoing process that only occurs as money permits, and their ability to remain sustainable is supported by heritage tourists who patronize roadside businesses looking to find or recreate their own Route 66 adventures.Item Ridglea West: a low and medium income housing development in Fort Worth, Texas(Texas Tech University, 1989-05) Dabney, Mark HaralsonThe focus of this project is on redesigning the home for low-income families in Fort Worth, Texas. Architects can make the individual family home both more inviting and useful by facilitating the positive interaction of neighbors and enhancing the image residents have of themselves. These psychological factors can be controlled through the layout of individual dwellings, their grouping around collective areas, their positioning relative to streets, and the symbolic meaning of a dwelling's external form. A pattern language has been developed to organize all aspects of the design and provide a guide for the actual design process. All elements of the home have been analyzed and are broken up into detail. Patterns for a day care center and a community center have also been created. These patterns are essential to a good housing project but are not the focus. Along with planning for a day care center and a community center, this program will present plans and guidelines for management and maintenance organizations. Through careful assembly and design of architectural elements, a more inviting home can be created. This program shows that architects can play a significant role in improving the lives of millions of low and moderate income Americans.Item The rise of renters and renting in Texas colonias(2013-05) Durst, Noah Joseph; Ward, Peter M., 1951-; Wilson, Robert HinesThis report documents the growth of renting in Texas colonias, low-income informal settlements along the US-Mexico border. Historically, owner-occupied self-help and self-managed housing has been the norm in these settlements, so scholarly treatment of renting in colonias has been very limited. I begin with a literature review of housing development and housing policy in colonias, before turning, for comparison, to a discussion of renting in the US as well as in informal settlements in the developing world. Chapter 2 draws upon data from the US Census Bureau to describe the nature and extent of the colonia rental market in the six Texas counties with the largest colonia populations: my analysis reveals that renters now make up more than one in five colonia households. I expand on this discussion by examining differences between renter and owner households, paying particular attention to factors that make renters more vulnerable than owners. Chapter 3 employs a variety of regression models to identify the determinants of varying rental rates in colonias. The results suggest that larger, older, and more densely populated colonias have higher rates of renting. In Chapter 4, I utilize a mixed methods approach -- including household surveys, key informant interviews, and intensive case study interviews -- to a) better understand the tenure decisions of colonia renters and to place such decisions within a context of extreme socio-economic vulnerability and b) examine the factors that incentivize a turn toward renting among property owners. I conclude with a discussion of potential policy solutions to ensure that colonia rental accommodation remains affordable, accessible, and of sufficient quality.